The may blossom has been particularly spectacular and long-lasting this summer, with swags of flowers (mostly white, some pink) overhanging hedgebanks beside narrow lanes and around little fields below Hingston Down. The previous succession of fruit blossom – sloe, plum, pear, cherry and apple – was prolific, but set is sparse, as blooms coincided with low temperatures and few pollinating insects.
In this current dry session, the sun shines hot from mid-morning, so I am out early to complete fixings of new nets on the fruit cage, hoping for rain to swell gooseberries, currants and raspberries. A swarm of bees flew in before the end of May and took over an inaccessible space in the barn roof. Blackbird, chiffchaff, wren and blackcap are most voluble in the early and late coolness, but predatory crows, squirrels and magpies are on the lookout in this enclave of wooded and overgrown land.
Holly has shed flower clusters, tall sycamores dangle lime-green racemes, and the purple and mauve petals on the Judas tree and wisteria have faded. Dogwoods (seeded from an old tree established before we came here, almost 50 years ago) now show flowers with creamy bracts, like the brooch sent to my grandmother by her sister, who worked on Vancouver Island.
Come evening, the drying north-easterly breeze continues to rustle leaves and mast on the nearby landmark clump of beech. Evening sun sifts through laneside ferns with campions, sorrel, foxgloves, seeding stitchwort and bluebells, all entwined with tendrils of bryony and goosegrass. Adjoining fields show a variety of pasture usage – those already cut and harvested need rain for further growth, as does a dusty pasture ranged over by sheep. A rare uncut field sports waving, pollen-full grasses with red clover, while fenced horse enclosures gleam gold with creeping buttercup.
Two separate fields, each full of young bullocks a week ago, are stock-free, already sprouting shining blades of grass. This is “mob” grazing (short duration at high stocking density); longer rest periods lead to deeper roots and better soil structure, which is essential to withstand the prolonged periods of dry or wet weather that have become common.
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