Bracken can dominate a new plantation, outcompeting young saplings and collapsing onto tree guards in autumn bringing them to the ground. There is plenty of evidence that crushing the bracken stems with a tractor-driven roller shuts down the bracken rhizome over time. This is backed up by the fact, that Read more…
A bit late with the log stack this year, but with the best of the drying weather still to come, it should be just fine. Technically, the log stack is built in a windrow configuration, lying in the direction of the prevailing wind. Air circulation is the key to a Read more…
Jewellery in its broadest (and wildest sense). A great day’s teaching at Hickling Reserve, with a very enthusiastic group of students. We learnt how to make cordage from willow bark and nettle, and then, set about making some beautiful little constructions from the materials harvested close by. Definitely ‘adaption in Read more…
Looking ahead to the workshop for the Norfolk Wildlife Trust, I thought it a good idea to make a short reconnaissance visit to the Hickling Reserve, just to see what materials are available. Lots to choose from, including some good birch logs. Now birch bark is well known for its Read more…
Down by Foxes Beck, a tangle of willow scrub emerges from the waterlogged banks. The inner bark, or more precisely, ‘the cambium layer’, is a fine material for bindings. Either raw, or retted (boiled in a hot ash-liquor), it’s tough, and ‘strips-down’ a little more consistently than bramble. If you Read more…
Thinking ahead to the ‘Wild Jewellery’ event I’m running for the Norfolk Wildlife Trust, I thought I’d see how last year’s bramble growth behaved for simple bindings. Quite tough to ‘thread’ (peeling off the vicious thorns) but it certainly was robust. It even withstood Nellie’s ‘Lab test’.
Thousands of self-set birch have appeared in the new plantation, with some, crowding out the sweet chestnut and oak. They need to be thinned, and this provides a good opportunity to collect the side stems for besom-broom making. The bundles of birch twigs will be seasoned for six months or Read more…
The common gorse is appearing all over the new plantation. This seems to indicate that this little patch of North Norfolk was once a heathland. The nature of the soil seems correct, and some RAF aerial photo’s from the 1940s show a very sandy landscape with scrubby vegetation. The emerging Read more…
A Pair of Ash Gates These woodland gates were made from the ash tree I felled for the new plantation. A lightweight construction that uses the traditional (and amazingly effective) draw-pegged joint, combined with a less traditional, steel-rope bracing. The stainless-steel rope is tensioned with a bottle screw – a Read more…
Until I sort out a mini saw-mill of my own, I’ve been getting some hardwoods planked up at a local wood mill. These planks are from a fine ash tree that we felled for the new plantation. It’s been down for nearly two years now, so won’t need too long Read more…