As summer starts to gently blend into autumn, Transition Bath hosted a Nut Foraging evening at the Smallcombe nuttery, both to make the most of nature’s bounty and also to improve the biodiversity of the nuttery.
We had 20 keen foragers attend with some additional attendees canvassed from the footpath beside the nuttery, who were swiftly set to work removing the turf from two 1x1m squares. This is to reduce the dominance of the coarse grasses which grow abundantly at the nuttery, allowing for some more delicate soft grasses and wildflowers to take hold, even in mid-August. Everyone then pitched in to sow seeds and plant a selection of wildflowers previously growing in Lyn’s garden.
Our haul included a vast quantity of mulberries and a few cobnuts, though the majority of this harvest is predicted to have gone to the squirrels this year. Hazelnuts are still soft and will be ready within one or two weeks, all the more reason to head up to the nuttery and see what you can find!
We also had a team carefully turning over every blade of grass, undertaking an invertebrate survey. They found a plethora of grasshoppers, a smattering of woodlice, a suspected Nursery-web spider and a brown meadow butterfly. Not bad for a slightly chilly August evening!
Stay tuned for more foraging opportunities and work parties at the nuttery – we have plans for much more over the next few months.
