Earthworm worship

There used to be a step down from my house into the garden which then sloped up to the back wall. The new(ish) patio is at the same level as the house and I was very surprised to find that the height change from house to garden-end is actually only 12 cm. That's great but it means I have to move a lot of soil from the back of the garden towards the house. I'm doing it by the forkful, which is very labour-intensive.

I dig into a mixture of compacted clay, broken bricks, good tilth, lumps of plaster, convolvulus root, smashed glass, rusty nails, broken slate, soggy wood, plumbing offcuts, electrical waste and miscellaneous plastic. I lift the fork as I high as I can and throw the whole sticky mixture towards the house. This turning helps bring the rubbish to the surface, from where I put it into buckets, and also helps mix the topsoil and the clay. I do about 30 forkfuls at a time then take a break while the rain brings more rubbish to the surface. Some of the soil is now being chucked housewards for the fourth or fifth time and it is definitely getting cleaner. I was really pleased today to find at least one plump worm in most of the forkfuls. 

I can't protect the earthworms from the accursed badger (of which I haven't seen evidence for a while) but I do guard any that I bring to the surface from birds. I either cover them with soil or stand over them while they head back, like this one, into the earth. Longer term they are doing the soil far more good than I ever can.