Cat Frampton
@catframpton.bsky.social
Dartmoor based artist and Farmer who believes land layering is possible - She/her - Team waxcap/dung beetle/nature - it’s always more complicated than that!
Yes, yes it is
But…
May I also introduce you to waxcap fungi?
(Which I think are also very brilliant.)
But…
May I also introduce you to waxcap fungi?
(Which I think are also very brilliant.)
November 6, 2025 at 11:19 PM
Yes, yes it is
But…
May I also introduce you to waxcap fungi?
(Which I think are also very brilliant.)
But…
May I also introduce you to waxcap fungi?
(Which I think are also very brilliant.)
Reposted by Cat Frampton
Beautiful
And
Doomed
Loss in a landscape, Swift (3) - unfinished
Roofing slate and gold
Facing the idea of damage.
And
Doomed
Loss in a landscape, Swift (3) - unfinished
Roofing slate and gold
Facing the idea of damage.
June 21, 2025 at 6:45 PM
Beautiful
And
Doomed
Loss in a landscape, Swift (3) - unfinished
Roofing slate and gold
Facing the idea of damage.
And
Doomed
Loss in a landscape, Swift (3) - unfinished
Roofing slate and gold
Facing the idea of damage.
Reposted by Cat Frampton
Break stuff
And it stays broken.
And it stays broken.
June 21, 2025 at 6:51 PM
Break stuff
And it stays broken.
And it stays broken.
Reposted by Cat Frampton
Smash things up and they remain smashed
No amount of offsetting damage can fully fix broken.
No amount of offsetting damage can fully fix broken.
June 21, 2025 at 6:55 PM
Smash things up and they remain smashed
No amount of offsetting damage can fully fix broken.
No amount of offsetting damage can fully fix broken.
It’s not bad…
Mind you, it’s not all me and how I manage it, it’s a hard place to farm so we have farmed it softly for a long time, as the machines got bigger ours stayed small.
Mind you, it’s not all me and how I manage it, it’s a hard place to farm so we have farmed it softly for a long time, as the machines got bigger ours stayed small.
November 3, 2025 at 8:27 AM
It’s not bad…
Mind you, it’s not all me and how I manage it, it’s a hard place to farm so we have farmed it softly for a long time, as the machines got bigger ours stayed small.
Mind you, it’s not all me and how I manage it, it’s a hard place to farm so we have farmed it softly for a long time, as the machines got bigger ours stayed small.
I’m an auntie and an aunt!
It’s pretty universal.
Maybe the people baffled by ‘non-aunt aunts’ have no community? No extended family? Poor souls.
It’s pretty universal.
Maybe the people baffled by ‘non-aunt aunts’ have no community? No extended family? Poor souls.
October 28, 2025 at 8:21 PM
I’m an auntie and an aunt!
It’s pretty universal.
Maybe the people baffled by ‘non-aunt aunts’ have no community? No extended family? Poor souls.
It’s pretty universal.
Maybe the people baffled by ‘non-aunt aunts’ have no community? No extended family? Poor souls.
It’s pretty good, (and I’m determined to keep it that way), and each year as I learn more and have more visits from @roblarge.bsky.social the number of species seems to grow!
October 28, 2025 at 7:13 PM
It’s pretty good, (and I’m determined to keep it that way), and each year as I learn more and have more visits from @roblarge.bsky.social the number of species seems to grow!
We also sometimes, rarely, not this year yet, get these….
October 28, 2025 at 11:55 AM
We also sometimes, rarely, not this year yet, get these….
I think we have it nailed down to Gliophprous Perpelux aff.
Some had much lighter stems this year(below). That (above ) photo is from ‘23.
We got it all going on across this small Dartmoor farm!
Some had much lighter stems this year(below). That (above ) photo is from ‘23.
We got it all going on across this small Dartmoor farm!
October 28, 2025 at 11:48 AM
I think we have it nailed down to Gliophprous Perpelux aff.
Some had much lighter stems this year(below). That (above ) photo is from ‘23.
We got it all going on across this small Dartmoor farm!
Some had much lighter stems this year(below). That (above ) photo is from ‘23.
We got it all going on across this small Dartmoor farm!
I found this which touches on the ‘woodland or grassland’ waxcap conundrum
It’s not known why they crop up in grassland here and in woodlands in the USA, the thinking atm is to do with soil temperature but 🤷♀️
I assume there lots of large glades that were hard grazed.
www.aber.ac.uk/waxcap/downl...
