Thursday 27th August: thanks to Paul Arthur for this report/click an image to enlarge & scroll
We had a very successful scything session in the community orchard this morning. Despite the threat of rain, a few of the team started work at 7 am; the rest joining at 8 am and beyond.
The remaining long grass in the meadow area (about 40% of the whole meadow) was scythed. The grass was raked up and stashed underneath the hedge to the left of the gate into the wildlife area.
Also, the remaining long grass in the wildlife area (50% of the whole area nearest the entrance to the wildlife area) was scythed. The bulk of this cut grass was added to the pile for the Town Council to take away. We skirted around a hedge bedstraw, knapweed and birds foot trefoil, and two anthills! Afterwards, two areas of the wildlife area were scarified and yellow rattle, corky-fruited water-dropwort, knapweed and birds foot trefoil seeds were sown.
We spotted three wasp spiders during the course of the morning!
We finished just as the rain started to set in!
The plan now is for the recently scythed meadow area to be mown soon, then it will be harrowed, the debris raked up, and a mix of seeds including yellow rattle, corky-fruited water-dropwort, selfheal, and birds foot trefoil will be sown. We are aiming to have completed this work by mid-September.