Brunch

A brief field visit Thursday, bacon rolls from Mickey Broxton's on the A41 and a picnic in the Landrover along the hedgeline.
August's mixed weather has brought the grass on quite well, although the buttercups are recovering a bit too - at least I got them mown before they'd gone to seed.

A walk along the hedges and trackway revealed a plum or damson tree doing rather well - quite a lot of dark purple fleshy fruits, quite pleasant to eat too.
This is at the same ground level as the field and growing out of the bank of the ditch, so I'm not too cautious now about creating the informal orchard area...

A quiet week

A Sunday evening call by the meadow after travelling back north from Wiltshire and Gloucestershire (A Georgian garden party at Painswick Rococo Gardens...) and the first reliably sunny day for a while too.
The missing gate from the nearby access track appears to be in the bottom of the brook, which will be a bit of a wrestle to retrieve.
Not much done at the field this week due to sorting a new shed for the tractor at home and generally tidying around.
The grass (and the neighbour's maize) have really noticeably grown and the hawthorn hedge has a noticeable amount of berries.

A couple of weeks...

A quick wander around the hedgerows yesterday evening after an absence of a couple of weeks.
The grass has sprung up quite well after mowing and harrowing last month. Still a lot of buttercup plants amongst it and nettles coming back at the edges.
After last week's rain, the ground was moist underfoot - but not waterlogged.
The ash trees and field maple are noticeably in seed now.

The spare gate from the bottom of the shared track has vanished, hopefully someone had the same idea as me to replace the bashed gatepost and refit it - although somehow I think it's been borrowed long term...

RPA admin, flood warnings and meadow mixes

Relayed from back at home, confirmation of a 'P I' - personal identifier for agricultural activities after sending of a Creg1 form and a follow-up phone call with the Rural Payments Agency for a County Parish holding number and a few other details.
Although the relatively small acreage means I'm unlikely to be bestowed with grants as a countryside custodian, it's an essential bit of administration if I make an application under the English Woodland Grant Scheme before the September 2010 deadline.

A phone call to the Environment Agency to set up automated flood warning messages by text and email (their website is easy for householders and business to register online, but landowners without a postal address get transferred to a regional office to clarify the details).

Meanwhile a bit of research into seed mixes for meadows - I've ordered a small pack of seed to trial of a traditional Yorkshire meadow mix, but I'm considering a larger mix from MAS Seeds or Manor Oaks