Blog Archives

Flower Power!

May 18, 2020 FTNAdmin — No Comments

Farm Manager of the RSPB’s Hope Farm, Georgie Bray sees great benefits in encouraging a range of flower-rich habitats on farmland, particularly as they can help with natural pest control… Flowers are a fundamental part of a sustainable farming system.…

No Mow May

May 4, 2020 FTNAdmin — No Comments

Shelley Abbott, Fair to Nature Facilitator, is taking part in No Mow May…. It’s May! While many of us have had to put our normal lives on pause, the natural world is continuing to spring into life. Birds are nesting…

Tagged with: #NoMowMay bees gardens pollinators wildflowers

What do bees need?

July 10, 2018 FTNAdmin — No Comments

It’s Bees Needs Week! This annual event is organised by the Department of the Environment, Fisheries and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) as part of England’s National Pollinator Strategy. Various events are going on around the country to celebrate and promote what…

Tagged with: bees habitats pollinators wildflowers

What’s in my patch? – Red Campion

April 28, 2017 FTNAdmin — No Comments

Red Campion (Silene dioica) is also known as Red Catchfly in the USA. It is a member of the Pink family (Caryophyllaceae). This pretty perennial plant has deep pink flowers with notched petals on a hairy stem up to 1m…

Tagged with: bees farmland birds pollinators What's in my patch? wildflowers wildlife

What’s in my patch? – Cowslip

April 13, 2017 FTNAdmin — No Comments

The egg yolk yellow flowers of the Cowslip (Primula veris) are a welcome sign of spring. A herbaceous perennial of the Primrose family Primulaceae, the Cowslip flowers throughout April and May, providing an early nectar source for long tongued bees,…

Tagged with: cowslip Fair to Nature Farming Spring What's in my patch? wildflowers

What’s in my patch?

April 7, 2017 FTNAdmin — No Comments

It’s the time of year when some of our Fair to Nature farmers are sowing their wildflower mixes. The best sowing time is mid August to mid September but this clashes with the busy harvest of cereal crops so there…

Tagged with: bird food habitats What's in my patch? wildflowers

Save 20 percent …of Nature!

November 18, 2015 FTNAdmin — No Comments

Research conducted by the University of Reading (and partly funded by Conservation Grade) published today in the Journal of Applied Ecology found that Fair to Nature farms support 20 percent more plant and butterfly species than conventionally managed farms. However organic farms…

Tagged with: agriculture Fair to nature farmland birds Food industry land organic Simon's blog wildflower wildflowers wildlife

Bringing the buzz back to the British countryside

November 5, 2014 FTNAdmin — No Comments

A guest blog by Chloe Hardman, Doctoral Researcher at the Centre for Agri-Environmental Research (CAER), University of Reading. I find it fascinating to watch bumblebees at work; flitting from flower to flower with bundles of pollen on their legs. Sometimes…

Tagged with: Agriland bees CAER habitats pollinators research wildflowers

Which flowers are the best source of nectar?

October 15, 2014 FTNAdmin — No Comments

There is growing evidence that both domestic honeybees and wild pollinators are in trouble, and the many wildflowers that depend on them for pollination are also declining. But are pollinator declines driving flower losses or vice versa? Or are other…

Tagged with: Agriland Project conservation habitat nectar pollinators wildflowers

#FairtoNature – Seedball giveaway competition

February 4, 2014 FTNAdmin — No Comments

[Update – This competition has now ended and Susan Jarrett is the lucky winner – Like us on Facebook so you don’t miss out on future competitions from Conservation Grade!] All Conservation Grade farmers are required to grow areas of…

Tagged with: Conservation Grade Fair to nature seedball wildflowers