End of Summer report

The summer of 2018 was one of the hottest on record. For six weeks from the end of June to the second week of August  daytime temperatures consistently topped 30C. Photos from the trail cam show 32 degrees on the 25th June, and similar temperatures through until mid August. 

   

In the main the wood stood up well against the heat, probably because as we explained here, there had been a wet Spring and the water table was high before the hot weather and drought started. As the hot summer weather progressed, it was noticeable that the saplings which had made such growth in the Spring, just stopped growing and everything - young and mature - slowed right down. 

The other day I learned that there is a word for this: 'aestivation', the condition of summer sleep in which species pass periods of heat or drought. This year was the first time I had noticed it so strongly in the wood.  In previous years there have been odd hot afternoons when it seemed that the wood was asleep, but this year was a whole summer of torpor.  

Often it was too darned hot to do anything at all  except relax in a hammock

The newest introductions - Kris's four beehives - are settling in nicely. Kris comes to check them regularly and tells us they have started to produce honey.

Kris and the bees pose for a photo

The bees have been taking advantage of the heather which has been flourishing in the spaces where bracken and bramble have been cleared. This is the first year we have had so much heather in bloom.

Heather growth has gone mad this year, popping up everywhere.
The honey bees found it very quickly.

On many summer afternoons we could see buzzards slowly circling upwards at the north end of the pond, taking advantage of a thermal that forms over the vineyard. We think the change from golf course to vineyard should have greatly improved the hunting for the owls, There is now lots of tussocky grass and shelter for small mammals, whereas before there was just close cut fairways. Maybe we'll even see a barn owl gliding up the rows of vines.

Quite a change from the golf course

So summer is over, We're emerging from aestivation into a more active autumn. September fungi are already here. We're already planning some autumn planting: more additions to the hedge and some spot planting elsewhere. We've got to plan for global warming and think about hedging our bets (pun intended) and planting for global warming. Deer stalking has started. The wood cycle moves round once more.

|