This week, all eyes have been on the fields. Our crops have all peaked their heads above the parapet and we are now studiously awaiting their development. We are already collecting and collating data, trying to paint a more detailed picture of our progress than simply ‘it worked’ or ‘it didn’t’.
Next up, our wildflower meadows are in for some Trelonk-treatment. Establishing wildflower meadows, one may muse, could fall under ‘horticulture’ or even ‘estates’. As it happens, these wildflower meadows will be productive ones. The aim of the game is to provide enough pollen and nectar-rich plants throughout the growing season to keep pollinator populations buoyed, improving the yields of our insect-pollinated crops. This is conservation, habitat management and agriculture in pure symphony and I take a great deal of satisfaction from it!
A word of warning however, wildflower meadows take time to establish – many years in the making are some of the best, richest and diverse meadows – and as such, we may not see some of the species flowering until next spring!
