My first mowing job of the year: clearing the bracken and brambles around the recreation area at the edge of Langford Heathfield ready to show off the emerging bluebells.
This is the second year I have cleared this area and it is already showing signs of improvement in terms of fewer brambles and less bracken growth.
Today I have mostly been building a compost bin. Or to be more precise I have been building a 2 bay extension to an existing 2 bay bin. Obviously there is no such thing as too much compost. I still need to cut the old bins down to the same height as the new ones but overall I’m fairly pleased with the result.
Last week I turned the stagnant heap from bay one into bay two and in the space of a week it had heated up so much that I couldn’t put my hand in more than about 10 inches without getting burnt!
I came across a clutch of empty grass snake eggs in the heap. According to my pocket brain (Google), the grass snake is the only native British snake that does not give birth to live young. I learn something every day.
Today I made my annual pilgrimage across the county to Lottisham to mow a charming little wildflower meadow.
I’m sure it looks absolutely magnificent in midsummer: unfortunately, as with most of these artificial meadows, by the time I come to mow it’s predominantly brown and dry.
In previous years I’ve come across an assortment of wildlife in this meadow, especially frogs, but today it was just one little mouse in the lee of the wall. Maybe I’m getting slower in my old age!
This is my very first blog post….ever!
The aim of this blog is to talk about my work as a (mostly barefoot) gardener and a champion of the scythe. (You can check out my website http://www.somesetscytheschool.com for more details about that).
I’ll be posting photos of things that catch my eye in the garden accompanied by verbal ramblings about my work as well as course reviews and pics and anything else I think might be appropriate.
I hope some of you might read it from time to time and possibly even enjoy it.
Hopefully, I’ll enjoy the process too!
mowermeadow 