26/07/17 - Making hay

With a break in the weather last week the valley has been a hub of activity with the local farming community busy making hay. This traditional practice of mid-summer hay making has been taking place for centuries, which, followed by aftermath grazing and the mix of summer grazing pastures around the valley, has shaped both the flowers and bird communities (and other wildlife), we enjoy on our doorstep here. Hay making can take place after the end of the bird breeding season and once the seeds have started to drop from the various wildflowers and grasses. The cutting of the grass also helps keep in check the more vigorous and dominant species of vegetation, and helps the finer grasses and more delicate herbs to flourish. This in turn helps maintain not only the meadows in good conditions for the flowers, but in providing suitable feeding conditions for our wintering waterfowl and breeding waders in subsequent seasons – all part of the rich seasonality of the Ings.