In March, Sam, William and Peter Hodge, the tenant farmers for the Gaia Trust at Treraven, joined Richard and Matt from Gaia to visit Martin Howard's farm near Launceston.

The visit was organised through the UK Farmer Group Discussion Network (thanks to Kate and Alex from the University of Exeter for making the arrangements) so that we could see how Martin has used grass and herb rich leys on his farm.

It was an excellent day and we learned how Martin's herb-rich pastures support cattle health, improve soil structure and water penetration, carbon and humic content and soil micro-organisms. In the summer, when they are left to grow long, their flowers provide valuable habitat and food for a variety of insects that are uncommon and declining on rye grass dominated, artificially fertlised 'intesive' pasture.

The Gaia Trust is thinking about including herb and legume rich leys in our management of our Treraven farm Nature Reserve near Wadebridge from 2020.

In December 2018 a drone flew over Chark Moor so that we can monitor the effects of our scrub management work on the site. The drone flies a pre-determined grid pattern at a set altitude and takes over one hundred downward photographs. These are then 'stitched together' using special software to create a detailed composite image with a resolution of about 1 metre.

Matched to drone pictures that we took in 2016, we can monitor how all of Chark Moor is changing with time and as a result of Gaia's careful Stewardship

Here are some excellent pictures from a volunteer task to clear bramble, willow and tamarisk from the reedbed at Home Farm Marsh in late December 2018. A great way to shift post-Christmas calories.

Our volunteers were ably assisted by Pete from Falcon Tree Services with his chainsaw, who gave his time for free. Together Pete and the volunteers cut, removed and burned many tons of wood, but there are still 5 or 6 tons remaining to be moved. ​

Our new partner is Camel Community Supported Agriculture (Camel CSA). For almost ten years, Camel CSA has been growing and sharing fresh seasonal local food, supporting local vegetable growers and reducing food miles from their home at St Kew Highway. The Camel CSA is a social enterprise, so any profits are ploughed back into the project.​

Public access is a key element of the Gaia Trust's mission to farm for people and wildlife. Therefore, we are happy that we have been able to enlarge and re-surface the car park at our Treraven Farm Nature Reserve near Wadebridge. The new surfacing is made of local granite sand and stone and will hopefully last many many years.

The Gaia Trust and Shire’s Holt horse and pony sanctuary  have come together to get ponies grazing at our Chark Moor reserve near Bodmin.

​The ponies will graze not just grass, but the also any scrub re-growth. This is important as this winter we cleared a large amount of scrub to enlarge the open wet heath and grassland that is the favoured habitat for the rare marsh fritillary butterfly. Scrub will return if it is left un-grazed.

The ponies will stay on site for some months and the Gaia Trust and Shires Holt will be monitoring them so that any issues with under or over grazing are addressed and that their welfare is assured. Summer and Autumn grazing by cattle will follow on later in the year.

Booking open for the Cornwall AONB's Annual Conference on the theme of future farming on the 14th APRIL. Note that an afternoon field trip to our Treraven farm site in Wadebridge is available to delegates. See what we do there and explore how our management might chance in the future

Our scrub contractors have made impressive inroads on the scrub, with a few acres at the southern end completely cleared. It is already looking transformed. The stumps of small trees, saplings and gorse have been treated with glyphosate straight after cutting and stained blue to indicate treatment.

They are burning the arisings on dry ground, keeping the fire small and controlled and on a sheet of corrugated, galvanised steel to retain the ash. It’s a tough site and the workers have to drag the cut branches and gorse some distance across very tricky terrain to the bonfire. There they use loppers to reduce the branches further for the fire.

 At the same time, our Knight Fencing are fencing the cleared corral area to improve access before moving on to repair the perimeter fences. This is important so ensure that the site is stock proof as summer grazing is crucial to keeping the scrub down and improving the habitat for the rare marsh fritillary butterfly.

Sad news and a great loss for the Gaia Trust at Home Farm Marsh with the passing of birder, carpenter, fencer, hide; stile; bird box and bench builder, joker and all round good bloke - Geoff Taylor. 

Geoff was at the Reserve two or three times a week in all weathers and even cycled around Northern France to raise money to extend the main pond. 

 He will be sadly missed by all at Home Farm Marsh. 
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 The Gaia Trustees and Director send their condolences to his wife Christine and thanks for sharing Geoff with us for all those years