Mole Hills on Cae Mari Jones

I don’t think any scyther enjoys meeting a mole hill while mowing a good crop of hay. It interrupts the flow of your scythe strokes, and worse still, blunts your blade!

We obviously have a very healthy population of moles on the farm if the quantity of mole hills is anything to go by. Cae Mari Jones, our main hay field, has a particularly rich crop, as can be seen in the photo above.

Now, while the weather is dry but before the grass is really growing away, is the time of year to flatten them. This year I have been doing it by hand, armed with a stout garden rake. The work went faster then expected and I have already levelled about half the mole hills in the field.
The industrious moles will of course throw up more, but hopefully I will have reduced the number that will be lying in wait for the scythe.

And mole hills are not all bad news. Phil uses the fine crumbly soil to make a potting mix for filling larger pots. 2 parts mole hill : 2 parts compost : 1 part well rotted manure plus a handful of powdered seaweed works well and helps stretch out the bought in compost. It provides longer lasting fertility than the organic compost we use, which is particularly valuable for plants that will be staying in the pot for longer eg perennial plants. The pots filled with the mix are topped off with a layer of sterile compost to prevent weed growth.