“Meadow-vember“
Conor McNeil, our Wild Steward, ended 2024’s physical activities at Maple Farm by leading the volunteers in a planting day of Yellow Rattle and hosting a small workshop about the movements of predator-prey populations, and the impact they have on the landscape.
Yellow Rattle is is used to create or help restore wildflower meadows, where it maintains species diversity by suppressing dominant grasses and the recycling of soil nutrients. The seed is sown thinly onto grassland from August to November to germinate the following spring, the seeds need to remain in the soil throughout the winter months.
Conor wrote, “Upon the brisk morning of November 30th, up to 30 enthusiastic volunteers rallied to Maple Farm, determined to wreak havoc in the name of ecological restoration. For the 2nd edition of the Youngwilder's 'Meadow-vember', the quest ahead of us involved bioturbation and a healthy sack of yellow rattle seed. After introduction, we marched over the stream and onto the grassland, equipped with spades, digging hoes, shears and mattocks. Following the formation of a belongings pile, the visual allocation of the plot, tool demonstrations and a health & safety talk, we put ourselves to work. Creativity ran wild! Everyone was trying a variety of tools and techniques, all whilst intuitively creating bare ground in an array of depths and patterns. As focussed as we tried to remain, it was often easy to get lost in the beauty of the living world we found beneath us, chatting with our likeminded bioturbation neighbours about the fantastic fauna, flora and fungi in which we observed.
We headed up to the outdoor classroom for lunch, some gathered around a small fire to keep warm or dry their gloves. Before getting back to work a small workshop was led by Jack Rees. He talked with us about the movements of predator-prey populations and the impacts this has on the landscape, along with engaging demonstrations and great clarity. We headed back down to our beautifully messy plot for some finishing touches. After a short time, the bag of yellow rattle seed was cut open. Volunteers rushed around with a fistful of seed to apply to their areas of the plot, already poaching the seeds that escaped the hands of the other excited volunteers before them. After significant sowing, stamping and stomping, we were content with the outcome. Everyone seemed to thoroughly enjoy the day and felt satisfied by the end, only grieving the fact that it is once again time to leave such a tranquil place."