The Year Round: Weather favoured us as we reached time to sow

There was one field less than last year but after the succession of hard frosts there was plenty of frost mould which worked down wonderfully well.

The potato rows were warm, dry and clod-free. My brother worked flat out to keep the seed and fertiliser on hand. Apart from one wet day the weather favoured us and pea drilling began at the same time. The first pea field is right through now, and fertiliser was spread on the oilseed rape. What seems like a late spring has turned into a normal one.

Sugar beet can be seen the full length of the rows, which reminds me of the changes in its cultivation.

When my father first came here, he retained one of the workers who was retiring after years on the place. Asked what were the biggest changes in his life this man recalled a gang of 100 workers singling and hoeing sugar beet by hand.

Today serrated seed, which enables each plant to grow separately, and three or four sprayings control all the weeds.

Another link is that "Cold, wet and windy May brings forth good crops of corn and hay".

I saw my first swallow on Monday, April 12 and another sign of spring is the magnolia blossom.

Wildlife seems to be less timid than formerly. A badger trotted across the yard recently, completely ignoring me. A fox collected a hen by the neck when I was among our 12,000 free-range poultry.

They have been on that site for 15 years and though the batches are changed regularly both shed and grass range seem due for a change.

A hen harrier visits us here frequently, proving that our intensive cropping use of weeder sprays and artificial fertilisers are less damaging to wildlife than some would say.

CW 8/5/10