meadow

A good yarn

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Neatly stacked in the corner of our kitchen are several plastic clip boxes containing 50g balls of alpaca yarn. Every now and again I have to go over and check that they are still as soft as the first time I held them. They are, and it makes my heart leap every time. It is … Read more

Dead hedging – a philosophical journey

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Sometimes, although it is painful and frustrating, you just have to admit defeat.

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willow fedge – June 2013

Back in March 2013, when the campsite was nought but a set-aside agricultural field, we commissioned a willow fedge to run along the edge of the meadow. It was a symbolic moment for us as it marked the first step towards our dream project. Admittedly we were planting right at the end of willow planting season, but at first all seemed to be going well. Little green shoots appeared when they were supposed to and we didn’t even mind when we found huge poplar hawk moth caterpillars munching away happily on the new growth.

But at the end of June the weather turned hot and dry, and despite my nightly efforts to keep the fedge watered, it started to look a bit sad. We still haven’t worked out exactly what went wrong but we ended up with just a few determined bits of willow growing here and there among a lot of brittle sticks. The deer just casually walk through the fedge now with a look of ‘told you so’.

And this is where the lesson starts.

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New living van for 2016!

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Here at Ling’s Meadow we tend to go all gooey eyed every time we see handcrafted, locally made, beautiful things. So, I was a bit of a mess when I discovered this gorgeous living van made by local carpenter and eco builder Alan Powley. Needless to say it is now the new glamping addition on the meadow for 2016!

It has a stunning carved wooden bed surround and, thanks to local glass artist Clair Rice, you are blown away by the sunlight coming through the stained glass window lights in the mollycroft roof.

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Build a Bug Hotel – 24th May

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Bug hotel at Dutch Barn nursery

Insects are a vital component in maintaining diversity on the meadow so we thought we would give them a helping hand by providing a bug hotel! It will be much like this one and will use sticks, clay pots, straw, pallets and any other useful looking items that we can find around the farm.

We thought you might like to join in. So on Sunday 24th May we will be holding a children’s activity morning of stacking, squishing, chopping and collecting, resulting in your very own mini bug hotel to take home for your garden.

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Ling’s Meadow hideaway!

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I would like to introduce you to a new member of the Ling’s Meadow family. Last week we had the slightly scary task of moving a 2 tonne shepherd’s hut along the winding Norfolk roads to its final resting place at the farm (thank you MAP Recovery services). With our fondness for reusing and my love of historic objects (in a previous life I worked with Museum collections) it seemed like the perfect addition to the meadow when we spotted it for sale.

It has been lovingly restored by an enthusiast not too far down the road from us and was originally found in Ellingham in Norfolk. Only the frame had survived so it has been quite a long job. Huts like this were used by road mending teams as accommodation, or by crews travelling around local farms with steam traction engines and steam ploughs in the late 19th century.

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Wild flower nursery

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Every now and again something happens that restores your faith in the world’s natural order and reminds you that given time and a bit of luck all will come right in the end.

Now, we love our wooden bell tent decks – they add warmth, a touch of luxury and make the tents a darn sight easier to clean. However….when we lift them off the meadow at the end of September we are left with two nice round circles of bare earth where there was once grass and clover. Its a bit unsightly and not great for the meadow….or so I thought.

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Mellow meadow

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One of our aims from the very start was to improve the diversity of the 4 acre camping meadow. It has established itself from scratch over the past ten years with little input from us and because of this it is full of plants that have found their way in from the surrounding local countryside. I spotted a new patch of tall daisies this summer in the corner by the hedge and was almost embarrassingly excited.

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White Clover with Yorkshire fog grass
false oat grass
False Oat Grass
yarrow
Yarrow

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The meadow in May

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View across the wheat field

A lot of the photos of the meadow that we have from last year are from late June until we closed at the end of September. At this time the grass is high and everything has a slightly wild and overgrown feel. I love sunny Suffolk in the summer for its hazy days and the constant sound of bees buzzing in the background.

Today though I walked out onto the meadow to tidy up yesterdays clay oven course and fell in love all over again. The sun is shining, the damson blossom is floating about like confetti and the birds are singing their hearts out as if they are trying to get as much said before the next rain shower. So I thought it would be nice to show you Ling’s Meadow in late Spring so you understand why I might be a bit distracted over the next couple of weeks!

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