I’ve learnt to love moles (Feb21)
My mother was very keen on mole traps, following a tradition that apparently started in Roman times. I remember having them firmly planted in the soft earth mounds that would regularly appear on our lawn. When I moved to Dorset, I’m embarrassed to say that I employed a mole catcher, who set the traps. Never […]
BEING FRIENDLY TO BARN OWLS (Dec20)
I’m learning about owls. My interest has been propelled by the regular nightly call of a male tawny owl. He seems to be much more vocal than the female because I’m not sure I’ve heard her calling back…. However, what I’m now listening out for is the screeching call of a barn owl. I’m very […]
Wilding week 2 (Jul20)
The diggers are in their element The water meadow is now looking pretty earthy with very little water at all. The old mill pond has been drained to reveal a shallow muddy bottom – it turns out that it was pretty full of silt. If we’d left it for a few more years, it would […]
Going wild in Dorset (Sep19)
I’m tremendously excited about our new landscaping project… The central idea is wilding and I’m learning about what this means in practice. One concept I found rather appealing was to look at nettles and docks, which love fertile, agriculture land, as the bully boys. And we’re going to replace them with a myriad of other […]
Butterflies love this meadow
A wonderful place near me. It’s full of wild flowers. Butterflies and bees love it. It also have far reaching views over Dorset countryside right the way to the sea on one side. Heaven… Trying to decide whether to create wildflower meadows at home. The benefits are clear. The downside is that it means killing […]