Ocean grassland restoration

First time for quite a while that I had been out on a work party with Stroud Valleys Project. The task today was the restoration of a grassland next to the canal which had been rented to the canal trust, but now needs to be returned in the state it was before.

It was a glorious day – no rain predicted and warm sun the whole time. There were 17 of us, which seemed like pretty much all the regulars.

I started off by using a tool similar to a bill hook, but with a long pole, to cut the grass at one end. This was relatively successful, but more tiring than using a scythe.

So I switch to brash clearance for a while. Work had been done the previous week, so some habitat piles were already started. But they soon quadrupled in size. I took over scything from Suzy for a while, but managed to lose the blade from the snath and we didn’t have an allan key handy to repair.

The grassland is in pretty good condition, under all the nettle and bramble. The field is south west sloping, so should return to grassland next season. Unfortunately it doesn’t seem secure enough for grazing at the moment, so ongoing management will be needed to complete the restoration.

In the evening, I went over to Tetbury with Julian to watch Six Inches of Soil and a talk with two local farmers afterward. The messaging was pretty clear, that the current farming model is not sustainable, although the local farmers did not think that the film stressed the urgency enough.

On a personal note, it was a reminder that I should visit the farmer’s market in Stroud more and buy directly from growers.