Scything, Peening & Tool Sharpening Courses; ~ Visit our Meadows ~ No Mow May vs The Chelsea Chop
June News From Scythe Cymru
Category: Ecology
Night Scents and Secrets
Meadows are a beautiful sight but have you ever noticed their scents? During the day there is not much, except maybe the sweet smell of curing hay. Come the fall of evening though, the scents come alive. One of the rewards of working outdoors late into the evening is the
Planning your Meadow Management
Although it does not feel like it, spring will be upon us soon. Whether you have acres of grassland or a wildlife patch in the corner of your allotment, this is an ideal time to plan how you will manage your meadow over the coming year. Below are some tasks
The Summer of Hay Making Begins.
It’s a weekend of firsts – we had our first beginners scythe course of the season yesterday and we started the first hay making of the year. Phil also found the first orchids in the hay field. The first was in bud……. and the second was starting to open. The beauty
Cutting Norfolk Reed with a Scythe
Winter is somewhat of a quiet season for the scythe but for a number of years now Richard Brown, member of the Scythe Association of Britain and Ireland (SABI), has been giving fellow members an opportunity to get in a bit of winter mowing by cutting reed on the wildlife
Tracing the Scent
There is a particular spot on one of the Trust paths that often smells rather, well, unpleasant. I walk by frequently when we have stock in the far field and the source has been puzzling me since the summer. At first I thought it was a dead fox or similar,
Waxcap Time
Every autumn we look out for the attractive and highly coloured waxcaps (hygrocybe spp), spindle and coral fungi on the farm and at our local churchyards. Worth a search but harder to spot are the strange looking earthtounges. These fungi are strongly associated with old grassland, church yards and lawns and
Extra course dates added, Extra flowering in the meadow
Due to the demand we have had for both Introductory Scythe courses and Peening workshops this year we have decided to add two extra dates. The additional Introductory Scythe course will be on Wednesday 16th September. The additional Peening and Sharpening Workshop on 30th August, a perfect opportunity to give
Mole Meditations
Spring, the grass is growing and it is time to bash the mole hills. This period of dry sunny weather has made the mole hills friable and easy to spread, so I have been out in the hay field armed with a rake and doing just that. While raking, I
Biodiversity at Dyfed Permaculture Farm Trust
The picture below is of a moth trap glowing at the bottom of one of the Trust’s hay meadows. This was set up on the evening of Monday 30th June and shone brightly for several hours through the night, looking like a UFO had landed! The moth trap. Moths attracted
Establishing Yellow Rattle (Rhinanthus minor)
Spring is well underway, the grass is growing and the Yellow Rattle Rhinanthus minor is germinating in the hay meadows. It is also germinating in profusion in many of the areas that we mulched with grass and hay from Cae Mari Jones last summer and autumn. Yellow Rattle (Rhinanthus minor)
Colourful Waxcap Fungi found at Dyfed Permaculture Farm Trust
Clavaria zollingeri (Violet Coral) in Penboyr churchyard My daughter and I have had an interest in Waxcaps (Hygrocebe spp) and associated fungi since we were lucky enough to discover an important site for them at Penboyr Churchyard (os ref: SN 360363), a short walk from our home. We have been