Frost helps retrieve hedge stakes
I got into the swing of hazel over Christmas and have cut a bit now. I like to cut a little, process it, then cut more; that way, by alternating activity, I avoid spending too much time doing either (and the associated muscle pain), but more important it avoids creating a cat’s-cradle of fallen stems that’s a pain to unravel.I’ve got a couple of hedge stake and binder orders to get out and there are increasingly large piles of other sticks developing, to be sorted into bean poles, other shorter garden sticks and hurdle stakes as well as great mass of tops destined to become pea sticks.
frozen teasel against our wood
The cold weather gave us a chance to get a vehicle into the wood without causing too much damage to the ground. The frost was wonderfully beautiful – quite a special morning.
It’s very satisfying, if tiring work. As well as producing some money (hopefully), there’s an added pleasure for us in bringing our little wood, planted in 1999, into productive coppice rotation. The hazel is responding well; in spring, the cut stools throwing up a profusion of beautiful greenery to produce those important straight rods, to be cut again in the none too distant future.
I just need to keep at it for a thousand years and we’ll really have something to blog about!
If you need bean poles, pea sticks or other plant supports for your garden this spring, do get in touch – 01462 711815. Take a look at our products page to find out more about the things we produce.
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