The party’s over – the one we call summer has quietly slipped by and autumn is here. Workwise, I’ve been taking things a bit easy the last few months but the arrival of October reminds me that I need to get busy again and do some hard graft. There’s still plenty of green growth and activity around and because we have such mild seasons now, it’s all too easy to think that we have plenty of time to do the felling etc before spring, so the next couple of months can slip by too if we’re not on the ball.
Yesterday I set myelf the task of clearing up the hazel coppice area. Brambles have taken a hold again and I decided that precious time spent clearing them, might be better spent by keeping a few small areas as clear as possible, rather than trying to tackle too much and doing it badly.
The sun was just hitting the tops of the trees and I watched as numerous crows were circling and cawing loudly at each other. A flurry of small birds heeded the warning and scurried into the cover of the brash and dense trees. My connection with the woods was made again and I was ready to work. Much pulling, moaning and a bit of swearing followed for an hour or so. As usual I had understimated the task and instead of clearing the whole coppice area, I managed about a quarter of it. Here’s the evidence.
Time for coffee and some photography. There’s not as much fungi around as I expected but I did find some nice examples. This one is birch polypore also called razor strop fungi. It grows on decaying birch and has healing properties, strips can be cut to make natural sticking plasters (band aids if you live in the USA) and it’s a favourite with bushcrafters.
These tiny ones I can’t identify, they are incredibly delicate and fairies use them as umbrellas.
I have never seen these before, they were growing on dead birch. They are no bigger than a pea and an incredible salmon-pink in colour. Initial research suggests they might be cinnabar polypore in their very early stages.
The other main job was to create a small secure area in a well lit place, to act as a nursery for saplings. There is a dark area that was used to rear pheasants, and now that they have gone, there is lots of regeneration happening but I have plans to do some heavy felling there which might damage them. They are also vulnerable to deer browsing. The coppice area (first photo) is fantastically light and ideal for a nursery. I cleared the area between two hazel bushes (which also need deer protection) and enclosed a decent sized piece with netting. I transplanted about 15 saplings from the dark area (still lots more) which included hazel, beech, oak, hawthorn and wild cherry. When the felling is complete I can move them back or use them in other areas.
Time to get the chainsaw out soon.
