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John Josephi open day
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| Coffee and doughnuts |
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| Scythe Festival |
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| Moles |
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| Meadows |
Here you can post any ramblings about your land. Maybe you've had problems with water or foxes, or perhaps a new regime of cutting or grazing has worked rather well, fruit harvest was late, hornets have been a pain, or the orchids were wonderful. Although you may feel it is trivial, it might be very interesting and helpful for someone round the corner who has been puzzling about the same problem all year.
So, send me your ramblings and I will post them here. Just e-mail:
info@parishgrasslandsproject.org.uk
Field Visit to John Josephi's Orchard
Sunday May 23rd was a beautiful, hot, sunny day –
perfect weather for a relaxed walk around John Josephi’s
orchard on St. Briavels Common.
Around two dozen people turned up to hear John start by
explaining that he had inherited the land from his
father, and was continuing to manage it under DEFRA’s
Countryside Stewardship scheme. Under this scheme DEFRA
offers payment per hectare, plus a tariff of payments
for various aspects of that management, such as hedging,
walling, planting etc.
John’s first objective had been to reduce the fertility
of the soil, in order to bring back the wild flowers,
and started by removing the dung produced by animals
that had previously grazed the land.
Turning to look at an adjacent patch of woodland, he
pointed out where he had thinned out trees to maximize
growth of native species (holly not being one of them!).
He reminded us that it was the trunk of a stumpy-growing
oak that he had felled from this woodland that was now a
central pillar in the village shop.
Leading us to where a 90-year-old felled oak lay in
sections on the ground, John then proceeded, despite the
tropical temperature, to split and trim a length of
lower trunk, to illustrate how he made gate posts,
stakes etc. In a novel arrangement of lengths of the
thinner timber corralled in a tall stack between stakes,
he showed us, using a chainsaw, how to slice down the
stack in one stroke, producing the maximum heap of logs
for the minimum of effort.
We next moved to his individual fruit trees – wrapped,
staked and netted for maximum protection against voles,
rabbits, deer etc.
Finally we walked through the woodland to see at closer
range the effects of thinning, and on to his neighbours’
property where the grass management here had consisted
of cutting it and leaving it in situ. The difference
between this and John’s land was clearly noticeable.
A professional grass management expert in the group said
that research had shown that removing the cut grass was
the preferable option – not least because leaving it in
situ encourages slugs.
As we moved back up the orchard, John was able to show
us where orchids were now appearing, after giving the
patch of land a timely dose of Roundup, together with
yellow rattle and lousewort.
To round off the visit, we retired to the welcome shade
of an old pear tree for ginger beer and John’s, now
legendary, doughnuts.
Our thanks are due to John for such an interesting,
informative and hospitable afternoon. We may have even
recruited some new members in the process!
Jean Pitt
Posted 28/6/10
Scythe Festival
I spent Sunday 13 June in a large field near
Muchelney in the Somerset Levels at the annual Green
Scythe Festival, mainly so that I could see scything
done properly. The event attracted all ages to an arena
of well-grown ley grassland, set amongst an extensive
car park and a ‘street’ of small marquees
exhibiting not just scythe-related paraphernalia, but
also numerous broadly green exhibits and a gipsy
caravan, its horse and a tea kettle blackening over a
wood fire. Whilst the Scouts, Wildlife Trusts and Soil
Association joined the Hampshire woodworkers, green
energy firms (or, in one case, ‘solutions’), a pressure
group against nuclear expansion at Hinkley Point, a firm
marketing organic dog-waste disposal bags, a
demonstration of pit-sawing, numerous food stalls and
much else, the actual scything was organised by the
wildly enthusiastic black-bearded man who runs the
scythe shop from a farm outbuilding elsewhere in
Somerset. All-comers could try the ‘all you can mow in a
minute’ competition, but the main events were a team of
4 race, a scythe v strimmer challenge, and an individual
competition in rounds that ended with the title of
champion scythes man or, indeed, woman. The best
competitors could wield a large blade smoothly, without
evident hurry, mostly men in the 30-50 age group. There
was much sharpening of blades on the sidelines; scythes
lying beside the arena; chaps doing running repairs on a
scythe anvil, bashing out nicks; and people everywhere
carrying scythes. Spectators like myself had to be wary
of standing behind off-duty competitors carrying scythes
over their shoulder, but there was no sign of health and
safety officials, and one competitor scythed bare-foot.
The whole lot was conducted in an informal
light-hearted, bantering manner, except when actually
scything. I left not entirely sure whether it was
serious or a long, elaborate, tacit joke (probably the
former), but it was certainly an enjoyable day, and some
of the scything was every bit as good as I had seen from
traditional farmers in Romania recently.
The crowds were also entertained by
story-tellers and vigorous dance bands; a rabble-rouser
on stilts; a hay-play den for children, lots of mostly
vegetarian food; and only a few of the hippie
persuasion. Most of the cars parked on the margins were
not young.
posted 23/06/2010
Moles
Every year a few molehills appear in our fields, usually
in clusters, which I'm told are due to single moles
setting up runs and 'worm-traps'. For a year or two
I recorded the distribution of the clusters and found
that they were not concentrated in any particular area,
so either moles move on or die, or else they stop once
they have set up their runs. Our lawn, too, is
mole-ridden and, although the molehills are raked out,
the ground is actually a dense network of mole runs just
below the surface. 
This year the moles have surpassed
themselves, turning most fields to a state that recalls
the worst attacks of childhood chicken-pox. During the
repeated snows on January and February, we were forcibly
reminded of how many there were when we tried
cross-country skiing - which is hard enough anyway, and
doubly so when one hits frozen mole hills repeatedly. We
were also treated to displays of molehill digging as we
skied - fresh mounds appearing above the snow as we
stood there.
The sheer number of hills moved me to
work out how much ground they cover. Using a tape and
random transects, I calculated that molehills occupy 24%
of the ground in the densest clusters. They must depress
grass productivity and they are a menace to haymaking,
and so they will be scarified out shortly, but they help
the flowers by providing fresh germination sites. As
happens so often, the greatest biodiversity is
associated with conditions that are not ideal for
farming.
George Peterken
posted 7/3/2010
Last week I went to Shirenewton to talk to the local history society about meadows and traditional haymaking. It was arranged a year ago, but it turned out to be well timed, for Shirenewton village has just acquired land for a village meadow. The village has two centres, separated by small fields, and it is for these that the community raised a nearly-six-figure sum. I did not see the field itself, but I understand that its a pleasantly flowery meadow with lots of colour but no great rarities, and that it is studded with 25 oaks - a meadow-parkland, in fact. The idea is that this will remain a public open space; that it will be treated as an ordinary meadow with grazing after the hay has been taken; and that it will be used for teaching by the local school. In the not-too-distant future, I hope to be invited to a village haymaking gathering, one of the lost traditions of rural Britain. An example for our own community?
A postscript on Shirenewton's parish meadow.
George Peterken
Posted 4/3/09 - PS added 3/4/09