Lunch in my shed – not quite gourmet cuisine but probably a nicer environment

Just a review of 2015 and to wish you all a happy new year and thanks for bothering to read my woodland ramblings. I sincerely hope this will be a happy new year. It’s been a tough one for me and my family and for the world in general in many ways and we are overdue for some good times. This is my second year as a woodland owner so I’ve seen the full spectrum of seasons, which are probably not typical. The recent mild and very wet winter here has robbed me of the pleasures of seeing the woodland in it’s winter coat. I’d love to see it covered in snow. It’s also prevented me from visiting as much as I’d like and I’m raring to get back in there and do some work.

First a little review of 2015 and the more positive achievements in my wood. I managed to plant around 40 new trees of native mixed species and as far as I can see, haven’t had any casualties yet, though some have done far better than others. I think the slowest growth is in the two whitebeam saplings which haven’t gained much height at all. The wild cherry and birch are probably the winners so far. The coppiced hazel is doing OK though the new growth on some of it is not very straight and I’m wondering why. I think it made rapid growth and it’s own weight but little strength in the stems pulled it down sideways.

I managed two overnight camping trips which were a new experience for me. I’ve done plenty of camping in my life but only camped on organised sites before. This is a completely different scenario. I’ve made several new friends who are neighbouring woodlanders and that’s a bonus. It’s really good to be able to talk to others who totally get what you’re at and the reassurance of their presence. I’ve had several visitors, two great guys I met earlier in the year at a bushcraft course I attended. I think there will be some more meet-ups with them this year both in and out of the woods.

I started using my chainsaw to fell and cut some trees that need thinning out – a somewhat scary experience at first but one I’m reasonably confident with now. There will always be a healthy dose of fear when using it though, which is good to have. I haven’t counted the number of trees felled but a rough guess is around 20-30. I have a fairly healthy log-pile for my woodstove now but much of it still needs cutting smaller and chopping. I was given a fantastic book for Christmas entitled Norwegian Wood: Chopping, Stacking and Drying Wood the Scandinavian Way by Lars Mytting. If you’re a woodsman and wood stove owner I thoroughly recommend it. I realise now that I should have cut and split my fresh wood as soon as possible after felling it. The reason is to encourage drying and seasoning as quickly as possible otherwise moulds set in and slow it down and degrade the quality of your firewood. So I shall have to get busy with that task as soon as possible and take it on board in future.

I was pleased with the take-up of several of my bird nest boxes, over half of them were occupied, mainly by various members of the tit family – coal tits, great tits and blue tits. I’ve made and fixed up a nest box for Little Owls and am really hoping a pair will find and use it. So far I haven’t seen any animals in the woods other than squirrels and birds and the odd toad, though there is plenty of evidence of small mammals like mice, moles and voles, also holes dug by badgers foraging and the odd deer tracks. I guess it’s because they are mainly nocturnal.

The best part of woodland ownership is the sheer pleasure of being part of that natural world and losing yourself in it. I have said it numerous times to people, when I am there I am almost totally focussed and absorbed in the present and the natural surroundings which has a definite healing effect on your nervous system – and boy have I needed that this year. The woodland has been my haven and I can’t get enough of it. If you want to feel grounded and alive, just take a slow walk through a woodland or forest on your own. Take some binoculars, open your eyes and turn up your senses. Just sit somewhere quietly for a while, listen and watch carefully to see what moves or makes a sound. Look closely at some of the plants, fungi etc that are growing around you. It’s an amazing place packed with life and don’t forget – you are part of nature too. This is your natural heritage, try to reconnect with it for a short while before heading back to your cosy house, tv and computer.

So what about 2016 then? My plans are to expand the area of hazel re-coppice. That’s a job I need to do ASAP as the new catkins are already on them and the sap is rising early. Do some more tree felling in the N.E. corner where I started in Autumn and plant up the oak saplings I have been nurturing at home. Build a permanent lean-to shelter for those showery moments and for when I’m camping. Try out my in-car sleeping board for a quick overnight sleep-over set-up. Cut, chop and stack my firewood properly this time for next winter’s fuel. Make a few new areas as places of rest with a bench here and there to just sit with a mug of coffee and take in the beauty of the place. Can’t wait, hope it all comes off as planned. Stay tuned in to see if it does. Thanks again for visiting this blog.

