Two years ago today - on 30th September 2018 - we managed to buy the field next to our house at auction, so it is our second anniversary!
The memory of that sunny late September evening in the Metropole Hotel in Llandrindod Wells is now somewhat surreal. What a journey we have had already! A steep upward scarp slope of learning, new discoveries, responsibilities and quite a few dilemmas! And lots of new contacts with skilled nature/wildlife/plant & meadow enthusiasts.
And on come the sheep ...
Forty of this year's lambs, or hoggs, belonging to a local farmer came on to the main field in early September to help us manage the grass both in the hayfield and on the tumps. Without livestock grazing (or secondary mowing/grass removal), the more vigorous grasses would grow long and rank and, over time, outcompete the more delicate flowering plants and meadow grasses which we want to retain/increase.
We confined them for around 2 weeks to the tumps area, to encourage them to eat down the longer (unmown) grasses there. Corralling them into this bottom corner of the field was an interesting challenge one very hot afternoon, but we managed to channel our inner Phil Drabble and they seem to be quite happy there and have been doing a good job of nibbling the sward.
Ewes will come on to the field later in the autumn to graze the richer aftermath (the grass that grows lush after the haycrop) to prepare them for the tup (or ram).
To try and encourage more species diversity in the meadow, we bought a kilo of Yellow Rattle seed via the Marches Meadow Group and will be scattering it soon on the field. We will need to scarify the ground first so the seeds can find the soil. The sheep will then help us to trample it down. Rattle needs cold weather/frosts to stimulate germination so sowing it before winter is recommended. I have also been collecting some wild flower seed from our nearby verges (Knapweed, Betony etc) and will sow some of this too and see if they take.
Bringing back the Barn!
The field barn is in a sorry way.
It has always been our intention to rebuild it as part of the field project since it used to be rather a picturesque rustic field barn with stone walls and corrugated iron sheets hung from a crude wooden internal frame - like many of the unconverted small field barns around here. But the barn had fallen down slowly over the years and gusty winds had lifted off the tin sheet walls and roof. It is now a sad heap of tin sheets and nettles.
We want to restore the building as a field barn with (where appropriate) bat and bird boxes and plenty of insect hidey holes, including log piles etc. It will have open windows for the Tawny Owls to sit in once again. The tin sheets are probably not usable for the building now, but we will put some of them around the edge of the field on the grass, to provide cover for slow worms and other creatures.
More new trees
In December volunteers from the Severn Tree Trust will come on site to plant the trees destined for the re-wetted area at the bottom of the field. These will include Alder, Grey Willow and Downy Birch - trees that like it damp or wet. Over 100 trees are planned, although it is likely now that some of these will be planted in the new wood at the top of the field. This is because we would like to leave some of the wet areas and pools unshaded by trees for the benefit of amphibians and damsel/dragonflies. One thing I have learned over the last two years is that plans sometimes have to change to suit the conditions and what you want to encourage/enhance.
The trees in the new wood, planted in January 2020, through a Woodland Trust and local Shropshire Hills AONB grant, have done well after the rains of August (see below early spring and late summer 2020). I have been hand weeding them at the bases since grasses and thistles are also now enjoying the warmth and the moisture brought by late summer. We mulched 150 of the 950 trees earlier this year. This autumn/winter we will mulch more with cardboard and woodchip to help control competition from weeds.
Wetland restoration
The work done to re-create the wetland at the bottom of the field in early July (reported in my last blog post) is now three months old and the speed of the natural re-greening in this area has been quite a surprise. This area is at its most beautiful on dewy mornings when the extent of the communities of spiders webs are revealed.
What looked like a building site is now lush again. Herons are regularly seen fishing in the open water (we found the remains of a Crayfish in the water recently) and five Snipe flew up out of the rushes early one morning this week. The longer grasses are home to quite a range of invertebrates and other animals - frogs, beetles, flies, grasshoppers and creatures that like the damper places. The bats seem to like the newly-revealed stretch of open water for evening insect runs.
Hawker Dragonflies and Red Damselflies have been out and about patrolling the ponds in the late September sunshine (the male Hawker - a striking blue and green dragonfly - will come right up to investigate you and fly within a few inches of your head, his wings whirring loudly). The females lay their eggs into to muddy cracks or damp wood by the pond, using their long flexible abdomen and ovipositor. They are not quite as flighty as the Damselflies and easier to photograph. This Hawker spent a little while trying to lay eggs on to my boots!
Next year we hope to host an invertebrate survey of the field by the Joy of Wildlife group based in Shropshire after a visit from Keith Fowler last week.
Flowers like Tufted Vetch and Meadow Sweet are now pushing in to the field edge from the verge on the lane (now sheep are excluded, they don't get eaten down). Marsh Cudweed, Lesser Spearwort, Creeping Forget-me-Not and Brooklime (all damp lovers) are spreading. Just before the diggers moved in, I dug up a large patch of the Forget-me-Not to save it from being marmalised. This has now been replanted back on site, along with some Ragged Robin that had been grown from seed.
We are really excited to see what next year brings in this re-wetted site and also how it copes with any flooding/high rainfall events over the winter months.
(NB due to the restrictions with this blog software I am unable to answer any questions or comments posted. If you would like me to respond, please contact me here - thank you!)
Sorry, hoggs - annoying autocorrect!! x
It's wonderful what you have both achieved, Sarah - how lovely to be involved in cherishing and treasuring this beautiful earth with all its beauty!! Have you approached the Wetland Trust for a grant? Let me know if you'd like me to do some digging ... lots of love to you both and to four paws and the hogs!! Cathy xx
Thank you for another really interesting update enhanced by your beautiful photographs. I wonder how old the barn is? Victorian, perhaps? The investigative dragonfly sounds fearless!