| Aerial Photos - Leo's Spider ,,,Tractor ,,,Parish Wildlife Sites,,,,Apple Juice . .Donate for free, |
Drone's Eye View
As our September work party was ending at Noakes Grove a loud buzzing in the sky announced the arrival of the Search and Rescue Team's drone as part of their training exercise. They have kindly given us a set of pictures of the scrub area which the work party team is working on.
The photo has much more detail (and is more up-to-date) than the Google Earth image. You can see the block of scrub which we finished coppicing last year. This year's task is to widen some of the rides and get more sunlight down to the wildflowers.
Fifteen year's ago this (below) is how Noakes Grove looked, The whole of the main meadow had scrub growth. The southern half (now the sheep pasture field) had all its scrub grubbed out and converted back to pasture a few years before we bought it. Compare the northern half (the part that is still scrub) and see how much the bushes have grown and narrowed the rides, There is plenty of work remaining to be done: the next work party is Sunday 18th October - 10.00am onwards. Please bring your own food, drink and (if possible) tools. We have anti-viral sprays for use on our (shared) tools.
Aerial Photos - Leo's Spider ,,,Tractor ,,,Parish Wildlife Sites,,,,Apple Juice . .Donate for free, |
Leo's Spider
On his first "Wild Child" session Leo (age 9) found a large and unusual looking spider in its web near the hay barn. His drawing shows exactly what it looks like and there is no doubt about its name: it is a wasp spider, the first that has been recorded at Noakes Grove or anywhere close to Saffron Walden. Originally known only from mainland Europe, wasp spiders colonised the south coast and have been spreading northwards for some years. They are already widespread in southern Essex and probably will be soon in the Walden countryside as the climate continues to warm. |
The sheep are on the move again
Kings Field now has only five resident sheep: this year's ram lambs. All the breeding ewes (five which produced lambs this year and three others that we hope will produce lambs in 2021) are enjoying the rich grassland belonging to Fred and Gilly Bamber in Sewards End. They will soon be moving back to Noakes Grove, ready to meet the ram in November.The six retired ewes and two ewe lambs born this year, will remain where they are, on the Bamber's land.
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Tractor & Power Tools |
We have several volunteers willing to take a turn at driving our tractor and doing some habitat management with it. Before that can happen, the tractor needs a proper service and someone to make its brakes work better. If you like renovating old vehicles (ours is a 45-year-old Zetor 4718), we need your help. Obviously we would pay for all the materials you need.
Offer to help (tractor or power tools): info@organic-countryside.co.uk |
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Our normal work parties use only hand tools: both for safety reasons and to protect everyone from the noise of power tools. But there are some tasks that require power tools, mainly sawing up fallen trees and other logs and brush-cutting brambles and nettles. If you own your own chain-saw and/or brush-cutter (and know how to use them safely) would you be willing to join occasional "power tool work parties"? You would be very welcome to take sawn-up logs for your wood-burning stove if you have one.
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Find the Local Wildlife Sites in your parish
Local Wildlife Sites were identified by the (now defunct) Essex Biodiversity Partnership with some input from Essex and District Councils. Almost all are privately owned. The documentation for each site explains its importance for wildlife and suggests the best form of management. The plan was that the Essex Wildlife Trust would seek to work with land owners to achieve good management. By and large this has not worked: it is difficult to work with the owner if you don't know who he is.
PLEASE take a look at the details and maps for each Local Wildlife Site in your parish. If the owner is not already listed and you know who he or she is, please email the details . Also if you have any comments on the present state of a site, please let us know. Please remember that almost all sites are privately owned (except the special wildflower roadside verges). You only have right of access on public paths or with the owner's permission.
Just click the parish you are interested in
Email your information to: info@organic-countryside.co.uk |
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The New Season's Apple Juice
The juice is from our rare-breed apples grown at Scotch Patch nature reserve and elsewhere in Wimbish. All the apples are grown without pesticides or other chemicals. They are cold-pressed, bottled and pasteurised - that's all. Nothing added, nothing taken away.
Price £2.00 per 500ml bottle (including 25p refundable deposit on each bottle)
You can buy individual bottles from the Saffron Walden Saturday Market Walden Local Food stall, where you can return bottles for credit.
Order 12 or more bottles by email (giving your address and phone number) and we will deliver for free to addresses within four miles of Saffron Walden or Thaxted. Payment on delivery. Keep the bottles and we will collect the whole batch and refund your deposit.
Email your orders to:
info@organic-countryside.co.uk |
The Walden Countryside Apple Juice is a blend of 10 or more apple varieties. Come and see our Scotch Patch orchard before the last of this year's apples are harvested and pressed. See how many you can identify: here are four we think we know.
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Kingston Black
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D'Arcy Spice
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Adam's Pearmain
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Pig's Snout
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Cost-free fundraising
PLEASE can you spare a moment to sign-up to EasyFundRaising.com? At no cost to you, we will get a penny or so for every pound you spend on a very wide range of online trading sites (including the big ones like Amazon & eBay but also hundreds of good British-owned sites like Sainsbury's, Ocado, M&S and John Lewis.
Just click https:easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/organiccountrysidecic |
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