Cornflowers are just bursting. A pretty plant renowned for its a long association with cereal agriculture, apparently hated by farmers because its tough stems blunted their scythes. The pollen record suggests it was an introduction most probably from steppe habitats to Northern European countries from the ‘High Middle Ages’, perhaps enabled through the increased movements…
Tag: Arable agriculture
Corn buntings and the barley harvest
On the downs between Wilmington and Hextable, a small population of perhaps five or more pairs of corn buntings nest in the barley fields and feed in the boundaries and weedy fallow fields; strips of which are periodically turned into immaculately tilled and planted rows of spring onions and garlic. Males sit on the barley…