h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I spent this morning volunteering at the local nature reserve. It was a beautiful late autumn day - cold but sunny.

About 90% of what I do there involves moving wood around. Sometimes we're coppicing hazel (cutting down the trees to make hedging materials, then preparing/sorting/bundling it and moving it). Or we're building paths (cutting down chestnut for the path edging, splitting it to make edges and stakes, then moving/installing them). Or we're clearing the overgrown paths (cutting back trees, cutting them into pieces of a size we can move, then moving them). Or we could be clearing out invasive species like rhododendron, which have to be moved before being burned.

This morning I had a go at hedge-laying for the first time. I didn't get long - I had to clear all the overgrown brambles and other stuff first (then move them). The leader taught me how to cut the hedge plants to lay them down and weave them, then to drive in wooden stakes to strengthen it all. I made a right mess of it, I'm sure, but he was very patient, and tidied up all my mistakes without making me feel too bad about it.

I've been going there for a few years now, and today was the first day I felt I'd actually done something creative, rather than just move wood around

I am in awe. Sounds like you're doing wonderful work.

And you have *chestnuts*? Oh, you lucky people. We had a terrible blight here...

http://www.srs.fs.usda.gov/pubs/ja/ja_schlarbaum002.htm

We couldn't cope without the chestnut trees. It's the only wood that resists rot for years on end.

There was a 'bleeding canker' disease a few years ago, but that seems to have died out, thankfully.

I'm pulling for you, then.

The loss of the chestnuts really changed life in the US South - it caused a lot of poverty and suffering among subsistence farmers.

Wow, I didn't know that, DG.

That sounds like really satisfying volunteer work, Icy, especially on a glorious (if chilly ) day like today.

[Amy P]

Sounds like a great day, Icy!

Different chestnut species I assume - or do you both mean horse chestnuts?

Chestnut wood is great for that, but don't try to build things out of it, because it tends to split and warp even long after it's been cut and dried.

You've reminded me of a group of volunteers I was meant to supervise for rhododendron bashing where I used to work. They refused to go anywhere near the estate's cemetery because there could be ghosts there. But these were all nursing students, so they'll have to learn to cope with death sooner or later...

It's not the death that scares them, it's the bogeyman.

It's mostly sweet chestnut, Mala.

To stop it splitting, you split it yourself and use it for half-stakes. This takes all the tension out of the wood and it won't split any more. Try to use it for round stakes and it will split in lots of places.

()

Where my wife's family comes from, the Cevennes in France, the sweet chestnut was a staple food. They made a kind of soup out of them, which by all accounts was pretty bad. Nobody eats it any more, they don't even feed it to the tourists. But I don't think they ever had a chestnut plague, the tree just lost its economic value.

sprout