Sand bottom

On the path, you can see a light yellow, beige sand appearing. Try to take it between your fingers. That sand has a link with the fact that there is a forest here.

Although forests used to grow everywhere, forests are no longer incidental in most places. Most forests were cleared in Flanders. But in places where it was difficult to grow anything else, the forest was left standing or they would reforest it because it would still yield something. Therefore, always check the substrate in forests. Sometimes you encounter very moist grounds (for example, in stream forests or alder swamps), but that is certainly not the case here. Sometimes you find very dry sands there. And that is the case here. The sands you encounter here are too permeable. Check the surrounding fields later. There is usually still a nutrient-rich clay layer on top of them. Here, that layer has disappeared or was never deposited. That clay layer can hold moisture and nutrients better. But this sand cannot. So, it is certainly no coincidence that there is a forest here and that this land was not converted into arable land.

Pascal Brackman