Just One Field

25/05/2026

The nettle and bramble bank is a rich resource for wildlife. But it also needs controlling, one of the most demanding aspects of field management, else the bramble will move inexorably across the field.

16/04/2026

The bank hawthorns aren't that big, so it was a surprise that four out of five are in blossom. The bank they are on is comprised of building rubble and two years ago this month, it wasn't easy to dig the holes for them. Plus last summer's drought was in theory stressful for all trees. Yet without additional watering, all bar one still grew substantially. Hawthorns are clearly super tough.

18/02/2026

Voles don't breed until March, a bit like birds. So this raking up and cutting down of their environment isn't quite so destructive at this time of year as it would be later. And confining the raking and trimming to the areas next to the paths reduces the likelihood of them being in the vicinity anyway. The raking is exposing bare ground and, being both lifelong gardeners, the temptation to try to seed it is strong. But ideally we need to wait and see what arrives. Patience! Let's hope it isn't just yet more docks...

30/12/2025

Our scrapes are really not very large, and they always dry out. We have five of them. Two we lined with leftover liner from a pond we dug in the back garden this summer, and unsurprisingly they have retained the rainwater we filled them with this autumn. One was even visited by a Southern Hawker dragonfly, one of the largest in the UK (see pic below). Dragonflies were super fast to start laying eggs in the new garden pond - within a day indeed, even though it had nothing in the way of vegetation either around it or in it at that time. There was an air of desperation about them, you might say. These habitats are badly needed. We will do all we can to bring them to the field as well. Assuming we can dodge the polluted drainage from the farmland to the south, of course. Which should be possible since we are digging some thirty metres away from that farmland, too far for surface water to travel and far enough too, for groundwater to naturally filter out the nitrates and phosphates that industrial agriculture uses before they reach the ponds. 🤞🏻

31/10/2025

Trail cameras are a great boon when it comes to figuring what goes on in the field at night, and nearly all animals they reveal do not pay them heed. Except foxes. They always notice the infrared beams, even when these are meant to be 'lo-glow', as the manufacturers would have it, and they are wary and suspicious, on occasions opting to take off rather than risk greater proximity.
The best trail cameras are made by an US company called Browning, who also make guns, and they cater primarily to American hunters wanting to know what 'game' is available in their woods. Foxes don't feature largely in that sport, so it doesn't matter to the usual users if they are scared away. We're always sad to see it though. The photos below do suggest, however, that the local foxes are learning not to worry that much...

02/09/2025

The Mustelid family of carnivores includes such diverse animals as weasels (the world's smallest carnivore apparently, with females weighing no more than 50g and looking like a stretched mouse) and ferocious wolverines, the largest of the family and the size of a medium-sized dog. In the UK there are seven: otters, stoats, weasels, pine martins, polecats, badgers and American mink (guess which one isn't native). And one of that family visited the field recently. 🙂

11/07/2025

Apparently labyrinth spiders are common in rough grassland in southern England (although fairly rare further north), but I don't recall seeing them before in the field. It has been, however, a wonderfully warm season for all sorts of insects: there are easily ten times the butterflies in the field this year, compared to last, for example, and the paths are alive with bouncing crickets and grasshoppers. So I guess the spiders are cashing in ... 😉

19/06/2025

It's still not common knowledge that insect populations have fallen so far this century that ecologists are calling it The Insect Apocalypse, yet it seems they're declining at an unprecedented rate all over the world. Certainly once it was impossible to avoid insects covering a windscreen during a summer drive - I can remember in the 1980s and 90s worrying if my screenwash failed on a motorway how I would clear the screen of them. But younger generations have had no experience of such numbers and so probably can't understand what the fuss is about. (That said, this year, with the high temperatures and the drought, windscreens are at least bearing occasional evidence of insects ...) So, allowing they're in trouble, it seems smart to try to help them out. We've gone large in the field, but in any garden an easily obtainable wooden bug hotel placed where it receives sun most of the time, and is always out of the prevailing winds could soon have tenants. Why not give one a go?

14/05/2025

11/05/2025

The drought, as any UK gardener living in the south of England well knows, has been severe this spring. These crab apples discussed below appear to be resilient so far, being more prone to mildew if they stand in water for any length of time, than drying out quickly. Nevertheless, keeping the remaining potted trees happily growing on, rather than just alive, is proving a hard balance to achieve.

The ones in the ground, however, we're pleased to say are thriving - the heavy clay they are in holds water for a wonderfully long time it seems. There had to be an upside to digging them into such hard ground ... (all Carol's efforts, it must be said 😇).

02/05/2025

Worth trying - easier too, to not mow!

Let it grow! 🌱🦋

Research shows that letting parts of your garden grow wild with long grass can increase butterfly numbers up to 93% and attract a wider range of species.

Butterflies need longer grass to complete their lifecycles, and with more than half of UK butterfly species now in long-term decline, there has never been a more important time to create wilder habitats where they can thrive.

Pledge to put away the lawnmower this summer and get a free guide on how to manage your lawn for butterflies 👉 butterfly-conservation.org/make-your-promise