Autumn magic
Dog Rosehips
Hello all
What a beautiful Autumn we have had so far, it’s been so lovely and warm during the day, but satisfyingly chilly and snuggly in the evenings!
It’s unusual to see all the trees still in full green leaf, my view from the office window over looking Bulbarrow hill still shows a sea of bright green oaks, with only a few horse chestnuts starting to turn.
The swallows have finally gone now though, a sure sign winter is on the way, the last few stragglers we spotted darting around the farm last week.
We are making the most of the glut of produce here on the farm with squash, courgettes, tomatoes, beetroot’s and onions being transformed into hearty stews for the team and the birds are starting to make the most of the windfall apples!
The hedges have been left uncut again, meaning hips, haws,blackberries and sloes a plenty for the birds and mammals.
It’s nearly hedge laying season again, and Graham and I will get started in the next few weeks, we’ll keep you posted on our progress.
Following the discovery that we have bats roosting in our shed roof we have purchased some bat boxes from http://www.alanaecology.com/ who specialise in bat products – boxes, identification charts etc as well as all other wildlife field equipment.
We also ordered some beautiful solitary Bee Boxes from Jon Colman of Bee Happy. John hand makes Bee boxes using local timer. He also runs children’s workshops, teaching them the importance of Bees and other insects and how to create habitats for them. http://www.beehappy.org.uk/
Thanks for reading
Charlotte x
Apple Tree in the nature reserve
