Manor Farm, Marcham - Saturday, 4th July 2026

Blog by Sally.  Photos by Julio, Roger and Sally 

On Saturday, 4 July, we (that is 14 Green Gymmers) returned to Manor Farm in Marcham for the first of two Himalayan Balsam pulling sessions in July.  Permission had been given for us to park in the farmyard car park and, after gathering up the few tools we needed, we made our way along the lane.  Having done a recce of the area the previous weekend, the Green Gymmers had been advised to wear long sleeved tops as the nettles, thistles and brambles had grown very tall.

Although we could see some Himalayan Balsam growing along and in the ditch by the side of the road, we continued onto the farm itself as access is restricted in this area.  We set up our base in the usual spot, taking advantage of a bench situated near the stream overlooking a field of hazy blue.  The field had been planted with a legume mix, which included flax (the blue flowers), buckwheat (white flowers), vetch and red clover.  The roots fix nitrogen in the soil, thereby reducing the amount of fertilizer needed for the next crop to grow successfully.

In many ways we were grateful for a bit of cloud cover, as the week had been a bit hotter, and it would have been difficult in full sun, although for most of it we were working in dappled shade and some of us worked from the stream, which chilled our feet a little!

Knowing that we would come back for a couple of evening sessions to remove HB in the publicly accessible areas along the lane, we tried to start from as far upstream as possible and work downstream.  We were pleased to see how little HB was growing in the lane, so our year-on-year efforts are paying off.

We spread ourselves along the stream, pulling HB wherever we found it.  We took care crossing the stream where it was shallow - with so little rain in the past few weeks, the level of water had dropped so that worked in our favour.  It makes a very satisfying crunch sound when it's crushed, which we need to do to prevent it from re-rooting.  It was originally brought here as a garden plant, but it has escaped into the wild and spreads through seed dispersal.  the pods of seeds explode hundreds of seeds when touched.  Where it grows it blocks out the light so our native wild flowers cannot compete and it de-stabilises river banks as it's very shallow rooted.

One thing we had reminded ourselves about was the possibility of stumbling across an active wasps' nest, but luckily we didn't this time.  It was lovely to hear a skylark or two and to see a buzzard.

It was soon time for break, which was very convivial, before we returned to continue our good work.

After break, Roger came across a crayfish.  He managed to take a quick photo (see below).  Rather apt on American Independence Day, as it most likely is an American Signal Crayfish, another non-native invasive species.

At the end of our session, we made our way back to base to collect our belongings and tools and carry them back to our cars.

Pulling HB is a very satisfying job, especially before it seeds as each plant could result in hundreds of others next year.  We look forward to a few extra sessions in the evenings and to returning again in two weeks' time to pull as much HB as we possibly can.

"Seek and Destroy" was our mission - the Green Gymmers are certainly doing that here!

Carol, Joan and Eleanor in the thick of it

The shallow roots of an Himalayan Balsam plant

It was lovely to see the purple loosestrife and meadowsweet in flower in the foreground.  We also saw figwort about to burst into flower.  All of these are native plants.  More of this, please!

Carol pulls a whopper!

And yes, it really can grow in trees

From flax (the blue flowers) we get linen and linseed oil.  The white flowers are buckwheat, which is a grain.

The shimmering field of flax and buckwheat

Ursula, Simon, Joan and Roger on their seek and destroy mission

At a glance, you could be forgiven for thinking we are harvesting tea, but no - it's more HB pulling.  From left to right:  Joan, Carol, Ursula and Roger

Rosie in mid-crush

Lesley playing peek-a-boo

Before our ministrations

Break time - all important

The area after we had cleared it of HB

The common red soldier beetle (aka the bonking beetle)

Apparently, it spends most of the summer copulating!

Apart from that, it is a very beneficial insect - a pollinator, which feeds on nectar, pollen and aphids.  In its larval form, the larvae prey on slugs and snails.  

What's lurking here?  (Apologies for the blurry photo.)  Roger spotted this crayfish, which unfortunately we think is another non-native invasive species - the American Signal Crayfish.  It can grow up to 20cm and it has bright red undersides to its claws.  As well as carrying a deadly fungal disease "crayfish plague", which is killing off our native white-clawed crayfish, it also causes significant ecological damage (eating practically anything - eggs, larvae, fish fry, tadpoles, and our native crayfish) and bank erosion as it burrows in the banks of rivers.