Preparing the ground

We were lucky with the weather for the first work party of 2019. It was a pleasant and sunny and our work area was sheltered from the strong west wind. With 6 of us working we soon removed the strongest clumps of grass and other over-vigorous plants in preparation for later seed sowing.

Once again the aim is to have the cornfield annuals that give such a show of colour each summer in this border and provide a wealth of pollen, especially for hoverflies.

There will be seed germinating from the seed shed into the soil from the flowers of previous years, but this will be supplemented in March or April with seed collected last year, mostly from poppy.

We also discovered some of the usually hidden wildlife in the shape of this moth caterpillar that lives in the soil and eats plant roots, hence it does not need to rely on camouflage colouring.

Thanks again to all who came along - it made for a very pleasant afternoon.