My 'proper job' puts a pause on progress at the meadow - despite grey and frosty weather over the last couple of weeks, the grass is noticeably green and wildlife seems sufficiently lively.
A few small bird species noticeable in the hedgerows and the woodpecker is back chiselling away high in an ash tree again. Two herons are regularly in the maize field behind and the buzzards calling from above.
An interesting programme on BBC 2 tonight, Bees, Butterflies and Blooms - mainly about the decline and reintroduction of perennial wild flowers.
A short while ago, a search on geo-tags brought up a link to some stunning local dragon-fly photos. One picture from around 2009 appears to have been taken on some meadowsweet in the field.
A couple of books on the go, I've just about finished Gardening: Philosophy for Everyone: Cultivating Wisdom - a series of essays that are wide ranging, from the Ancient Greeks, Versailles, The English Landscape Garden, Central Park and modern gardens from a philosophical standpoint.
The next book is The Making of the English Gardener: Plants, Books and Inspiration, 1560-1660
Locally, a Landrover and trailer have been stolen from near Malpas.
That was a good programme.The decline in pollinating insects is serious. One wonders why our government don't take a more active role in promoting this kind of conservation. I am sure it would be vote catcher for them which is really what most politicians see as their priority.
ReplyDeleteYup, it was an excellent programme — and much about the exciting horticultural stuff, wild flower stuff, is being done in Birmingham, where I now live (having been born and brought up in rural Cheshire . . . )
ReplyDeleteCities, particularly post-industrial ones like Brum and Manchester, are now places with more biodiversity than our agricultural hinterlands. Cities have the resources, too, to manage/encourage biodiversity.
It's also interesting that urbanities are beginning to grow edible plants. Todmorden's Incredible Edible springs to mind, also London's Capital Growth . . . We're hoping that something similar will emerge in Brum, too . . . not supposing for a nanosecond that cities can grow much a tiny, tiny fraction of the food they need, but that the social impact of growing edible plants appears brill . . .
We urbanities need re-skilling in horticultural practice. So there's a a great deal we can/need to learn from people like you.