Managed Meadow

A couple of days ago, I spent the day doing one of the garden jobs I really enjoy.  Managing my meadow!

Many years ago, when I was laying out the garden I put aside an area of about 750 square metres to keep “wild”.  The land concerned had been farmed until we moved into the property, but since then there has been no attempt made to use the area.   I know that in the seven years I have owned the property there has been no addition of fertiliser at all.  A few years back, I also decided to check with the farmer who farmed the land before I arrived.   I asked the simple question, “Did you use chemicals on that piece of land?”   M.Gary, who back then was in his late 80’s looked me in the eye, with a wry smile and answered with another question…  “Why would I buy chemicals when I have all the manure I need on the farm?”     I have no need to doubt his word as in the seven years I have known him he has continuously farmed one of my fields and I have never seen anything going on the land except farmyard manure.    He used to keep goats, chickens and the odd cow and, in fact, his “home made” compost was highly regarded by local gardeners, if you could ever get hold of some!!    I said continuously and I meant it.  M.Gary is now into his 90’s and still farms, managing my field quite happily as a small mixed crop market garden.   Last year he grew tomatoes, melons, pumpkins, beans and a few other things.   I can certainly vouch for the sweetness of both the melons and the tomatoes from the ones that regularly got left on my doorstep!

So, if my meadow has remained “au naturel”  for very many years, how then do I manage it?  After all, I have just explained that I don’t feed it, or seed it, so….??

Well, all I do is cut it.   This was a tip I got from His Royal Highness, Charles, Prince of Wales  who, as you may know, is a very active organic farmer.    One of the great advantages of being first in line to the throne is that lots of people take a great deal of interest in what you do and how you do it, and because of this, very many television programmes have been made about how he manages his estates.  It was during one of these programmes that I learned all about managing meadow and I have followed the advice ever since.

Actually, It’s very easy!   Once a year,  about this time, I set my mower to the highest setting (about 100mm in my case) and cut the meadow.    All the cuttings are just dropped back on the ground.   It’s easy, it’s quick and, apparently, it is very helpful.  By cutting out the tall grasses all the delicate meadow flowers can flourish and it’s those wild flowers that attract all sorts of insects which in turn, drift next door into my kitchen garden.  The very reason I put the area over to meadow in the first place!

Lets hope that we see all the lovely species of wild flowers again this year.

A few Garden Birds

My neighbour Michael has taken the opportunities presented by our recent snowfall to take yet more amazing photographs. This time he has compiled a set of the most amazing pictures of our garden birds. Please enjoy them, and, once again, a big thank you to Michael, for making them available to me for our enjoyment In this very cold weather, please remember to put out a little food  and water for your local birds.    I believe that they will reward you many times over during the coming year.

A Lucky Morning

My friend Michael has been out and about again, "shooting" wildlife.

In a country that takes any form of hunting very seriously and the quiet of a Sunday morning is peppered with the sounds of gunshots, Michael always enjoys telling people he's been out shooting wildlife, only to later clarify that the only shooting he ever does is with his camera.

He emailed these photos to me, this morning.

Apparently he was out at about 5:45am, just waiting, when three hares literally shot past him.  They were moving far too fast to capture with his camera so he just watched them run.  Seconds later, the cause of the flight came into view, they were being chased by a female deer.

Once the deer had cleared the hares off into the neighbouring sunflower field, she sauntered back, giving Michael the opportunity to take these magnificent photos.

He tells me he thinks it was a lucky morning.  I think the skill and devotion that he puts into his photography takes it far beyond the realms of "lucky"

I hope you enjoy the images and, once again, thank Michael for sharing his magical photos with us.