Majestic beech plantation in a neighbouring plot

Gloomy is the keyword right now. We’ve had more rain and dark depressing weather than I can remember, so visits to the woods have been less than I would have liked. To add to my personal gloom, this week we discovered our lovely little touring caravan has been flooded out whilst in storage. It’s contaminated with sewer water too so it’s looking like a possible write-off. So a visit to the woods to restore my peace of mind was what was needed yesterday even though the weather was looking “iffy”. An early start to try to avoid rush hour traffic got me there for 8.30am. It was drizzling and misty when I arrived and only just daylight. I took a walk around some of the rides to see what my neighbours’ plots were looking like. It was very atmospheric, almost silent and I’m sure I had the whole woods to myself (human-wise at least). I could see some folks have been busy building sheds or structures of some kind and one neighbour has done a sterling job replanting an area he clear felled earlier this year. His plot contains a lot of mature larch and other non-native coniferous species and he’s keen to introduce some diversity with a mixture of broadleaf varieties. I know he reads this blog so well done mate – it’s looking great, wish I could fast forward a decade or so to see what it will look like then.

A neighbour’s newly planted area

I travelled light this time, just hand tools and food and drink. I started out finishing the tidy up task of my little logshed-cum-junk shed. The birch logs I cut last time needed splitting and stacking for drying so I needed some space. I find sorting and reorganising things quite therapeutic. By this time I was ready for a brew.

half-tidied logshed ready for stacking.

I wanted to make a start on coppicing some more hazel. Last year’s experiment of cutting a few old stools seems to have been a moderate success so I shall expand that area with a few more. The mild weather so far has encouraged the hazel trees to produce small catkins already so even though the new growth won’t start till around May time, sap must be rising already. I cut back two gnarly old hazel stools which need a bit more tidying up when I take the chainsaw and cleared away some of the smaller growth to be used to build a small wattle fence around my composting toilet. The gloom continued and it started to rain lightly. Time to try out my new ex-army goretex jacket that I bought just for such occasions. A fraction of the cost of fancy designer label jackets, it’s lightweight and storm proof and roomy enough to work comfortably in. I decided to take a lunch break and tried to find some shelter inside my crowded logshed. Just enough room for my plastic garden chair to sit sideways. It worked and it was quite a pleasant half hour watching and hearing the gentle rain around me while munching on my cheese and pickle sarnies. I think it’s good to experience the wood in all it’s variations, always something new to see. I do think I need a bigger shed though!

Lunch in my shed – not quite gourmet cuisine but probably a nicer environment

The rain lifted for a while, I finished my work for the day early and headed home before dark.

Gloomy ride

The weather has been terrible for a while now but Sunday was looking fine so I headed off for another session at my woods. As I approached the weather became wet and was raining quite hard as I struggled to get the padlock to the main gate undone. Eventually it succumbed to my efforts and I headed up the main ride only to be confronted with my next mini challenge – a small oak tree had blown down and formed a perfect barrier across the road. Still attached at the roots it was not possible to simply drag it. Still raining I debated – should I wait in the car until it eased (boring) or bite the bullet, clear the tree and get wet but at least I could carry on to my neck of the woods. Luckily I had brought the chainsaw and took the wet option. The bonus was a few oak logs for my woodpile, a fair payment for doing everyone else a favour.

Having had some severe windy weather, I was expecting to see some tree victims in my woods, so my first job was a walk around. The previous visit revealed a newly snapped of silver birch and this visit I found another one. This one was already dead and had been uprooted. Birch seem to be specifically vulnerable in my wood. There are numerous decaying specimens, standing and fallen. It’s tempting to get busy with the chainsaw to clear up and build the firewood pile but dead wood is incredibly important for a woodland for small creatures, fungi etc so I’m leaving most of it. It also creates features giving a more natural and wild look which I like. The last thing I want is for my wood to look manicured.