It’s not known why they crop up in grassland here and in woodlands in the USA, the thinking atm is to do with soil temperature but 🤷♀️
I assume there lots of large glades that were hard grazed.
www.aber.ac.uk/waxcap/downl...
www.aber.ac.uk
October 27, 2025 at 7:43 PM
I found this which touches on the ‘woodland or grassland’ waxcap conundrum
It’s not known why they crop up in grassland here and in woodlands in the USA, the thinking atm is to do with soil temperature but 🤷♀️
I assume there lots of large glades that were hard grazed.
www.aber.ac.uk/waxcap/downl...
It’s not known why they crop up in grassland here and in woodlands in the USA, the thinking atm is to do with soil temperature but 🤷♀️
I assume there lots of large glades that were hard grazed.
www.aber.ac.uk/waxcap/downl...
Leighon is next door.
It breaks my heart to know (ecological) what they’ve done.
That wet meadow near the house…!
Waxcaps can cope with ‘close to woods’ but not that close. the woodland fungi take over and waxcaps die off when they do.
It’s odd though, the USA/NZ etc are so different to here!
It breaks my heart to know (ecological) what they’ve done.
That wet meadow near the house…!
Waxcaps can cope with ‘close to woods’ but not that close. the woodland fungi take over and waxcaps die off when they do.
It’s odd though, the USA/NZ etc are so different to here!
October 27, 2025 at 6:28 PM
Leighon is next door.
It breaks my heart to know (ecological) what they’ve done.
That wet meadow near the house…!
Waxcaps can cope with ‘close to woods’ but not that close. the woodland fungi take over and waxcaps die off when they do.
It’s odd though, the USA/NZ etc are so different to here!
It breaks my heart to know (ecological) what they’ve done.
That wet meadow near the house…!
Waxcaps can cope with ‘close to woods’ but not that close. the woodland fungi take over and waxcaps die off when they do.
It’s odd though, the USA/NZ etc are so different to here!
The only harm would be done if anyone was daft (or greedy) enough to add woods to waxcap land!
(The greedy could be aimed at oxygen conservation who have done just that! Then got a record breaking amount of £ for the carbon credits on that land… fun times in this part of Dartmoor, that’s for sure!)
(The greedy could be aimed at oxygen conservation who have done just that! Then got a record breaking amount of £ for the carbon credits on that land… fun times in this part of Dartmoor, that’s for sure!)
October 27, 2025 at 5:45 PM
The only harm would be done if anyone was daft (or greedy) enough to add woods to waxcap land!
(The greedy could be aimed at oxygen conservation who have done just that! Then got a record breaking amount of £ for the carbon credits on that land… fun times in this part of Dartmoor, that’s for sure!)
(The greedy could be aimed at oxygen conservation who have done just that! Then got a record breaking amount of £ for the carbon credits on that land… fun times in this part of Dartmoor, that’s for sure!)
Spangle?
May easily not be, but I may need to go have another look tomorrow if it’s possible ?
#WildFungiHour
May easily not be, but I may need to go have another look tomorrow if it’s possible ?
#WildFungiHour
October 26, 2025 at 9:23 PM
Spangle?
May easily not be, but I may need to go have another look tomorrow if it’s possible ?
#WildFungiHour
May easily not be, but I may need to go have another look tomorrow if it’s possible ?
#WildFungiHour
But how do we get the message across to those who need to understand it?
How do we become both vocal and informed/informative at the scale needed???
How do we become both vocal and informed/informative at the scale needed???
October 26, 2025 at 7:01 PM
But how do we get the message across to those who need to understand it?
How do we become both vocal and informed/informative at the scale needed???
How do we become both vocal and informed/informative at the scale needed???
Maybe instead I should have said they only grow in woodland outside of Europe where the trees are non-ectomycorrhizal.
So sorry, I was lazy with my glib ‘waxcaps hate trees’ quip.
www.aber.ac.uk/waxcap/habit...
So sorry, I was lazy with my glib ‘waxcaps hate trees’ quip.
www.aber.ac.uk/waxcap/habit...
www.aber.ac.uk
October 26, 2025 at 3:52 PM
Maybe instead I should have said they only grow in woodland outside of Europe where the trees are non-ectomycorrhizal.
So sorry, I was lazy with my glib ‘waxcaps hate trees’ quip.
www.aber.ac.uk/waxcap/habit...
So sorry, I was lazy with my glib ‘waxcaps hate trees’ quip.
www.aber.ac.uk/waxcap/habit...
We desperately need support, both financial and moral, for well grazed land
And by well grazed I mean chemical free, mixed sward height pasture.
And we need to pay attention to the scraps left literally by the wayside (the verges, the churchyards, the lawns) and treasure them.
