Lemon drizzle

The future's bright, the future's orange with hedgelaying gear. The 2008 Isle of Wight Hedgelaying Competition brightened a drizzling grey day on the last Saturday of February (the traditional day, if 17 years is long enough for a tradition).

Every year there are more people muffled in their cosiest scarves and gloves to watch the brave people who work all day on their stretch of hedge, whatever the weather. National champions, Island champions - and maybe the champions of the future, students from the Isle of Wight College, whose team names are as punning as any pub quiz team.

Island 2000 was there in many guises and disguises.

Paul Sivell, now moved on to higher things, was one of the three judges.

Sam Buck was there with the Gift to Nature display.

And Rowan Adams was trying to load down the visitors with booklets on all aspects of land care, and promoting hedges for all the good things they do.

But of course the real point of the day was Debbie and Joy's delicious rolls and lemon drizzle cake...

Mud, mud, glorious mud

Island farmers enjoyed the feel of mud, glorious mud, between their fingers on a workshop at Kings Manor Farm on 21 November.
The workshop was funded by the Environment Agency via Isle of Wight Land Care (www.landcare.island2000.org.uk) to discuss the serious topic of soil management. One of the most popular parts of the day was the soil testing, when everybody took a ball of soil in their hands and had a good feel to find out what type of soil it was. But that was no surprise to Rowan Adams, the Land Care project manager, who reckons she's not the only person who enjoys getting a bit muddy.
Farm conservation advisers John Blamire and Colin Hedley led everybody through the process of assessing their farm field by field for soil erosion risk, and discussed ways of making sure that rain can get through the soil rather than washing it away, so that soil stays on the farm - which means better yields and profits for farmers, and less pollution for water downstream.
The workshop was hosted by Kings Manor Farm (http://www.ferguson-museum.co.uk/contact.htm), who also provided an excellent lunch made almost entirely from local Isle of Wight food, including milk from their own cows.
Any Island farmer or grower who missed the workshop has a second chance - there's another one on Tuesday 22 January. There are also two other workshops - nutrient and manure management on Monday 14 January, and water conservation on Monday 11 February - see http://www.landcare.island2000.org.uk/free_workshops.htm for details.

Wormcasts

The Isle of Wight Land Care project (www.landcare.island2000.org.uk) set out its stall in the marquee at the IW Hedgelaying Competition on Saturday 24th February. All sorts of serious (but free) bits of paper were on offer to help farmers look after the soil and water on their land - titles like 'Ditch management' and 'Understanding buffer strips' were disappearing fast from the display tables.

Several people asked what the cute furry animal in one of the photos was - a water vole, still common here because there are no mink (as long as those ditches are properly managed).

Meanwhile the wet soil below me was sucking the heat from my feet. Only when I stood on the woodchips (put down to keep boots and mud apart) did they recover. A practical demonstration of the insulating power of mulch.

Outside, the hedgelaying competitors were doing a more public demonstration of a practical skill - the craft of keeping hedges in good condition for wildlife, livestock fencing, and of course soil conservation. There's more on hedges at the National Hedgelaying Society's website, www.hedgelaying.org.uk/.

But the best moment for me was when a young visitor pointed in excitement and correctly identified another photo - 'That's an earthworm!'
Charles Darwin wrote his last book about worms, and how they help to make soil - you can read it online at http://darwin-online.org.uk/EditorialIntroductions/Freeman_VegetableMouldandWorms.html.

Here's to the mighty earthworms. Long may they eat the soil.