Time for a brew so I got busy and started my small fire off just in time for the rain to come down again. Mild panic ensued as I had brought some pea and mint soup to heat up for lunch too. I’ve been wondering about this situation for a while – what do you do to protect your fire when it rains, or do you just accept it as one of those things. I grabbed an old wooden pallet and propped it by the fire sloping over it slightly with the wind at the back, hoping it would keep perhaps 50% of the rain off. I stoked it up as quickly as I could to create more heat and flames in the hope that the rain would ease before it quenched it. It lasted about 15 minutes and I’m glad to say the fire stayed in and I had my hot soup. A new lesson learned too.

This visit was a mix of work and pleasure. I had a few chats with some of the neighbours, sawed, chopped and stacked some more firewood for next year and had a good look around for a possible place to site an old garden bench I am about to inherit. One of my short term aims is to provide various features that enhance the wood for myself and other visitors. To add a little magic and some new places where you can sit for a while with a cup of coffee and just enjoy a different aspect of the wood than the usual two locations I first created. I’ve already cut a few paths through the bramble to allow access into the more overgrown areas and I found one place where I think it would go nicely. I’ve noticed this spot before, how it gets some nice dappled morning sun and is also not visible from any of the main rides, so providing a nice private spot where you can disappear from the rest of the world. The first photo below doesn’t capture the nice feel of it and the sun had hidden too but I took it to remind myself of the location. The second photo was taken a few weeks ago and shows the same spot from a different angle with the sun lighting up a beautiful hazel coppice.

Last post I mentioned my mother who was slowly fading away and now she’s finally gone. So it’s been a very hectic and emotionally draining week. Stress, tension and tears being the order of the day. So now it’s all over it’s time to let go in more ways than one. Let go of the person who brought me into this world and loved and supported me throughout my life so far. Let go of the tension and stress, and a visit to my wood was just what the doctor ordered. I went on Sunday with no specific aims other than just to relax, potter around and enjoy being in my little piece of paradise. If I got a few light jobs done fine but if not – no big deal. The one thing I really wanted to do was light a proper little fire, brew some coffee and have a fry up for lunch. Frontier stuff. Just so satisfying and wholesome.

My little camp fire and cooking setup

It was a busy day for neighbourly visits too and that was very welcome. Some genuine human kindness helps the healing process. I did manage a few small jobs. I topped up the bird feeders and I have a small log shelter by my camp area which was not doing the job very well and in need of stocking up. A wise bushcrafter said that after lighting your fire, the next job is to start thinking about your next fire. Having a stock of dry logs is important when the weather is wet. So I re-organised my logstore and topped it up with some dry stuff. I filled a couple of large trugs with logs for home too. I have to say that’s about as much as I managed to get done which doesn’t make for a very interesting read. Next visit will be to get some work done.

You could say it’s the calm before the storm. My elderly mother is fading slowly and we will have a funeral to arrange before long. It’s been an incredibly stressful month visiting her in hospital most days so the woodland visit brought a much needed break. In a way, the cycle of the seasons reminds us that everything living is just temporary and that much as we love something or someone, eventually we have to accept it’s time for their departure. I guess for me, the timing of autumn and my mother’s impending passing has a special significance. Enough of the morbid stuff now.

A lovely small beech tree in it’s autumn colours

The day started foggy, grey and gloomy. It lightened slightly as the day went on but far from it being unpleasant, I enjoyed the still, damp day very much. There was an atmosphere of calm and serenity and a feeling that the wood was winding down and shutting up shop. I took my usual walk around first, making sure I took in all the beauty of the autumn colours and taking a good look at how my new trees have progressed in their first year. So far they all seem to have survived. Nice to see that as the old leaves fall, next years buds are already formed and ready for spring. It’s also a time when I check out my plans that I’ve been thinking about since the last visit. There’s so much physical work to do but it really is important to give yourself the time to savour your woods and just enjoy being there. I had done some more tree felling – about 7 and every single one got hung up in a neighbouring tree and needed some difficult manoeuvring to release them. The log pile is growing too and once cut up, split and dried, is probably enough for next winter. That’s a job for spring when felling will have stopped.

