Walking on a farm

All the posts today have been using photos from an hours walk on the farm. Walking is good for you and look at what you can see around you - nature at its best!

Remember to follow the countryside code when visiting or walking in the countryside for more details follow the link below and find publications in the left-hand side menu

http://www.countrysideaccess.gov.uk/

Clover

The clover is in flower in the field margins! Good to see it fixing nitrogen into the soil!

Wheat - growing well

The wheat is growing well - good news if we want to eat bread, biscuits, cakes etc !

We are growing feed wheat which is fed to livestock.

Mind you if you look at the top picture you can see where the rabbits were helping themselves earlier on in the year - at the field edge!

Bracken - fronds uncurling

Have you ever seen a bracken leaf uncurling? Well down in the wood you can!

There are concerns about the spread of bracken because it contains a chemical, ptaquiloside, that if it enters the water supply could cause digestive problems or even cancer. This chemical is tested for by our water company, Welsh Water, on a routine basis.

It is ok for bracken to be growing in the woods, but it will cause illness in horses and cattle so we need to ensure it does not spread too far into the fields!

Still I think the plant is amazing to see at this time of year!

Oil Seed Rape

We posted pictures of the rape in flower in April, but now, in June, the seed pods are forming and the plant now looks very different! Amazing to see how it capturing solar energy and converts it to oil!

Woodland Flowers

Well the woods have changed again in June - and they are in the pink!

The Foxgloves are in flower and we also have a myriad of other woodland flowers too!

Another source of poultrydiscussion at home!

Oak Lore

Sid the woodman says that if "The Oak is out before the Ash then there will be a splash!" Well it certainly has been dry the last few weeks - so we could do with some rain.

The Trafalgar Oaks have been planted! The parish council supplied twenty-five oak trees to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar in 2005.

They will be a sight to behold in a couple of hundred years ...

More woodland flowers

The bluebells are out!

Woodland Flowers

The woods are alive with flowers this spring - yellow anenome ranunculoides to be precise - it is a real treat to walk among the flora and listen to the birds singing in the trees! The bluebells are just a few weeks away!

Oil Seed Rape

Picture 1: Winter Oil Seed Rape (Canola) - growing - January 2007

Picture 2 Winter Oil Seed Rape (Canola) - in flower April 2007

This last week the oil seed rape has come into flower. From the hill that we live on the vista is completely yellow! Farmers have planted rape, or canola as it is known in the US, so that we can supply the vegetable oil, animal feed or fledgling biodiesel market. It is incredible to watch how the plant captures the energy from the sun - first to grow and then to make oil. It was planted in the autumn and by January (Picture 1) the plants were well established; now in April (Picture 2) the plants are in flower and a metre tall. Now that you have seen it growing check out the vegetable oil on the food shelves - Does it contain rapeseed oil , which countries does the oil come from? Many labels also carry a picture of the plant. Watch out in August on this blog for pictures of the harvest -