09/08/2026
🦋 A little piece of Jersey’s wild heritage.
We’re soooooo excited to discover this week…
A few weeks ago we shared our discovery of a beautiful swallow tail butterfly visiting our flower field and she left us a little present! This morning we found several Swallowtail caterpillars feeding amongst the fennel left to grow wild on the flower field. with extraordinary black, green and orange markings, almost look too beautiful to be real! 😃🦋
This is the first time we’ve found Swallowtail caterpillars here, so it feels particularly special to see them using the habitat we’ve been slowly creating.
Our meadow patch has been allowed to develop naturally over the last few years, with a mixture of native wildflowers including wild carrot, oxeye daisy, ragged robin and evening primrose to name but a few, along with areas of fennel. We leave plenty of the meadow standing and allow plants to flower and set seed, creating food and shelter for insects and other wildlife throughout the seasons.
The caterpillars were found feeding on the fennel — a lovely reminder that a wildflower meadow isn’t just about the flowers we see. It’s also about the plants that provide food for the next generation of insects.
And then, of course, comes the magic… 🐛➡️🦋
The caterpillar will eventually pupate and emerge as one of our most spectacular butterflies — the Swallowtail.
For us, this is exactly why we want to farm alongside nature rather than simply around it. By making space for wild plants, leaving areas undisturbed and growing without chemicals, we can create little pockets of habitat where wildlife can complete its life cycle.
A flower meadow for us, but a whole ecosystem for them. 🌿🦋
