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Droppings are left in clusters of little, round, hard balls. They are usually yellowy-brown or green in colour, and full of grass. Hare droppings (on the right) tend to be slightly bigger and flatter than rabbit droppings (left-hand side). Smashing bit of nature writing. John Lewis-Stempel rented a field, with permission to turn it over to wildflower cultivation in its first year, and documented the diverse wildlife it attracted. Industrial farming has succeeded in turning turn fields into open roofed factories. Copious amounts of fertiliser and weed killers have decimated the natural environment. Plants, birds and animals that were once common sights in the countryside are now very rare or no longer exist. The fields are now only able to support the growing crop.
Fans of Lewis-Stempel's bestselling Meadowland will find here the same easy-reading prose fuelled by daft-as-a-brush enthusiasm and embellished with lyrical flourishes ... the mud-spattered details of a farming life lend The Running Hare a unique realness." ( Mail on Sunday) Happiness can truly be enhanced by soil - scientists at the University of Bristol report that a specific soil bacterium Mycobacterium vaccae activates a set of serotonin releasing neurones in the dorsal raphe nucleus of the brain - the same ones targeted by Prozac. So your mood can genuinely lift, just form working with, or walking over soil.
Our food is full of flavour, created and served by chefs who love what they do. We believe that great tastes should be at the heart of every meal, and we strive to bring you a menu that reflects the preferences of the whole family. From traditional roasts, to more modern options, healthy eaters to vegetarians, there’s plenty on our menu to satisfy everyone. I love books that share stories of working with the land using traditional farming methods that take us closer to the natural world and all that thrive there. This is healthy work that engages and benefits our physical, mental, spiritual and emotional beings, and whole-being. These stories and insights provide invaluable knowledge and a rich resource of information for anyone with a desire to work in harmony with the land. That John Lewis-Stempel is one of the best nature writers of his generation is undisputed." ( Country Life)
His column on nature and farming in Country Life won him Magazine Columnist of the Year in the 2016 BSME Awards. [3] His monthly column in The Countryman magazine began in March 2023. He sows the small field by hand. He also sows wide margins of wildflowers, to replicate the way fields had existed in the days before mechanical reaping and sowing, and lays out tables of seed to entice the birds. He uses no chemicals on his fields, and when he reaps he bundles the wheat into old-fashioned sheaves. Joyfully this does not prevent or spoil John's efforts to turn his newly acquired 'Flinders' field into a glorious and abundant wheatfield enjoyed by birds, wild animals, wildlife, wildflowers, wild herbs and all that comes with a worm-filled rich soil and the care of someone who understands the needs of the land and how to nurture it through the seasons. Traditional ploughland is disappearing. Seven cornfield flowers have become extinct in the last twenty years. Once abundant, the corn bunting and the lapwing are on the Red List. The corncrake is all but extinct in England. And the hare is running for its life.Along the way we learn a little about seemingly everything rural - agricultural history, scientific studies of bird and wildlife decline, botany, modern agriculture, Lepidoptera, Shakespeare, agrarian poetry, and the history of English hedges, just to name a few. Nearly 3.5) This is the record of a year of old-fashioned farming: Lewis-Stempel rented a several-acre field called Flinders, planted wildflowers in with his wheat and corn, and plowed it himself. Not a pesticide in sight. He attracted hares and other mammals, as well as numerous species of birds – all in all, much more life than your average field farmed by modern methods.
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