Talking to Worms

I talk to the worms when I dig in the dirt, doesn't everyone?

I tell them to stay out of my way so I don't hurt them, apologize if I disturb them, promise them kitchen scraps, give them the weather predictions, and warn them of birds and moles.

What names do you call them? I called one "Bub" today, for no good reason, that's not usual for me. I usually call them "Mr Squirmy Wormy"  or "Wiggly Pants" or sometimes "Calm down, ya rowdy loonie, I swear I'm putting you someplace better!"

What do you say to the worms?
Do they talk back?  :D

Yes I talk to earthworms, and other soil bugs, soil bacteria, fungi, the song birds singing, trees, all my garden plants, anything alive really. I don't give them names, but I often address anything as "my friend" if I am relocating a earthworm, pruning a tree, or picking tomatoes, etc.

You mean there are people who don't talk to worms?!? Weird. I always talk to them and all the other beings I encounter, plants included. Rocks and soil too. I even talk to the rain, welcoming it to the land. But back to the worms! I apologize if I upset them and thank them for doing such good work on the soil, mostly. I will also tell them not to worry, that I'm putting the soil back with more yummy organic matter for them. I've taken to stomping before digging, since we've learned there a bunch of tiny snakes around, hoping it warns them to move. Maybe it'll help the worms and others too? I've accidentally dug up a hibernating frog and a bee now, profuse apologies ensued.
Doesn't seem they talk back much, if at all. Sometimes the plants do. Hopefully someday I'll be able to hear the other beings better. I bet they have a lot they could teach me!

I was working on my sisters bathroom sink drain the other day, and talking to like it were a puppy or something...talking to worms is quite normal by my lights.
Moving an established raised bed the other day, the risk to the soil life was on my mind.
The new bed received a nice blanket of leaves , but I still worry that I killed some of the worms.
I am not moving many of the wooden walkways I have laid out because I'm pretty sure my snake and lizard partners are over wintering beneath them.
My kid will tease me for stopping to identify a tree, but he totally gets me talking to it or caressing it.
He rescues slugs , I have an irrational fear of such invertebrates, but earthworms are my friends, as are spiders, a creature that he fears.

I think the human ability to empathize extends to things that are not human, and is one of the reasons we are able to convince animals that being part of our tribe is a good idea.
I think its also why we will attribute malice to objects and creatures that have none.
This kind of animism is less of a religion to me than it is my natural state of mind.
I've gone from cursing at "recalcitrant" objects to speaking to them with sweet entireties, and I'm happier and better at fixing things because of it.
Still, you got to be careful.
A dear church sister caught me whispering sweet nothings to my dough as I formed it into loaves and asked me if my wife knew about this relationship I was having...

"OK wormie, you're coming with me"! That's what I say when I dig up a worm because my garden didn't have any last year when I created it, thus necessitating a forced relocation project. I do promise good soil and food though. I'm not a monster!

When the worms talk back

I have to admit, I upset my worms today, and I'm GLAD!!
Well, sort of.
I'm not glad I upset them by loosening their soil and adding leaves and kitchen scraps. But I AM glad they were there to upset!

Last spring I used my tractor at this rental to tear out the remnants of an old pool, level dirt a bit, and break up the seriously compacted soil. There ere very very few worms upset by that, there were very few worms to be found. After a garden season, with very little organic material available to add, there were more worms. I made a leaf picker upper and picked up a lot of leaves from t he neighborhood, and dumped them in a big pile till I could get to them. Today I moved the last of that big pile, and loosened under it, and LOTS and LOTS of big fat happy worms were in the soil!

Yay fat happy worms!!!
I'm sorry I upset y'all. I offer pineapple peelings and cabbage bits to appease you, and leave you a good amount of leaves to insulate your roof.

:D

I definitely talk to the worms when I see them... though that's mostly only when I'm sifting my compost, since I limit my digging in the garden.

I find that I talk to the predators more, and thank them for keeping the plants safe... ladybugs, praying mantises, dragonflies, spiders, snakes, etc. And I always apologize if I disturb them.

Never had the wildlife talk back (unless there were mushrooms available to translate), but I did make friends with a hummingbird this year who would land on the fence or hover above me and just watch me work. Hoping to add lots of flowers to keep him fed (if I still see him around this coming year.)

Oh, and everyone gets referred to as dude. Unless they're not a dude, in which case they're referred to by one profanity or another.

Pearl Sutton wrote:I made a leaf picker upper and picked up a lot of leaves from t he neighborhood

What does making a leaf picker upper entail? I'm lowkey trying to figure out an efficient way to collect leaves and I wonder if that might be it.

Mathew Trotter wrote:Oh, and everyone gets referred to as dude. Unless they're not a dude, in which case they're referred to by one profanity or another.

Pearl Sutton wrote:I made a leaf picker upper and picked up a lot of leaves from t he neighborhood

What does making a leaf picker upper entail? I'm lowkey trying to figure out an efficient way to collect leaves and I wonder if that might be it.

Leaf Vacuum

I talk to worms, too. Mostly when I accidentally dig them up and feel the need to apologize. When my two boys find an especially wriggly guy, they call him a "muscle worm."

We also talk to frogs, toads, lizards and skinks. And honeybees.

There's a phoebe who's fledged a few broods from a nest she made on my front porch. Using the front door is off limits when she's being the good mama she is. But if I forget and startle her, I apologize to her as well.

I scream when I see a snake, even harmless ones. But I don't think that counts as talking to them. ;-)