And by well grazed I mean chemical free, mixed sward height pasture.
And we need to pay attention to the scraps left literally by the wayside (the verges, the churchyards, the lawns) and treasure them.
October 26, 2025 at 8:49 AM
We desperately need support, both financial and moral, for well grazed land
And by well grazed I mean chemical free, mixed sward height pasture.
And we need to pay attention to the scraps left literally by the wayside (the verges, the churchyards, the lawns) and treasure them.
And by well grazed I mean chemical free, mixed sward height pasture.
And we need to pay attention to the scraps left literally by the wayside (the verges, the churchyards, the lawns) and treasure them.
Waxcap grassland are in a nasty vice
One side is, oddly, conservation. Focused on trees or long grasses and less livestock
The other is a desperate need to make some money, so working the land harder, using every available (short term) tool. It’s today’s bills that need paying.
One side is, oddly, conservation. Focused on trees or long grasses and less livestock
The other is a desperate need to make some money, so working the land harder, using every available (short term) tool. It’s today’s bills that need paying.
October 26, 2025 at 8:49 AM
Waxcap grassland are in a nasty vice
One side is, oddly, conservation. Focused on trees or long grasses and less livestock
The other is a desperate need to make some money, so working the land harder, using every available (short term) tool. It’s today’s bills that need paying.
One side is, oddly, conservation. Focused on trees or long grasses and less livestock
The other is a desperate need to make some money, so working the land harder, using every available (short term) tool. It’s today’s bills that need paying.
We have a vocal push to rewild/abandon upland farms, and eNGOs talking about tree planting, we have people making massive amounts of cash from carbon credits and lapping up the moral high ground…
And the waxcap grassland shrink
The rare beauties disappear one by one
It’s Fungicide.
And the waxcap grassland shrink
The rare beauties disappear one by one
It’s Fungicide.
October 26, 2025 at 8:49 AM
We have a vocal push to rewild/abandon upland farms, and eNGOs talking about tree planting, we have people making massive amounts of cash from carbon credits and lapping up the moral high ground…
And the waxcap grassland shrink
The rare beauties disappear one by one
It’s Fungicide.
And the waxcap grassland shrink
The rare beauties disappear one by one
It’s Fungicide.
The uk is one of the countries which is important for their survival and yet we have, during a biodiversity crisis, a government pushing the holders of the last good grasslands to intensify, to fertilise, to up numbers and inputs, to reseed, plough, or be paid to sell off the sheep…
October 26, 2025 at 8:49 AM
The uk is one of the countries which is important for their survival and yet we have, during a biodiversity crisis, a government pushing the holders of the last good grasslands to intensify, to fertilise, to up numbers and inputs, to reseed, plough, or be paid to sell off the sheep…
They also hate trees. The fungi that surround and support trees are stronger than the waxcaps and so, too many trees equals destroyed waxcap pasture
And as I said it’s a ‘may never recover’ situation.
So planting or allowing too many trees in waxcap pasture is 100% ecofungicide
And as I said it’s a ‘may never recover’ situation.
So planting or allowing too many trees in waxcap pasture is 100% ecofungicide
October 26, 2025 at 8:49 AM
They also hate trees. The fungi that surround and support trees are stronger than the waxcaps and so, too many trees equals destroyed waxcap pasture
And as I said it’s a ‘may never recover’ situation.
So planting or allowing too many trees in waxcap pasture is 100% ecofungicide
And as I said it’s a ‘may never recover’ situation.
So planting or allowing too many trees in waxcap pasture is 100% ecofungicide
They are awkward though, for some.
They require grassland that is tightly grazed (or mown) and no ‘improvements’ like fertilisers.
They hate ungrazed or under grazed pasture, that can kill them.
They are fond of ‘sheep wrecked’ land
Awkward for proponents of land abandonment for nature recovery
They require grassland that is tightly grazed (or mown) and no ‘improvements’ like fertilisers.
They hate ungrazed or under grazed pasture, that can kill them.
They are fond of ‘sheep wrecked’ land
Awkward for proponents of land abandonment for nature recovery
October 26, 2025 at 8:49 AM
They are awkward though, for some.
They require grassland that is tightly grazed (or mown) and no ‘improvements’ like fertilisers.
They hate ungrazed or under grazed pasture, that can kill them.
They are fond of ‘sheep wrecked’ land
Awkward for proponents of land abandonment for nature recovery
They require grassland that is tightly grazed (or mown) and no ‘improvements’ like fertilisers.
They hate ungrazed or under grazed pasture, that can kill them.
They are fond of ‘sheep wrecked’ land
Awkward for proponents of land abandonment for nature recovery