Rattle and Hum

In August last year we gathered Yellow Rattle seed from local fields and sowed the papery discs into bare ground around the hay meadow.

Recently, and now sheep have been taken off the field after a brief 'Spring bite', I have been keeping a beady eye out for the shoots. Lo and behold last week I found several patches of the pretty, notched Rattle leaves appearing! I had heard that Rattle can be fickle to germinate (and needs a frost or two), so perhaps it was beginners' luck, but hopefully now we can establish this annual 'meadow maker' plant in the field for the future. It will help us manage the grass growth a little bit in favour of wild flowers and the more delicate grasses.

As well as Yellow Rattle, we have a growing retinue of Ladies Smock in the damper parts of the field, and have enjoyed mass carpets of Celandine and Dandelions. I have been enchanted by the Speedwells, including the tiny and heavenly blue Wall Speedwell which likes to grow on the thin bare earth on the anthill tumps. I needed my glasses and the 'zoom' function on my Ipad to actually see the flower! But it is exquisite and one of a number of low-growing plants that form a patchwork community on the dry, warm, thin soils of the south-facing slopes on the unimproved pasture amongst the anthills.

The Blackthorn hedge has been in full and voluptuous blossom this month and the Goat Willows humming with bees late into the evening. The trees in our new wood at the top of the field are coming well into leaf and hopefully the thorough dousing they received in the heavy rains of February (remember those?) has given them a good start. We have now joined the ranks of new woodland owners watching the weather forecast for signs of good rain in the next few weeks.

We have mulched 150 trees now with cardboard and woodchip. Hard and slow work with just two people. As well as keeping moisture in, the mulch will help counteract weed growth around the base of the young trees for the next 2 or 3 years, which would otherwise compete for moisture and food, particularly since we have planted into grassland that was thigh high with grasses last year (NB the trees have been sited away from the species-rich area of grassland).

The new scrapes and test pools (unlined) we dug last winter have all been full of water since the February deluges, although levels have dropped a fair bit in this very dry April. The deepest pool in particular is aflutter with fat tadpoles as well as backswimmers, diving beetles, whirlygig beetles, pond skaters, and other insects and the damp mud around the edges attracts solitary bees. I have spent many a moment just sitting and watching the action in the pond in recent weeks. Before we dug the ponds, frogspawn was always doomed in the field since the wet ruts it was laid in would inevitably dry up over the Spring. So now they have a chance of reaching froghood!

We hope, Covid-19 allowing, that the groundworks to create the wet woodland area will be able to start this summer so Alder, Willow and Downy Birch trees can be planted in the autumn. The work will involve deculverting a large land drain to allow water to flow back into, and re-wet, the rushy bottom part of the field which apparently, and before the land drains went in, used to be called The Bog.