Hot weather calls for a little water work

Across the UK the temperatures are rising this week. The farm team are all working hard to get crops irrigated so they can continue to grow despite the heat.

The sun is also making all vegetation across the farm grow. None more so than on some of our ponds. So we took the opportunity to get the waders on and give one of the ponds a little TLC.

The main issue is the amount of vegetation that had grown across the pond. Left to go undeterred, this could actually kill the aquatic life living in this ecosystem as the vegetation deoxygenates the water. Likewise, some old branches and other rotting matter were removed to prevent further deoxidisation.

The pond vegetation will be monitored over the rest of the summer, with some weed being left for speices like the dragonfly to utilise to lay their eggs. Water boatmen, pond skaters, dragonfly and damselfly larvae and tadpoles were all seen during the pond cleanup lurking around the weed and reeds.

One of the farm ponds which is home to a variety of wildlife

#norfolkfarming #pondlife #wildlife