Bog Myrtle & Peat

It was great fun to head up north and have a look about, but how things were going at the Chayne was always on my mind when I was away. I now have so many little irons in the fire across the farm that I have been on tenterhooks to see how they have all managed over the past ten days.

I seem to have been away during the precise moment when summer arrived. Blackthorn blossom that was just emerging is now dying away, and grass is shooting up so quickly. As I drove the last mile to my house by the Solway coast last night, I spotted a tiny shape trotting by the verge. It was only the size of a rabbit, but it was chocolate brown and ran with a clumsy swagger. As I slowed down, it turned to face me and I recognised it as a six or seven week old fox cub. In my ignorance, I had thought that cubs were only just being born, so it showed me how much trouble I could have on my hands over the next few weeks.

My birches on the Chayne are all coming away nicely, as are the rowans, cherries and willows, and I was amazed to visit the heather laboratory and see what a difference the stock proof fence has made to the hare’s tail cotton grass. The flowers of this plant are an important food for black and red grouse as they prepare to breed, but it is also heavily grazed by sheep. Now that the flowers are turning into the whispy white fruits, it is very obvious that protecting it from livestock makes an enormous difference. The heather itself is not any further forward than that outside the enclosure, but I am sure that keeping livestock off that little patch will soon begin to show dividends.

Bracken is beginning to unfurl in the far triangle where I have been planting birches, and I will have to do something about that in due course. Orchids and wild flowers are starting to emerge in the fenced off areas, and it is extremely gratifying to see my hard work beginning to pay off. Although I didn’t see him today, the black grouse cock is still around and about. The shepherd tells me that she can hear that he still performs a shortened version of his lekking display at dawn, but how the greyhen is doing is a total mystery. I have my fingers crossed for her…

Now that I am back, I have a whole new list of projects to begin. Summer is here, and I feel more encouraged than ever about the entire project.