The Accidental Smallholder Forum

Smallholding => Land Management => Topic started by: john and helen on February 24, 2014, 11:05:36 am

Title: Marsh land
Post by: john and helen on February 24, 2014, 11:05:36 am

Do any of you have Marsh land on your property ? if so..what do you use it for ?

Title: Re: Marsh land
Post by: pgkevet on February 24, 2014, 03:37:52 pm

My bit of mashland is used as a way of keeping in touch with the neighbouring farmer.. who has had to pull my tractor out of it two years running :relief: . There is a second patch which has willows grong in it.

I did think of sticking cranberries into one but the pH is all wrong

Title: Re: Marsh land
Post by: john and helen on February 24, 2014, 04:26:27 pm

willow..plenty of firewood then  :thumbsup:

and a nice way to stay friends with the farmer  ;D

Title: Re: Marsh land
Post by: spandit on February 24, 2014, 06:35:05 pm

Mine is little else! I've planted willow and alder around it but leaving a lot for habitat - plenty of amphibians etc. in there

Title: Re: Marsh land
Post by: john and helen on February 24, 2014, 07:08:45 pm

going to view a place tomorrow..it has a big chunk of marshland at the bottom,,,still would give me a big field to do what i want..but would like to do something with the marsh

Title: Re: Marsh land
Post by: spandit on February 24, 2014, 07:09:50 pm

It's vital habitat but you could dig it out & put a pond in or something

Title: Re: Marsh land
Post by: john and helen on February 24, 2014, 08:22:10 pm

thats the lines i would be thinking on…. maybe fishing as an extra income ?

Title: Re: Marsh land
Post by: SirDoolb on March 03, 2014, 06:43:00 pm

Won't fishing require planning permission? Still, if you are happy with that. I know quite a few people who want me to stock my ponds so they can fish them. I want to swim in them. :)
I'm hoping to use the very wet bit for biodiversity / nature conservation but also hoping to grow willows.

Title: Re: Marsh land
Post by: jaykay on March 03, 2014, 06:49:20 pm

My entire holding is marshland......  ::)

Title: Re: Marsh land
Post by: SallyintNorth on March 03, 2014, 07:34:06 pm

Quote from: jaykay on March 03, 2014, 06:49:20 pm

My entire holding is marshland......  ::)

Oh, aye - you'll be above the moorland line?   We're just below it, it starts just north of our 'fell'. 

(Hereabouts, 'fell' is moorland, marshland is called a 'moss'... it's a different language!)

But yes, since moving up here, initially to a 1000+ acre Northumberland moorland farm and latterly to this Cumbrian hill farm, I have learned a lot about peat bogs, mires, etc.  Fascinating stuff and well worth some investigation if you do end up with some such land - I would definitely urge you to do some research, and talk to your local Natural England ecologist, before making any changes which you could regret later. ;)