Eat a Peck of Dirt Before You Die
Why Muddy Hands, Dirty Faces, and the Occasional Gritty Snack Are Good for Kids
When I was little, our babysitter—Mrs. Gersbacher, a kind woman from Yugoslavia who seemed impossibly ancient (though, in truth, she was probably only fifty-some)—stood watching from the porch as my brothers and I played joyfully in a backyard mud puddle. My younger brother Bob, about three at the time, was especially absorbed. Like many toddlers, he believed that the world was best understood through tasting it.
With the solemnity of a scientist, he dipped his pudgy fingers into the murky puddle and lifted a scoop of rainwater and grit to his mouth.
Mrs. Gersbacher, her apron dusted with flour and her face calm and serene, didn’t so much as flinch. Instead, she nodded and said,
“Well, you have to eat a peck of dirt before you die.”
She said it the way one quotes Scripture —firmly, as though this humble truth was one of the basic tenets of life.
At the time, I had no idea what a peck was, but it sounded like a huge amount of dirt to consume. I eyed the grass, the mud, and pictured a basket inside me filling up. How far along was I in my
Years later, I was delighted to read Patricia Hampl’s book A Romantic Education. She remembers a neighbor warning her after she dropped a jawbreaker and popped it back in her mouth. She writes:
“Dirt is the first taste I remember... Because he said so, I rolled the taste of dirt around in my mouth. I began to eat it out of curiosity, putting it on my tongue like brown sugar and waiting hopelessly for it to melt.”
Hampl even imagined arriving in the afterlife somehow deficient—having failed to meet the proper peck.
The Wisdom Beneath Our Feet
It turns out this old proverb has more than cultural grit behind it. Modern science is affirming what old gardeners, grandmothers, and muddy children have known all along: Dirt is good for us.
Chuck Rice of the Soil Science Society of America reminds us:
“There are more living individual organisms in a tablespoon of soil than there are people on the earth. A teaspoon of soil contains over 1 billion bacteria, yet we know only 1%. The remaining 99% are unknown and contain a treasure trove of products.”
That treasure trove includes Mycobacterium vaccae, a soil microbe that stimulates serotonin production in the brain. Inhaling it—through digging, gardening, or simply breathing while playing in the dirt—can actually improve mood and reduce anxiety. No wonder so many children instinctively gravitate toward the ground.
The Worms Make the Soil Home To Microbes.
In last week’s post, The Humble Worm: Hero to the Planet, we explored how worms turn decaying matter into rich, life-giving soil (dirt). Their castings enrich the soil with nutrients which nurture microbes. Their tunnels bring oxygen to plant roots—and more microbes.
But, there’s more to dirt than microbes and minerals. There’s also mystery.
While eating the dirt (occasionally) that worms create beneath our feet, something equally vital is happening above the ground: our imaginations are taking root.
It’s one thing to know that soil gives life—but it’s another thing entirely to feel it.
That’s where poetry comes in.
Poetry Helps Us See the Dirt—and the Sky
Children need to get messy. They need to press seeds into soil, kneel nose-to-ground, and marvel at the slow, sacred work of the worm. But they also need beauty, language, and the poetic vision that helps us make meaning of the natural world.
As I’ve written in Seeing the Wind, Part 1 and Part 2, poetry awakens our senses to the unseen. It gives children—and ourselves—a way to notice the shimmer of a leaf or the whisper of a breeze and name it as wonder.
For me, the love of nature and the love of poetry have always grown side by side—like two vines twining toward the light. One gives us roots in the real, living world; the other gives us wings to see it afresh. Together, they help children (and the rest of us) not just observe creation, but cherish it.
That’s why I’m so delighted to announce my upcoming book:
Coming Soon!
Nature Poems: Timeless Verse for Children About Birds, Trees, Sky, and Other Wonders of Nature
I have gathered together a collection of classic, heart-stirring poems that invite children to slow down, listen, and look again. It’s a book for snuggling, reciting, and tucking into backpacks before nature walks. Designed for children ages 5–10, it’s also for the child inside us all.
In my next post, I will give you an opportunity to preorder the book with a special bonus.
So, let the children dig and delight. Let them muddy their hands and snack on berries. Let them eat a little dirt—and a lot of poetry.
After all,
You have to eat a peck of dirt before you die.
But oh, the life you’ll live while doing it.
Tell me—did you ever eat dirt as a child? What’s your favorite poem about nature or memory from a messy moment? Leave a comment or reply to this email.
I have wonder and admiration for the love you show your children.
Gratefully,
Sheila Carroll
Living Books Press