Meadow's stage set
It is late in the afternoon and I go down the drive in the autumn sunshine. Each side, the catmint trails over the wall as the bumble bees work them and the butterflies lightly land. Nature's stage is set. As I enter the Butts Meadow, after weeks of rain, there are thistles, red poppies and the hedge is laden with blackberries and sloes.
As I climb the steep hill I kick up brown butterflies and daddy long legs.
In the first 12 months nature is fighting back, she is strong. The eco-system is starting to work.
It is up to every human being to see that it is kept up. Since 1975 these meadows and hedges have been tightly cropped and all I could see was an earth scorched by unnecessary herbicides.
It will take the earthworms time to enrich the soil. Earthworms plant debris into the ground where they consume it, excreting a mixture of humus and minerals.
Worms are natural agents at mixing plant residue with rock particles. Deep ploughing breaks up the channels through which worms work their way to the surface and stop rock, minerals and other matter naturally working. Nature is the only one who forgives.
K Milner, Much Wenlock
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