Sunset, Sunflowers and a Reunion

After church this morning, my afternoon just flew by with a couple of phone calls and some paperwork. I finally made it out for a walk though, and caught this wonderful sunset. I walked through a nearby field where there has been some unusual but beautiful planting. Driving past it looks like a blanket of purple. And now the sunflowers are growing as well.

There’s been some discussion about it on a local Facebook group and the farm worker who did the planting chimed in, saying that it’s what’s known as a ‘catch crop’. They planted the mix of flax (or linseed), oil seed rape, sunflowers, clover, phacelia and a few others. They are all beneficial plant species, adding various nutrients to the soil and improving the soil structure. It was planted right after the summer harvest in July and a cereal crop will be planted in a few weeks. He went on to say that they will desiccate the field (whatever that means!) and then plant straight into the standing green cover which provides a microclimate in which the seed will grow and also protection from slugs. Apparently this is starting to become more and more common in agriculture and what a beautiful result for those of us who live around it!

I was also delighted to see this lovely young lady! Doodle is 5 years old and is a miniature poodle - bigger than Dolly who was a toy poodle. I’ve met her before and Dolly always loved playing with her. I hadn’t seen her and her dad for a very long time and they didn’t even know that Dolly died a couple of years ago. We had a very long chat and I found out that he lets other people walk Doodle through the service ‘Borrow My Doggy’. She’s very good with anyone walking her, so I may just have to do that! I do miss having a dog with me on my walks and I’m finding it harder and harder to get the motivation! So watch this space!