Devereux farm is in North Essex. An area that has attracted tourists for decades, so much so that it has become known as the “Sunshine Coast”. This name is becoming very apt this year as day after day of sunshine fills our skies. This is good for tourism, but it is starting to become a concern for farmers, growers and gardeners and already there is talk on the radio of hose pipe bans.
We are of course getting used to each year becoming a record year for some form of weather event – the wettest, the driest, the hottest and so on. The discussion as to whether this is climate change driven is not the point. The fact is that we are experiencing weather that is not typical of the last century. President Trump may want to put across his view that climate change is a hoax, but the fact is that the weather we have is noticeably having an impact on our lives.
The Devereux farm sea buckthorn is looking well as it enjoys hot weather and does not like too much rain. The first compost tea application last month has started the monthly cycle that provides both a foliar leaf feed and includes natural microbes that control fungal diseases. This simple organic management is delivering results.
Whereas up until now each year I have allowed a level of weed growth inbetween the plants and between the rows, I am changing this to cutting regularly. This reason for leaving the weeds had been to reduce the amount of mowing/strimming/hand weeding but also in the belief that these weeds harboured beneficial insects that predated on pests like aphids. Unfortunately the result has become an infestation of creeping thistle. The long dry winter has allowed a total weeding process to bring this problem under control. It might well be that once the thistle has died out then I can sow a seed mix which can provide attraction for beneficial insect habitat. But nothing will establish against the rampant spread of thistle.
Mowing and strimming is all very well, but I am concerned as to limiting the amount of fuel I have to use. This principally from an environmental perspective. So this morning i have taken delivery of a battery powered Stihl strimmer. The battery only carries enough charge for 45 minutes of strimming, but this will allow for a daily sweep along the rows and between the plants to trim down thistles as soon as they start to emerge. It would be good to find a mower that is electric, but battery technology still needs to improve to allow for the amount of mowing that needs to be done on the site.
The other form of technology that has arrived this month is a Bio-Acoustic bird scaring system. For the past two years jackdaws and magpies have been attracted to the sea buckthorn to eat the berries. They have particularly targeted the Siberian varieties which have a natural sugar content higher than the German varieties. Scaring rockets, kites, scare crows, flashing tapes have had no impact on the birds’ desire for the fruit. The problem starts once the berries are ripe – so in June through to July and August. At this time of year the birds make use of early sunrise and late sunset. Their activity was caught on a wildlife camera showing how even a large bird can rest on what look like flimsy branches and strip berries with ease.
One of the options would have been to shoot the birds, but this is neither ethically right nor really practical. So netting the plantation is the next best option, but these birds are intelligent and it might still be possible for them to find a way in, then creating the problem of getting them out. The technology option has been around for sometime but equipment has improved. I have chosen the “ScareCrow B.I.R.D system” marketed by Martin Lishman, who also supply the compost tea brewing system I am using. The equipment has three speakers which emit distress calls that different bird species recognise as indicating there is danger in an area. The system has ten different specie calls programmed into it that can be selected to scare specific birds that pose a problem. In theory it has a range of 300 metres which will cover no only the sea buckthorn field site but also the fields adjacent to it. The most mature block of Siberian plants will still be netted, but hopefully the BIRD system will keep the jackdaws away allowing for a successful harvest this year.
A successful harvest of fresh berries will be a first for the UK, but of course sea buckthorn products are available on the internet. These products are marketed as providing a range of benefits, but there is nothing like fresh fruit itself. A research paper released from University of Exeter recently helps to re-enforce this. The work is based on the consumption of fresh fruit particularly by elderly adults and the impact on improving cognitive performance. The fruit used was blueberry, pomegranate and orange, but all these referred to the polyphenol content in these fruits – which sea buckthorn is partricularly rich in. Polyphenols come in many forms in different fruits. Flavonones in oranges, flavonoids in blueberries, elligitannins in pomegranate are three individuals named within these fruits, but in effect each fruit has a multiple complex of other polyphenols which provide the health benefits that we all associate with eating fresh fruit and vegetables. It is that fresh issue that makes a difference. Other research work just released from the University of California, Keck school of Medicine illustrates how high potassium levels in some vegetables and fruits can be beneficial for reducing blood pressure. Interestingly this is another characteristic attributed to taking sea buckthorn oil capsules, although not specifically relating to potassium levels in the oil.
All of this relates to how natural foods tend to offer greater benefits, but then it is technology that can provide solutions to how we can minimise our impact on nature.
