October 4th – Winching myself up Shire Oak Hill at Sandhills at sunset, I noticed the potatoes in the fields that stretched to the canal had been stripped of their foliage ready for harvest. I love that view of Ogley Hay and St. James from here, and it looked beautiful and autumnal.
Elsewhere, harvested fields have already been ploughed, harrowed and replanted, with spring-like carpets of green sprouting winter crops, with almost springlike colour.
Whatever time of year, the farming continues.
April 3rd – The curious textures and contour-following lines of a ploughed and planted potato field seen today near Shenstone. The almost Moire-like visual disturbance this causes is fascinating, and really shows the undulations in any landscape.
Particularly impressive was the single cock pheasant clearly feeling a bit superior in the centre. Not the brightest birds but certainly very beautiful.
August 5th – I was feeling OK, it was just after sunrise on a bright summer day and so I decided to head to work via Aldridge and the Chester Road at Stonnall, just to catch Grove Hill in the soft light. There seems to be a crop of potatoes growing around the iconic tree, but the lower field of wheat has been harvested.
In the early morning light the stubble looked golden and beautiful, and I was puzzled by the one remaining stack of square straw bales. You don’t see many square ones these days. Unusual.
I love this spot and haven’t photographed it for ages. But it changes little, and always retains it’s magic.
July 28th – Returning home from Telford, unusually these days, I took the train to Shenstone and rode from there. It was against the wind, but a lovely ride: the fields are full of life and everywhere looks beautiful in summer colours.
Lots of maize about this year, interestingly in fields it was in before; clearly, crop rotation not a big priority. The crops are growing tall around Stonnall, and lush green, like a jungle. It’s a most un-British crop in that it’s so tall.
Also prevalent this season are spuds – acres and acres of them around Springhill. I wonder where they all go?
July 18th – Heading to work through the backlanes of Little Aston, I spotted these to lovely carpets of colour in the same field. They’re beautiful – one purple, one white. I had thought at first from a distance that they might be flax, but as soon as i got close I realised they were spuds.
There are a good few chips in that there field…
August 20th – I don’t know what to make of this. Near Shenstone, it’s now time to harvest the spring-planted potatoes. I’ve never seen spuds being automatically reaped, and have often wondered how it’s done. Looking at the state of this field, not very well. If parts of this crop have been harvested, there is a large quantity of taters left in the ground. I’m hoping someone collects them by hand, or maybe they will be collected by some kind of second pass of the machine, otherwise the waste would be terrible. A conundrum.
May 16th – another popular crop this year seems to be potatoes. A few weeks ago, I photographed this field belonging to Home Farm at Sandhills, freshly ploughed with Brownhills Church in clear view. The church is still visible, but the neat rows of spuds will soon be growing tall. I love the way the regimented green tramlines highlight the undulating contour of the field.
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