ABSTRACT
Farmer Josef Braun of Freising, near Munich, is a true agricultural hero. His fields are teeming with earthworms; he probably has more earthworms in his soil than any other farmer around. Why do these useful little creatures feel so at home in farmer Braun's organic farm? Because he does not plough the land, cares for it extremely gently, uses creative planting methods that loosen the soil, and never uses any poison whatsoever. Josef Braun treats his soil like a living being—and rightly so: there are more living creatures in a single handful of soil than there are people on earth. Two thirds of all the species that exist on our planet live beneath the earth's surface.
