Over 30 meadow owners enjoyed the chance to hear first hand about meadow restoration at Brockhampton Cottage. Peter Clay first started in the area near the drive with a bespoke wildflower mix from a seed supplier and added plant plugs to create a designed wildflower meadow based on typical Herefordshire plants. Since 2013 the work has evolved to use local… Read more →
Monthly Archives: July 2018
Herbal leys, permanent pastures and meadows, opportunities for reducing feed costs in a conservation focussed business model
Following Jonty Brunyee’s talk at Herefordshire Meadows Forum in February we took up the offer of a visit and headed off to Conygree Farm, Aldsworth, Glos on 10 July during the hottest week of the summer so far. seed brush harvester discussing meat box… Read more →
Detective work with a quadrat – plant ID on the Bromyard Downs
Herefordshire Meadows and Worcestershire Pollinator Groups met on the Bromyard Downs on 3rd July for plant ID training led by Stuart Hedley with Sue Holland and Peter Garner. Several members of the Bromyard Downs Commoners Association (BDCA) joined the group as we looked at plants in three different grassland areas on the Common. Although close together these areas have been… Read more →
Green Hay Strewing Demonstration by Peter Tierney
Herefordshire Meadows Group visited Upper Bryn Farm Longtown to see Peter Tierney’s hay strewing in action on 24 July 2018. Left -Harrowing receptor to get 50-60% bare ground – Centre – minibaler – Right – bale rolled out before tedding Left – Tedding out green hay on receptor site showing width of swath after tedding out in 2… Read more →
Monitoring marathon at Hurstans Coronation Meadows
Herefordshire Meadows Group spent 22 June at Hurstans Coronation Meadows in Sollers Hope hosted by Fiona and Chips Fyshe learning a detailed monitoring technique with Stuart Hedley as their trainer and in collaboration with Joe Costley of Plantlife. We used a 1 x 1 m quadrat subdivided into 9 smaller squares We did the first quadrat together, refreshing ID skills… Read more →
Careful preparation of receptor field is key to successful meadow enhancement
Herefordshire’s Coronation Meadows at Hurstans were seeded in 2015 with local provenance seed from Plantlife’s reserve at nearby Joan’s Hill Farm (donor site) The project is a collaboration between Plantlife and hosts Fiona and Chips Fyshe. This is a simple photographic record of the work as a starting point for anyone considering enhancing meadows with seed ( or green hay… Read more →
Help us press for changes to Mid Tier Countryside Stewardship grassland option prescriptions for GS2 and GS6
Please be aware that the GS2 and GS6 options in Countryside Stewardship currently don’t permit enhancement by hay strewing, seeding or wildflower plugs. Having more flowering plants in grassland is something many Herefordshire Meadows members are working on and it is very frustrating that Mid Tier works against one of our Group’s core objectives. This is because the prescriptions make… Read more →
Vintage hay making event 18th July
Jonathan Boaz is holding a vintage hay making day on Wed 18th July (to be confirmed if the weather is iffy ) It will be held at Curlew Call Farm, Saleway, near Droitwich, WR9 7JY There will be machinery, hay boxes and all kinds of hay related gismos being demonstrated. Jonathan is chair of the Worcestershire Pollinator Facilitation Fund Group with… Read more →
And the sorrel gets it – beware culling sorrel when controlling dock in flower
If you are following the advice from the Group members who’ve hosted recent events this summer about dealing with weeds in your grassland before you even consider any enhancement work it’s good to make sure you know how to tell sorrel from dock They can look very similar when only the flowers are visible in a hay meadow and it’s a… Read more →