The wildflower meadow has now been harrowed - so there are lots of bare patches of earth. This picture is taken in exactly the same area that I photographed the dense dead grass thatch (see post on 15th September). It now looks very different.
There are the green shoots of new seedlings growing in the patches of earth, so even under the dead grass 'thatch' the seeds were germinating. Time now to get scattering the seeds that I collected a couple of months ago. I want to increase the amount of hay rattle in the upper part of the meadow where the grass is still quite coarse. I am also going to 'top off' this area in the late autumn in order to help keep the courses grasses under control. I guess that it is all about achieving a balance - many years ago autumn grazing by cattle would have achieved the same effect.
The downside of harrowing is that all of the scrapings have to be dealt with. The farmer helpfully leaves them all in the same place - but then it is a hay rake and pitchfork job to move them into a grass heap (if left where they are it would just become a patch of nettles and docks in the field due to the high nutrient area that they would create).
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