A week of heavy, blustery showers, bright sunshine and rainbows.
The Harebells continue to spread and flower (although they have not liked the rain) and finally the lovely purple-fringed heads of Knapweed have appeared too, almost overnight it seems! We thought we didn't have any! Yarrow continues in bloom and their green stems are turning a fetching shade of scarlet. The Birds Foot Trefoil and Ladies Bedstraw, having faded in the last ten days, are now staging a second mini comeback whilst the Sheeps Sorrel turns a dark rusty-red as it dries and sets seed. We spotted some Common Blue butterflies in the sunshine this week feeding on the Yarrow. They are exquisitely beautiful close up (no decent photographs yet!).
This week we sowed the Yellow Rattle seeds we had collected, scattering them on to bare patches of earth in trial areas around the field, gently pushing them down on top of the soil surface. Rattle seeds should not be 'dug in' to the soil but left on the top - they are flat and disc-shaped, so naturally sit on the surface. They will need some cold temperatures this winter to trigger germination and we will have to ensure the grass is not too long after Christmas to help them get some spring sunshine. We are told these "Meadow-Makers" can be a bit fickle, so let's hope we have beginner's luck!
The other job this week was pulling up Creeping Thistle before it goes over to seed, to try and prevent it from taking over. It's a tall order, since there are a lot of them! We probably should have done this earlier in the year but hopefully better late than never. The Thistles cut with the hay higher up the field are already coming back, dark green and bristling, in the lush aftermath.
We also have some Marsh Thistle and Spear Thistle in field, but have not touched these this year, since they are not as invasive and they are beloved of the butterflies.
