Yes, the boys are back in town – Lammas grazing time already! So we have 27 bullocks meandering around the site.

The reasons why the site is grazed are explained in this blog.

Thursday was the last evening work party of 2017 and the purpose was to add some mature tansy plants to the Ings Dyke bank, along with some gyspywort (another Tansy Beetle food plant) by the Pond. Despite there being only three of us (Judi, Pete and Mick) this was done quickly and we then focused on pulling the Himalayan Balsam along the fence line with Clifton Sports Club.

We were also able to confirm that generation 2017 of the Tansy Beetles were around in quite large numbers as can be see from this photo of a group on a self-seeded plant along Ings Dyke that had none before this year!

The next work party is planned for Sunday 27th August from 10:30 onward. We’ll be working on the bee bank in the northern part of the Cornfield arable, so meet at the Cornfield gate. We have some more gypsywort to plant by the bee bank pond as a good pollen source but the area needs a good trim.