What a difference a week makes

The cover crops have changed completely in a week. The red clover is luxurious and the mustard is coming into flower on another plot. Check them out

Mustard mix

Red Clover

Regeneration after mowing - floristically enhanced plot

Renewal after mowing

Cover crops are growing

The cover crops are growing before our very eyes - it is amazing to see the change in just seven days.

Cover crops - photos

Each plot has a different mix of seeds to promote either birds, bees or small mammals.

All the seeds have now been eaten by the birds

This is how the cover crops currently look - at face value their benefit to wildlife might look limited but just wait a few short weeks .... The birds are still getting valuable food from them too

Look closely and there is lots of new growth!

Cover crops in March

We had a meeting this week to discuss the Natural England cover crop plots and the exciting plans for this year.

It is still quite amazing how many birds are feeding on the cover crops. The problem is the delay on the camera, and my reactions are too slow to picture them as they fly away from the plots. The plants are starting to renew and grow and we have been planning this years farm visits so that we can show other farmers the benefits that we have seen especially in the winter plots.

Some of the plots are alive with insects especially spiders which will be a good food source for other birds and small mammals. This will help the food web on the farm as the small mammals provide a food source for the owls which we have seen hunting this winter.

Cover crops - winter feed for the birds

The idea of the cover crops is to provide winter feed for the birds. We will watch over the coming weeks to see if they start to take advantage of the food source.

More cover crops in August

Here are some more cover crop photos

Bees on the sunflowers

One of the other plots now has sunflowers in bloom so the bees have moved on and seem very happy with the next plot we have grown

Cover crops in August

Well some of the cover crops have really changed check out the phacelia - all the blue flowers have gone. The fodder radish and mustard have gone into pod now and they are full of seeds which will support seed eating birds through the winter. Check out how they looked in July and June.

Cover crops are changing

The cover crops have changed a lot in just a few weeks - check them out.

Cover crop plots in July

Just a few short weeks and the cover crops have changed completely. The mustard and the fodder radish are now producing pods of seeds.

Bees in abundance

Two of the cover crops that we have planted fodder radish and phacelia have been alive with bees this weekend. I am a very amateur photographer and the pictures don't really do the scene justice - there were literally hundreds of bees working away across the flowers. Imagine if all farmers just planted a small field corner or gardeners planted a part of their flower bed - it would make a real difference to the bee population.

Natural England Farm Walk

Yesterday we hosted our first Natural England farm walk looking at the cover crops. There were over thirty people discussing the issues that they had had and their successes with developing wildlife areas for bees, birds, insects and the weather was with us on the day.

More cover crops in June

These photos may not be as dramatic as the others, but they show coverage of the soil to prevent soil erosion and we will have to wait and see how the crops progress over the coming months.

Cover crop plots in June

These photos show some of the other trial plots that include triticale, and kale in the seed mixes. The fields in the distance contain mustard which is now in flower and not oil seed rape. The mustard has been planted to try and improve the soil structure in the fields after the poor harvest conditions last year - check out so wet we can't harvest the potatoes

More photos of cover crops in flower

Cover crop plots in flower

The difference in two weeks on the cover crop plots is amazing! Check out the photos!