Field 4 - The Sunflower Field

This field will always be affectionately called "the sunflower field" after we grew our first field of sunflowers here in 2022!

This year we are growing Winter Wheat in this field. It was planted in September 2023 using our special seed drill which carefully places each seed in rows without disturbing any soil.

This is called "zero tillage" and it helps prevent erosion and protects the micro flora and fauna underground. Here you can see the wheat germinating and beginning to emerge.

We used 1,100kg of seed to grow this crop!

Here you can see the most important leaf of the wheat plant poking out the top - it's called the "flag leaf". You can just see the "ear" emerging which will soon contain all the grain ready for harvest. It's really important that we keep the flag leaf as healthy as possible and free of disease as this will help the ear produce more grain!

We can keep our wheat healthy by ensuring the nutrient levels in the plant are perfect but if the disease is severe we can apply a plant medicine called a fungicide.

In August we will be getting the combine harvester out to harvest the grain. The crop is ready when it turns a golden colour but we can only harvest when the weather is dry.

The wheat in this field is a variety called Cranium which will go to feed animals - probably chickens!

After harvest, this field will be left to rest over winter. This provides a unique habitat for overwintering birds and mammals who feed on any leftover grain. We will then be planting a new crop of oats in the Spring time!