Doing several things for a living results inevitably in getting labelled in different ways by different people, depending on how and where they come across you. Until our website picked up traffic, I sold our willow products at numerous farmers markets in the area and became known to many as ‘The Stick Man’. I am […]
In June 2018 I published a post entitled “A tale of two ashes” in which I described the fate of two young ash trees I had coppiced the year before and which, after regrowing vigorously were succumbing, to different extents, to Chalara ash dieback – A tale of two ashes – Wassledine . I did […]
When did you last see a newt? Have you ever seen one? Would you even want to? If you have a pond, you might just be lucky enough to have these amphibians quietly enjoying your garden alongside you. And unless you study your pond in spring, when they drop in to lay eggs, you might […]
Last September, I met Lyndsey from Central Beds Council at Centenary Wood, near Greenfield, to talk about some ride widening she wanted us to do for her. In return for taking out some young trees that were overshadowing some paths and causing them to stay muddy through most of the year, we’d get to bring […]
For years I’ve been waging lowkey war on the sallow that grows in one hazel plantation we look after. (Sallow for simplicity, but I’m including ‘goat willow’, Salix caprea ‘grey willow’ S. cinerea, as well as hybrids of the two, under that umbrella). Knowing sallow is an important part of the woodland ecosystem, I’ve never […]
Hazel (Corylus avellana), like many shrubs, can be propagated by part burying stems whilst they are still attached to the parent plant – layering. Roots and shoots will, with luck, be produced at the point of contact with the soil and these new plants can be left in place or moved to a new location. […]
Wilding, the return of nature to a British farm, Isabella Tree. 2018, pub. Picador If I was writing a review for the back of this book I think “thought provoking” would do nicely. Given freedom to add another word, I’d go for “extremely thought provoking”. Having read the book in the spring after my wife […]
Here’s a tale that I feel I should share with everyone who uses edged tools. I wish now I had taken more time to talk about it with my work colleagues. A few years ago, maybe four, whilst working up some cut hazel, I hit the back of my left hand with a billhook. The […]
We own about four hectares of woodland of which one, Chester Wood, is ancient semi-natural. The rest is a plantation: Bottoms’ Corner, created in 1999. The ancient woodland is a strip that survived the destruction of what may have been a much larger wood of which no records survive as far as I know; its removal must have […]
Much excitement here in Gravenhurst as we put our first charcoal in bags and made it look a little like a real product with a label and everything. Whilst selling fresh beef last Thursday we gave quite a few bags to customers on the basis that they tell us what they think of this, our […]