Episode 2.31 - Swallow Flights and Flaxen Fields

In this tender episode of the Countryside Podcasts, Chris Skinner and Matthew Gudgin greet August’s first whispers at High Ash Farm, where summer fades into autumn’s embrace. Migratory swallows—juveniles from the north—sweep overhead in chattering flocks, while Barnfield’s wild bird seed mix bursts with flax, its Wedgwood-blue blooms echoing 1950s harvests, alongside thistles, mustard, and sunflowers yielding oil-rich seeds for winter’s hungry gap. A rare meadow clary, its deep purple spikes rising from chalky soil, surprises on a south-facing slope, its seeds once a remedy for clear eyes. New barn owl nesting boxes promise hope, as gatekeeper butterflies pirouette and listener tales of teasels and poppies enrich this dance of nature’s farewell under a low, golden sun.

https://www.buzzsprout.com/2432378/episodes/17593715-episode-2-31-swallow-flights-and-flaxen-fields.mp3?download=true