As guests of our shepherd's huts will know, our beautiful and peaceful wildflower meadow is the setting for our four huts and outdoor spaces.
As harvest ended and the leaves started turning on the farm, we couldn't help but notice a flurry of activity in the meadow, so we popped over the hedge to catch up with our Welcome Manager Laura and the team, to find out what they've been up to.
"This summer has been crazily busy with the huts being chock-a-block and Summerdown opening our doors to farm tours and events. September has given us the chance to breathe, take a step back and do all the jobs we've been wanting to do in and around the huts to make them even better for next season. There's been a particular focus on the ecology of the meadow, with a little help from new friends too." says Laura.
Here are a few key developments....
A new wildlife pond
Having identified the perfect spot, Luca started digging the pond by hand in the summer, then our gamekeeper, Ken and his friend Billy used a small one ton digger to get the digging finished. The pond was then lined with carpet salvaged from landfill to protect the liner from splitting from the stones in the ground. A shallow end was formed as a lot of wildlife like the ‘beach’ effect of a gentle slope, especially if any wildlife fall in and get out of their depth - they're then able to get themselves out. We’ve planted it with oxygenating plants to keep the water fresh. The aim of the pond is to provide a water source to support the wildlife that call the meadow their home and playground. We’re also looking forward to seeing a variety of new species that will be encouraged into the meadow from dragonflies, damselflies, frogs and newts to name just a few.
Outdoor planting
We were looking for some gardening help as the shepherd’s huts got busier and busier last season. In answer to our prayers Katie visited Summerdown on our Essential Oils tour in the summer. She kindly offered her services as a professional gardener and spent two days with us. Her advice, skills and hard work has transformed our garden areas - they’re looking full and beautiful populated with perennials that will come up year after year and spring flowering bulbs to give us a little pop of colour next year!
Seed harvesting
Last year we planted a few hollyhock plants, grown from seed. They’ve taken well and the beauty of hollyhocks is their incredible height and ease of seed harvesting. So we’ve gathered another boxful ready to plant again and see what pops up next year.
Wildflower seeding
We had a lovely guest, Rosy who came on our Harvesting & Distillation tour in the summer. Having grown up on a farm as a child she missed life working with the ground and so returned on a sunny morning to help with the wildflower seeding.
Unlike many other seeds, wildflowers need very infertile soil to be successful. They also like the cold to be able to germinate. We’ve sewn a wildlflower mix curated from Yellow Rattle. It is hemiparasitic so attacks the root of grass, to enable space to form in the meadow for other wildflower species to grow through.
Last year at the end of the season we hand-harvested seeds from the cornflowers and oxeye daisies that were such prolific annuals. We added an agricultural wildflower seed mix that included buckwheat, radish, phacelia, … mixed together with some silver sand to aid its scattering. The ground needed some rotavating so with the help of ever-patient Carl we created areas within the meadow ready to seed.
We wonder who will come on our next tours in the Spring and want to get involved in Meadow watch!
