After a couple of cuts to keep down arable weeds, the new grassland on the Cornfield is starting to look like a meadow at last! To recap, we are creating 1.5 hectares of wildflower-rich grassland so that we can move cattle off the floodplain if it becomes too wet, and to provide extra habitat for Necklace Ground Beetle, bumblebees and a host of other species.

Having established a sward using a Yorkshire-provenance wild grass mixture, we’re now spreading hay from Copse Meadow to introduce wildflowers. A hay bale from an Ings meadow contains around half a million seeds, so this is a great source of local seed. Our young helpers Jacob and Frances have unrolled the bales but now we need to spread the hay across the field. If anyone can spare an hour or two this week, please get in touch.

Jacob & Francis ‘unrolling’ a bale