A pair of magnificent heavy horses returned to Cookham, Berkshire last Friday, 28th August, helping to harvest native wildflower seeds in a spectacular demonstration of nature-based solutions that combine traditional skills with modern technology. Using the horses to harvest the seed in place of heavy, diesel-powered machinery is not only lower in emissions and cleaner for the air, it also better for minimising ground compaction and provides a sympathetic approach to preserving the abundance of insects and invertebrates that call the wildflowers home, for a time. The one-of-a-kind brush harvester enables a modern way of doing things but combined with the very traditional methods of working heavy horses. Its mechanism is powered by the turn of the wheels as the horses pull it, allowing the ripe seed heads to be collected while pollinators and invertebrates fly or walk away free. The harvester then leaves the unripe seed to ripen and enhance the wildflower habitat, whilst the stems that have not flowered yet spring back to flower later in the season with the arrival of autumn rains.
The event was organised by Cookham-based business Natural Shoots who contracted Oakwood Clydesdales to the work. The activity was supported by The National Trust Cliveden, WildCookham, a local nature preservation charity, Get Golfing/Winter Hill Golf Course and The White Oak pub. The resulting seed product will be sold by Natural Shoots in its distinctive upcycled shotgun cases – repurposing paper and plastic cases that would otherwise have been sent to landfill or incineration.
Natural Shoots founder and managing director Edward Donald designed the harvesting operation following a successful shire horse harvest last autumn from a new 1,500 square metre meadow planted by Natural Shoots at Winter Hill Golf Club in Spring 2025. The new meadow area was sown by 55 volunteers after preparation by the greenkeeper team. Seed sowing teams came from Berkshire Springboard (a jobseeker community), residents, Cookham Explorers (Cubs & Scouts) & employees at Avanade (Company Volunteer Hours). When the area was harvested for seed with shire horses in Autumn 2025, 20 species were identified Black Medick, Black Nightshade, Bristly Ox Tongue, Common Poppy, Common Sow Thistle , Corn Flower, Corn Marigold, Cutleaf Cranesbill, English Marigold, Fat Hen, Geater Plantain, Ribwort Plantain, Hoary Plantain, Sainfoin, Salad Burnet, Self Heal, White Campion, Red Campion, Wild Carrot, Yarrow. In addition, bees, spiders, Knot Moth caterpillars, ants and aphids were observed in the collecting hopper.
This year’s operation was expanded to 2,700 square metres across three sites. The meadow at the golf course for second year and two separate areas one managed by The National Trust Cliveden and the other managed by WildCookham. Both organisations wanted to explore the benefits of nature-based solutions and their potential for managing other meadow areas in The Cookhams. Pleasingly, this year the golf course meadow species count increased with 10 additional species identified; Meadow Vetchling, Dame’s Violet, Grass Vetchling, Meadow Cranesbill, Yellow Loosestrife, Bird’s Foot Trefoil, Common Knapweed, Wild Carrot, Corn Daisy, Corn Cockle, Common Mallow. The National Trust and WildCookham meadows harvested for the first time using a nature-based solution saw 9 species identified; Yellow Rattle, Common Knapweed, Salad Burnett, Mallow, Geater Plantain, Ribwort Plantain, Hoary Plantain, Sorrell, Wild Carrot. Additionally, many grasshoppers, cone heads, Orb spiders and various moth, earwigs, and fly species were observed in the seed hopper at all three locations.
The presence of the heavy horses and the brush harvester also proved a major attraction, with people travelling from many regions to watch the work. Families and children were able to get close to the magnificent horses and see the insects in the seed hopper at different stages in the day. With the afternoon’s activity centred near The White Oak pub which hosted two “meet the shires” events between the harvesting work, a steady stream of refreshments was enjoyed by residents and visitors alike.
Edward Donald, Founder and Managing Director of Natural Shoots, said:
“Nature-based solutions offer the dual benefit of increased traceability of the seed harvest whilst ensuring adjacent ecosystems are maintained and enhanced. Last year’s seed harvest at Winter Hill Golf Course produced 20 meadow flower species. In the Spring this year I identified 8-10 new flowering species in the same area. Once checked by an agronomist, I’ll know if the seeds from those plants will be in this year’s mix”.
www.naturalshoots.co.uk
Insta@ naturalshootsuk
https://www.linkedin.com/in/edwarddonald/