Lincolnshire sunflower fields

Chris needed the car today, so our neighbours gave me a lift to the last summer event of the local Wildlife Trust group, a tractor tour round Vine House Farm which is now one of the major suppliers of bird food in Britain, with a share of the profits going to the Wildlife Trust movement. 

Nicholas Watts is an inspirational farmer, and it was fascinating to see and hear about all the measures that he's put in place to help arrest the decline of farmland birds and insects, including wild flower strips, new hedges and woodlands, sensitively managed ditches and nest boxes, particularly for barn owls and tree sparrows. 

However, the photographic highlight of the tour was the sunflower fields, a bit past their best because of the unusually warm weather earlier in the summer, but still pretty stunning. This is not an easy crop to grow in Lincolnshire, which is at the very northern limit of the species range, but it still produces enough seed to fill many a garden feeder.

The tour lasted somewhat longer than expected, thanks to Nicholas' enthusiasm, so I didn't get home till after two. I had a little time relaxing in the garden, then Ben and I prepared a lamb Rogan Josh for dinner. 

We also spent quite a lot of time pitting damsons, a tedious occupation made necessary by the fact that the wild damsons I picked a couple of days ago contained a moderate proportion of caterpillars. They've now been incorporated with windfall apples, onions and spices to make a delicious damson chutney, which has been simmering away slowly all evening and is smelling delicious as I write. I've just got to stay awake long enough to put it in jars!