The countryside around here is the archetypal patchwork of small fields spread over low hills.
It was somewhat wet and hazy on the way home this afternoon but still each field is outlined by the darker green of the hedgerows. The colours are the most vivid in the spring and tell the story of the farming going on in those fields. Pastures that have been grass since last summer are dark green while the newly emerged grass that is being grown to make silage is a much brighter green. Once the silage has been cut the remaining low grass stems give the fields a yellow hue. Ploughing the fields turns them a terracotta brown (south Devon has true red soil due to the higher iron content). The growing season is too short up here for actual crops to be grown though sometimes the farmers grow beet and corn for the cattle but not always successfully.
Right now as we move to early summer the fields are changing colour once more. Ploughed fields are developing a green haze as the new silage crops emerge from the soil and today I watched a yellow stubble field become speckled with dark brown as the farmer did some muck spreading. Not much fun if you get caught behind one of those going up the road.
It was somewhat wet and hazy on the way home this afternoon but still each field is outlined by the darker green of the hedgerows. The colours are the most vivid in the spring and tell the story of the farming going on in those fields. Pastures that have been grass since last summer are dark green while the newly emerged grass that is being grown to make silage is a much brighter green. Once the silage has been cut the remaining low grass stems give the fields a yellow hue. Ploughing the fields turns them a terracotta brown (south Devon has true red soil due to the higher iron content). The growing season is too short up here for actual crops to be grown though sometimes the farmers grow beet and corn for the cattle but not always successfully.
Right now as we move to early summer the fields are changing colour once more. Ploughed fields are developing a green haze as the new silage crops emerge from the soil and today I watched a yellow stubble field become speckled with dark brown as the farmer did some muck spreading. Not much fun if you get caught behind one of those going up the road. 
1 comment:
What a delightfully apt comparison between the quilt and the land! The mists are so inviting. Seems like a curl-up day, reading, handcrafts inside...and such a lovely vista, Ruta! I think I am in love with North Devon!
Elora
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