log pile

I took a much needed break mid-afternoon and decided to just sit and watch for birds down near where I have some feeders. All was quiet and nothing much to be seen. I have a birdsong app on my phone which I have used to attract attention from wrens in the past. I played that and immediately got a response from nearby. I played that and the robin song a few more times and within minutes, there were calls from here and there and numerous small birds flitting about in the trees and visiting the feeders. Now here’s something I have only just realised after reading an excellent book – The Walker’s Guide to Outdoor Clues and Signs by Tristan Gooley. He tells us that birds are incredibly aware of what’s going on around them and that when there are possible predators around, tend to give warning calls or remain silent. But more enlightening is the possibility that different species understand each other and take heed of what others are “saying”. So that might account for the flurry of activity that seemed to be sparked off by my phone’s wren calls. Maybe it’s a positive call that says “everything is OK and you can come out now” in bird-talk. It’s no coincidence, I’ve done this a few times now in different locations. I played the wren song on the moors one time and within minutes I counted a dozen wrens bobbing about. If you have a bird song app try it. Sit still and quietly for a few minutes and play a small birds song, one that is likely to be in the area and see what happens.

The woodland ride

It was a lovely morning yesterday and I was determined sort out my birds’ nest boxes. I made one for Little Owl’s after hearing one had been seen nearby. Normally they prefer field edges rather than woodlands but as they are one of my favourite owls, I thought I’d like to put a box up and see if I can entice them into my woods. They like to have a tunnel inside the hole, leading into the box, so it is quite an intricate design inside. I placed it fairly high up on an open ride-side spot. Next job was to go around all the small boxes (nine in all) that I put up last winter and see how many had been used and clear out the old material ready for spring. I was pleased to find that five out of the nine had been used. I moved one of the unused ones to another location as it was rather near to the feeding area and might be too “busy”. Also I erected a new one I had made out of a sycamore log which looks more natural. It was my first attempt and I’ll make some more when I get time.

Little Owl nest box

Nest box made from a sycamore log

It was the busiest day ever for visitors. I called to see A. and J. (just initials for anonymity) nearby and on the way back met S. and J. Later on A. & H. called by and as they were leaving P. and family were having a walk (not met them before) then the new neighbours who have taken the plot next to mine arrived with their family. They were doing some sawing and L. & J. came round to see what the noise was. It is another aspect of owning these woods that I very much enjoy. Nice to swap notes and see what others are doing with theirs.

In between visits I managed to cut down four more small trees in the area I’ve been clearing. I got two of them wrong and trapped my chainsaw twice but luckily managed to wriggle it out. It happens when you make your felling cut and you’ve worked out the direction it should fall incorrectly. I used my new log lifter tool which rolls and lifts the trunks slightly off the ground so that you can cut into logs without hitting the ground with the chainsaw. It works great and saves a lot of back ache. My log pile is growing each week and the area looking progressively more open and light ready for some new planting soon.

Work in progress

fungi growing on a dead tree stump

Couldn’t wait to get back into my woods. Been a stressful week and in much need of some woodland therapy. Autumn is approaching and the wood is changing. There’s still a lot of green around but the sycamore are starting to drop their leaves and numerous flushes of fungi are to be found, though I haven’t learnt how to ID many of them yet. My aim on this visit was to continue clearing the top NE corner by brushcutting a big section of the brambles around the trees I have recently felled and the ones I will be felling next. You really need to have good access around your trees when felling, brambles make excellent trip-wires and you don’t want that when the tree starts to fall and you need to “leg it” out of the way.

I started my day’s work by cutting up the remaining brash from the last visit and piling it into the dead hedge I started. It’s starting to take shape and gain some height now. I was really pleased to watch a tiny wren investigating it later as I stood to survey my day’s work. Build it and they will come. They love to bob around in dead branches and that was one of the reasons for building it. I’m hoping something might build a nest in it next spring, blackbirds and robins also like hedges for nesting.

brash dead hedge starting to take shape

I managed to clear quite a large patch of brambles by the end of the day. The result looks sparse now, no ground cover, just chopped bramble and the tree trunks but I know it will start to bounce back next spring now that the extra light can get to it. The bramble will have to be cut again when it starts to regrow and part of the day was spent going back over areas I did last winter that have regrown. Now the next paragraph and photo are a bit gruesome so those of a nervous disposition look away now!

