Writtle Wildlife Watch!

The face of the Essex countryside is forever adapting, with the arrival of new animal and plant species on a frequent basis. Farming is essentially changing too, with less livestock production and more arable crop farming. So why are we seeing these changes happen?

Conservation expert, Alan Roscoe, explores why...

"I was chuffed the other day to see that celebrity chef Tom Kerridge’s pub, the Hand and Flowers, serves a main course of ‘Essex lamb bun with sweetbreads and salsa verde’. With the notable exceptions of Kelly bronze turkeys, samphire from our estuaries and previously, saffron from the eponymous Walden, Essex is not especially venerated for the distinctiveness of its produce. So it was nice to see us given a mention.

Image courtesy of Wikipedia "Crops"
by Johannes Jansson

It got me thinking though, about how geographically polarised our food production has become, with comparatively little livestock in the south-east, and how this has affected our wildlife. A lamb from Essex is a pretty rare - no pun intended - beast and I can think of only two farmers locally who raise sheep for the table. The exception proves the rule therefore. Essex is predominantly an arable county and has been for many years, mostly as a consequence of its soil being excellent for crops.

The presence of animals on a farm was, many decades ago, a given. They were there to provide the power to drive the plough and the harrow. With the arrival of mechanised power in the early 20^th century however, the presence of animals on a farm was no longer necessary and finding working animals on an Essex farm is now almost an impossibility.

So what is the knock-on effect?

Image courtesy of Wikipedia "Farmer ploughing"
by Ralf Roletschek

Well, for a start, you no longer need grassland to feed your animals. And so called ‘unimproved’ grassland i.e. areas which have not had applications of chemicals or ever been ploughed, are especially rare. These areas have high conservation value and would have numbered among the fields which had fed animals for hundreds of years, only to be turned over to the plough once the animals were no longer needed.

Image courtesy of Wikipedia
"Harvest mouse" by Michael Gäbler

But we also lose the animals and, arguably, their most important product – their waste. An ecosystem is built from the base up and, in many systems, we are talking about insects. Animal waste provides food and shelter, primarily for various families of flies and beetles. These insects then become a food source for small mammals, amphibians, reptiles and birds, thus acting as the base of    a huge ‘food pyramid’.

So although Tom’s lamb bun will set you back £27 a time, you are doing your bit for biodiversity in Essex!"

Plants, plants, plants!

With less than two months to go until the Young Gardeners of the Year 2015 competition, our horticulture students are busy preparing their designs ready for display at the prestigious event.

In this blog, Joshua Kemp tells us of the importance of choosing the correct plant species for the competition, and how he plans to care and maintain the plants ready for the big day.

Growing plants in the Writtle College greenhouse

"With concepts and plans well on the way, focus has started to shift on the specifics for the Ideal Home Show Garden. This week we have been looking at what plants will be suitable for the show garden. This is important for me, as in my future work, being able to choose correct plants that are suitable for the location is part of being a successful horticulturist. 

Plants flourish in the Writtle College greenhouse

We have utilised college facilities by moving plants that we already have on site into greenhouses. We will then be able to manipulate what stage of the cycle the plants will be in for the show, by giving them the correct conditions that they would naturally have during the spring/summer seasons. This was one of my first experiences within the greenhouses, and through Writtle College I have been able to see the set up and operational procedure of them.

The next stage will be sourcing more ‘exotic’ plants for the garden…."

Written by Joshua Kemp

For more information on the launch, click here.

Floristry degree students take part in Lonely Bouquet campaign

During the festive period a number of degree-level Professional Floristry students took part in the international Lonely Bouquet campaign. The purpose of the campaign is to spread happiness by leaving small bouquets of flowers in different locations for members of the public to adopt.

Professional Floristry student Eiki Shibuya

In December, Writtle floristry students hit the streets of Chelmsford as part of the campaign and were delighted by the results. International student, Eiki Shibuya from Japan, discusses his experience of taking part in this unique event and how the skills and knowledge he has been taught during his course were put into practise!

"We made the bouquets at College and left them in Chelmsford city centre as we wanted the lovely posies to be adopted by local residents. Each posy has a note that said 'Adopt me' and 'I do not want you to be lonely this Christmas.' What we expected was to bring heartfelt vibrations to the city. 

Surprisingly, every bouquet was adopted in 15 minutes! After we finished distributing all of the bouquets, we walked back again to check it. It was interesting to see people's reactions. We still remember a gentleman who was in Chelmsford Cathedral and looking at a bouquet for a while, suspending jogging whilst in there. Finally, he took it and we absolutely felt he was full of happiness.  It was what we had been aspiring to see and realise. We felt proud to be florists!

All of the students that took part are studying a degree in Professional Floristry. As the title shows, the course covers all aspects to become profession in the industry. In classroom, we are enhancing both skills and knowledge. For example, learning principles of design is useful to absorb new ideas and try it.  

You might agree that florists are 'communicators' through flowers. A bunch of flowers would connect people and bring a good atmosphere between them. Flowers are extremely powerful. When people get married, we see the venue full of flowers. When people pass away, florists help people to express dignity and respect. In terms of true communication, we believe it is a more powerful way than just saying 'I love you' via email. Having believed the mysterious but simple power, we have spent ages to let bouquets deliver feelings from a sender to a recipient. We love it!" 

Interested in studying a Professional Floristry degree? Visit our website here: Floristry

If you want to meet our Professional Floristry team, book onto our next Open Day here: Open Day