Not long after we moved here in the Summer of 2019, the Three Bays Wildlife Group organised a BioBlitz weekend based around Portmellon. We joined a walk up the valley to Gorran Churchtown and an evening Bat Walk and were thrilled to notice the wildlife in the valley. The idea of a BioBlitz stuck and I decided to spend a year recording the nature in our little square of the valley.
It’s been a long time coming. The first summer, we didn’t even realise that a stream ran through our water meadow until Mr C hacked his way through the ‘cow parsley’. The following Spring, we spent a magical three months of lockdown laying some turf paths for access; digging a small pond and discovering that the ‘cow parsley’ was in fact extremely toxic hemlock water dropwort.
The following two summers were filled with good and bad family events, and so as we approach our fourth anniversary, I have decided that it’s now or never. The fifth year of our water meadow will be recorded.
There’s a balance to be struck between preserving the natural habitat and trying to cultivate it. I see us as ‘curators’. The hemlock water dropwort had to be eliminated from the garden, no question. There is plenty in the valley. We try to keep stinging nettles away from the paths and have experimented with planting marginals and trees, but swathes of our little water meadow remain untouched.
Our goal is to do our best to preserve the habitat, whilst enjoying it through the year.