I spotted a patch of something grey near my rest area and went to investigate. It turned out to be a male blackbird carcass and it was ripped apart and many of the feathers had been plucked and scattered around. It’s a sad sight because blackbirds are one of my favourite species. They are friendly to humans, have a lovely song and stay with us through winter. I rarely see them in my woods too, so seeing one dead and mutilated wasn’t the best bit of bird spotting. But in a woodland, life and death walk hand in hand. Everything is living off something else and I found some consolation in knowing that some other animal has benefited and found a meal (probably a buzzard or owl) and so will many smaller creatures as the carcass decomposes and returns to the earth. It serves to remind us of how fragile life is but how natural death is too. A subject that is very much on my mind these days. I took the gruesome photo because we shouldn’t shy away from this aspect and it will be interesting too to see how long it takes to disappear completely.

Blackbird carcass

On a lighter note, I had the pleasure of meeting some of my woodland owners, Janet & Simon who were working on their plot nearby. They are new owners too and have been making good progress, clearing laurel and making paths. Their wood is very different to mine, more of a coniferous woodland with lots of larch and pine. They kindly and enthusiastically gave me a guided tour. We enjoyed spotting other tree species that are growing naturally among the larch and their prize fungi which was three magnificent red and white spotted ones, like you see in fairy tale books. I was quite envious! We chatted for ages about our woods and I had to drag myself away to get some more work done but the social aspect of woodlots and having good neighbours to chew the fat with is something I enjoy. Until next time and if you have a woodland near you, go and take walk and see what you can find, it’s a good time of year to do it and you’ll feel more alive.

October sunshine in my woods

After lots of rain it was a beautiful sunny morning. I was keen to get some more serious work done but I remind myself that the woods are to be enjoyed first. So as usual I took a leisurely walk around seeing just what has changed, sussing out the plans I have been making since last visit and taking some photos. The sun was creating some lovely shade patterns on tree trunks like these.

There was a special moment when I stood still amongst the coppice and spotted a wren bobbing in and out of the brash. I played my bird song app on my phone (it works a treat with wrens) and to my surprise another one popped out and returned my call. As I watched the two tiny birds, a grey squirrel appeared on the ground and headed toward me, stopped and looked for a few seconds, then carried on it’s way. I felt like I was in some sort of Disney animation. For those few minutes, rather than being a human visitor, I truly felt like I was a component of woodland life. That’s the magic of being “in the moment” and trying to blend with your surroundings, quietly observing.

So the plan was to start building my small dead hedge using the brash from last visit’s felling activities and possibly cut some more trees in the same area. So that’s just what I did – another hectic, tiring but rewarding day. Another pile of logs stacked for seasoning and the little open glade I am trying to create for new planting gets a little bigger.

New log pile and lighter “glade” for replanting.

The “dead” hedge is situated around the northern corner of my woods, one side next to a track and the other side is the border with the next plot. It’s close to where I have been felling. The purpose of it is threefold. To organise the brash that is left after snedding the felled trees into a space that covers less ground, to provide habitat for all sorts of wild life (nice nesting for blackbirds, robins, wrens etc and finally to mark the corner of my territory and provide a something of a barrier to the open area I am creating. At the moment it looks like a pile of leaves but there are branches among it and as it settles, I’ll keep topping it up.

“Brash” or “dead” hedge

I got to try out two new “tools” – a post rammer which is a very heavy metal tube with handles and blocked at one end. You place it over the post you want to drive into the ground and let the weight go and it does a great job. The other item is a wooden tool box I made last week. It’s easy to lose tools in the woods, so essential to be organised to some degree. The canvas bag I was using to hold my various large tools was dropping to bits and was difficult to access. So an open topped, rigid toolbox seemed ideal. You can take it to where you’re working and see at a glance what’s in it and throw your tools in to keep them safe instead of having them lying on the ground. Next time – more felling, bramble clearing the area and who knows what else. There’s always something unexpected.

