Soil fruit core dropped by grasshoppers (4)
I believe the answer is:
clod
'soil' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'fruit core dropped by grasshoppers' is the wordplay.
'fruit' becomes 'peaches' (peach is a type of fruit).
'core' indicates the central letters.
'dropped by grasshoppers' becomes 'lod' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
The middle letter of 'peaches' is 'c'.
'c'+'lod'='CLOD'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for clod that I've seen before include "Clump - chump" , "Lump of earth/clay" , "Idiot" , "Lump of turf" , "Lump of earth - stupid person" .)