The Farming Column: Harvesting and a Hedgerow

Stephen Prest continues his farming column with a look at the harvest harvest, Malton show, and a hedgerow.

In spite of huge changes in the last few decades, farming remains central to our community here. If you farm near Slingsby and have a tale to tell, email us at  [email protected]

By the time you read this harvest will be underway once again.  It has been a good summer so far for farm crops with sufficient rain and plenty of sunshine so we should be in for a bumper harvest provided the weather is kind at harvest time.

Malton Show went very well this year over at Scampston Park with very good entries in the sheep and cattle classes and a tremendous show of vintage machinery and tractors including Slingsby’s very own Mick Dixon on his David Brown tractor.

On the conservation side we have recently sown 3 acres of wild bird seed mixes which will provide much needed food for the birds in winter.  With help from Richard Hindby we have also put up 2 more barn owl nesting boxes down the fields.  A pair of barn owls are nesting again in one of the older nest boxes which is most encouraging.

About 15 years ago we planted 400 yards of new hedgerow up Slingsby Heights, it is a mixture of hawthorn, blackthorn, hazel, field maple, dogwood and holly.

Old slides & photos 171

Picture 1. shows Bernard Ward, Stephen Prest, Arty Sleightholme and Lawrence Johnson hard at work, (well some of them anyway,) planting the hedge in approx. year 2003.

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Picture 2.  Shows the same men, in June this year, approx. 12 years later with the hedge now over 6ft tall and looking really well.  The men are not looking too bad either are they?

Has anyone seen any more orchids around the village?  In addition to the Early Purple Orchid shown in the last Triangle I have just seen some Common Spotted Orchids and some Pyramidal Orchids.