My post rammer and homemade tool box.

Yesterday’s visit was with the intention of doing some serious hard work again. I’m keen to start felling in my sycamore plantation. The area is very neglected and overcrowded. The trees are very tall and slim as they have fought their way upwards, competing for that all important resource – light. So I would say about one third of it need to be felled eventually. This will consist of the weak, sickly and badly formed trees. But I also want to start introducing a more mixed variety of new trees to at diversity. The adjoining plot along the eastern edge is only lightly stocked, so that part of my wood, gets lots of light. So to take advantage of that, I will start by taking down some of my trees along that edge to enlarge my existing small open area and in places, create smallish “scallops” of clear glades that will fill with morning light from the east and encourage new ground cover and allow me to plant new native saplings of oak, ash, hawthorn and hazel etc. The photo shows the area before I started. It’s the pointed end of a triangular area that was previously clear felled and quite open. You can see I have already planted some saplings but I want to give them more light and enlarge this open area for more new ones. The trees in the middle of the picture are the ones to fell and they would fall to the right into next door’s plot.

This is the area before I started felling. point here.

So armed with my chainsaw I set to and felled five medium sized sycamore trees. The challenge was to drop them in a fairly confined space, avoiding crushing my new saplings. The blue rope represents the border between me and the next door plot. This plot remains unsold and is overrun with brambles so I wasn’t going to damage anything important if I dropped them into this area. The alternative would be to fell them back into my woods which would go against their natural lean and they would certainly get “hung up” in other trees and need freeing. If I could drop them all pretty much in the same spot, that would limit any damage and I am proud to say that even with my limited experience at felling, I managed to do that. Here you can see where the first one came down after I have cut it into manageable logs for stacking. The other four fell pretty much in the same line. In the photo they look small in diameter but they are very tall, so there’s still a lot of weight of timber to deal with.

First tree down and cut up.

The logs were stacked nearby for seasoning and the brash piled in a heap to be dealt with later. I will use that to create a brash hedge along my border.

Finished log pile and brash.

Coffee break was my usual brew up on my hobo stove. The sun glinted through the trees and smoke creating a lovely atmospheric scene.

A little bit of foraging between work told me it is a good year for berries, lots of blackberries and elder berries are ripe now. I was too tired to pick any though.

elderberries

The birch polypore fungi is emerging on the dead birch trees right now. I found these fantastic specimens.

Birch Polypore

A tidy up of the felling area, little collateral damage and the end of a satisfying day.

Tidied and clearer now

There’s not a lot to tell about my last visit. My pal Mark has been meaning to visit the woods and on Sunday we finally managed it. A lovely morning to start off. He’s not big into woodlands but as a very good friend, paid his dues and came to have a look at what I’ve been raving about for the last year. I gave him a walk around and a talked about it, we foraged for fuel and made a fire and had a brew of coffee. Lunch time we fried up some sausage and eggs and made a sandwich. Just a nice campfire experience. Before he left, I took him to the big old crab apple tree which was loaded with apples last time. Quite a few had fallen so we collected them in a trug for me to make crab apple jelly. When I got then home and weighed them, there were about 13 pounds.

One collection of fallen crab apples

The process of making them is simple though not quick. Wash and roughly shop them into quarters. Add 1 pint water for every 2 pounds weight of apples and boil/simmer until they turn to pulp (about 10 minutes). Pour the pulp into a jelly bag (fine muslin cloth) and suspend it over a clean container overnight to collect the juice. Discard the pulp (don’t squeeze it). It took me three sessions to boil 12 pounds apples. Then for every pint of liquid, add 1 pound sugar (in fact I reduced it to 3/4 pound/pint). Boil rapidly until it reaches setting point. That was the hard bit to judge and I probably over boiled it as it is very, very jelly-like now.

Boiling the crab apple juice and sugar

Let it cool a little, clean your jam jars and warm them with hot water before putting the jelly into them. The colour of the finished product is a beautiful wine colour.

The finished jelly bottled up.

So that’s all for today, I’m hoping to go again soon and get some work done. Raring to go.