A Tour of our Fields
OK, they aren’t ‘our’ fields as in mine and Anna’s, but they are the fields that belong to the project that I’m now working for ‘Biomass Connect’. So, as it was a nice day and there were a couple of us new to the project we thought it was time to take a look at what’s actually happening on the ground.
Now, as the ‘Digital Content Manager’ for Biomass Connect I won’t actually have that much to do with the research or the plants in the ground, but it’s nice to know what it is all about and I will get involved where I can.
The Hub Site
First stop was the actual ‘Hub Site’ which is one of the 8 demonstration sites across the UK. Here we’ll be growing various species of short-rotation trees and perennial grasses, mainly miscanthus and willow. There wasn’t a huge amount to see here as the ground has been prepared but nothing as yet has been planted. It was good to see where it was though, especially as it’s a spot that we drive past most days.
Crops in the Ground
Next was another site that we often pass that has been planted for a while. We weren’t there just to look and see though as Dave was taking some drone footage and Will was filming with the GoPro so that we have some content for the website and other materials. Again, this was a site that we drive past regularly but I barely knew it was here. If I’d looked at the satellite maps then it is kind of obvious! The fact that it’s been planted in blocks for experiments makes it stand out somewhat.
More Miscanthus
Next was a quick stop at a much larger site that again I didn’t really know was there. How can I know Aberystwyth so well and not know about this?
Amazingly, I run along one side of this large field of Miscanthus fairly regularly and again had never seen it. In my defence, the hedge along its boundary where I run is pretty large!
We had a good view of the University’s Solar Farm too.
