JDog Posted July 16 Report Share Posted July 16 My favourite place, Adlestrop Common. Literally thousands of Orchids amongst more common wild flowers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oowee Posted July 16 Report Share Posted July 16 Incredible. It just shows what can be achieved. It's too easy to reach for the chemicals. Not on that scale but here I have a meadow not touched since it was ridge and furrow cultivated in the middle ages and then maybe 150 years ago as an orchard (trees are now long gone). It provides endless interest when allowed to grow wild. The barn owls love it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Svenandolaf Posted July 16 Report Share Posted July 16 Quite a few in the meadows by me just south of this but nowhere near the same amount! I also see them in Ormskirk when I go up there, exactly the same orchid but completely different soil and environment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ditchman Posted July 16 Report Share Posted July 16 (edited) do "they" run a slow speed chain flail over it when the seeds have set ?,,,,, Edited July 16 by ditchman spellig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ratlegs Posted July 17 Report Share Posted July 17 No need for a flail starmer will have it built on next week Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
islandgun Posted July 17 Report Share Posted July 17 Most of the western side of the Outer Hebrides is known as Machair a herb rich grassland, cultivated, grazed and fallow, often with a dressing of seaweed, and its this management without chemicals that maintains the flora and fauna the machair is famous for, my croft is in the main Machair which I try to maintain in the traditional way. https://presscentre.nature.scot/news/snh-puts-scottish-machair-on-the-map Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnphilip Posted July 17 Report Share Posted July 17 1 hour ago, islandgun said: Most of the western side of the Outer Hebrides is known as Machair a herb rich grassland, cultivated, grazed and fallow, often with a dressing of seaweed, and its this management without chemicals that maintains the flora and fauna the machair is famous for, my croft is in the main Machair which I try to maintain in the traditional way. https://presscentre.nature.scot/news/snh-puts-scottish-machair-on-the-map Your talk of sea weed on the land reminds me of the film. " The Field" set in Ireland . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jall25 Posted July 17 Report Share Posted July 17 Our meadows are similar to the OP - has not taken hundreds of years - just about 10 really Its amazing how nature bounces back - some of the improved grassland we have i stopped the tenants spraying about 6/7/ years ago and they are just filling lovely now with flowers - I spread green hay from the established meadows Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scolopax Posted July 18 Report Share Posted July 18 Some of the most herb rich grass fields locally to me are the ring of small farms/ horse fields around separating the city from its nearest village, less than a mile. Yes the ‘green belt’, our builders and land speculators are slavering at the idea of building thousands of houses on it now Labour are in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moondoggy Posted July 18 Report Share Posted July 18 Bee paradise 🐝 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vince Green Posted July 18 Report Share Posted July 18 On 17/07/2024 at 10:31, johnphilip said: Your talk of sea weed on the land reminds me of the film. " The Field" set in Ireland . They used sea weed on the land in Cornwall too but (I'm told) they are not allowed to come down on the beaches and remove it anymore In Jersey they grow Jersey Royal Potatoes on seaweed but the name is protected Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnphilip Posted July 18 Report Share Posted July 18 4 minutes ago, Vince Green said: They used sea weed on the land in Cornwall too but (I'm told) they are not allowed to come down on the beaches and remove it anymore In Jersey they grow Jersey Royal Potatoes on seaweed but the name is protected That's a shame, as it will just rott away at the high tide mark and smell. Also on a big spring tide and strong wind of the sea, it will just end up on the roads . Happen a couple of times up here in southwest Scotland come around October time the kelp dies of and loads get dumped on the shore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ditchman Posted July 18 Report Share Posted July 18 15 minutes ago, Vince Green said: They used sea weed on the land in Cornwall too but (I'm told) they are not allowed to come down on the beaches and remove it anymore In Jersey they grow Jersey Royal Potatoes on seaweed but the name is protected i believe the EU banned the removing of seaweed from the shore as it interfered with the biodiversity......thats why jersey spuds taste boring now.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
islandgun Posted July 18 Report Share Posted July 18 Tangle is the local Hebridean name for seaweed and its deposited on the beaches in many tons after autumn gales, it stabilisers the sand in the upper beaches and helps to form dunes, adding nutrients for marram grass etc. crofters traditionally collected a few tons over the winter and spread it on the thin sandy machair soil before ploughing in for potatoes and oats sown in the spring, the small areas of cultivated land allowed rare cornfield annuals to grow and the fallow/grazed land that follows encourages wild flowers until the next cultivation. sadly the tangle is now so badly infested with plastic that it makes it nigh on impossible to separate the weed from the plastic, below is pic of some of my carrots showing the type of soil... [carrots do very well in the free draining sandy soil] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokingdragon Posted July 19 Report Share Posted July 19 Looks very tidy! Any issues with carrot fly? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
islandgun Posted July 19 Report Share Posted July 19 33 minutes ago, smokingdragon said: Looks very tidy! Any issues with carrot fly? I haven't noticed it, we do have plenty of wind though..😉 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amateur Posted July 19 Report Share Posted July 19 28 minutes ago, islandgun said: I haven't noticed it, we do have plenty of wind though..😉 Is that due to the beans? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokingdragon Posted July 19 Report Share Posted July 19 51 minutes ago, amateur said: Is that due to the beans? Laverbread / Seaweed has the same effect 🙂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ditchman Posted July 19 Report Share Posted July 19 Rabbits ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discobob Posted July 19 Report Share Posted July 19 On 17/07/2024 at 06:53, Ratlegs said: starmer will have it built on next week Solar panels Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
islandgun Posted July 19 Report Share Posted July 19 11 minutes ago, ditchman said: Rabbits ? Rabbit mesh on the fence Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ratlegs Posted July 20 Report Share Posted July 20 20 hours ago, discobob said: Solar panels Agree, make us dependent on food imports Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ditchman Posted July 20 Report Share Posted July 20 On 19/07/2024 at 12:28, islandgun said: Rabbit mesh on the fence they look ready to pull.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adzyvilla Posted July 20 Report Share Posted July 20 On our farm when I was growing up we had one particular meadow that had a Brook flowing right through the middle of it. It was right on the boundary of our place and bordered the farms small wood and flight pond that my dad put in in the late 70s. As it was tucked out of the way and relatively small at just over two acres it was just left to grow wild and the only attention it got was if one of our neighbours sheep escaped. It looked very much the same as your picture, absolutely full of wetland wild flowers and a haven for the likes of great crested newts and all kinds of moths and butterflies. We had a tutor from the local ag college come down a couple of times to do wildlife surveys and he told us it was the most diverse place in terms of flora and fauna for miles. When dad retired and the farm lease lapsed some of the land was sold for development and Google earth shows the new housing but it also shows the meadow and wood are still there. I often wonder what sort of state they are in. I shot my first duck on that flight pond and bagged my best ever haul flighting pigeons in the wood, but that was over 25 years ago now. I hope for the sake of the local wildlife it all still thrives to this day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marquesgriffin Posted Sunday at 13:44 Report Share Posted Sunday at 13:44 Sooo, shooting to see these pic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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