This is the first year of Bluebells Maize Maze and to start with a bang we have designed it in the shape of Bluebell the cow! It is all cut from the forage crop maize which we grow about 50 acres of each year. Maize looks very much like sweetcorn but unfortunately it's not and tastes horrible (except to cows!!!)

The field is first ploughed to get rid of any weeds then disced to break up the lumps and make a good seed bed. Then in late April we start the job of drilling the maize. Each seed is placed at a set distance apart and at a depth of about 3 inches. Depending on the weather about 2 weeks later you can just start to see the maize shoots popping through the soil. In June, once the maize is big enough, comes the hard work of marking out the maze so that everyone can come and get lost!!

The field is measured using GPS. Then once the maze is mapped on to the field on the computer we go and actually mark it out in the field, very carefully; one mistake can affect the whole design!

Once the maze is laid out on the field there comes the next step of cutting it out. I do this on a ride on lawn mower by going from point to point along the 2.2 miles of paths!

When thats finished all we can do is wait for the maize to grow. Which it does very quickly up to an inch a day! By the end of the Summer maize plants can be over 8ft tall!!

 If you look at the base of each plant you will see finger like roots coming out from the plant about 2 inches above the ground. These roots support it to prevent it from falling and these can be as long as half the height of the plant. 

When the maze season is finished the maize crop is cut down and used to feed our dairy herd who turn it into milk which we then use to make more deilicious ICE CREAM!