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

Signed the contract for the Woodland Improvement Grant for the wood today, suddenly it's serious. All the plans on paper, timescales over five years, work to be done, where, when, how. What happens if plague, pestilence or fire strikes. What happens if you just don't do the intended work. What happens if you don't do it to the Forestry Commission's standards. This is for real now.

Scary.

But it is good to have the framework, and good to have something towards costs as it's probably more than we can manage on our own. It's also good that the five years doesn't cover the whole wood though. There are areas completely untouched in this plan, leaving room for frivolousness. Actually the framework isn't that rigid. Clearings for picnics, or yurts, or a couple of non-native damsons can still fit in.

It's brought home the long-term committent of this. Nine years before the last section is touched at all, then in year ten start again with the first patch. And so it continues. There's nothing fast-paced in ancient woodland. Except the brambles. Which thankfully there aren't mmany of. And the squirrels. Which there are plenty of.

Really? Am just gathering that this is your Very Own Wood.

How amazing, I am in awe.

It's and choc-a-bloc with bluebells in spring. Thousands of them

I sometimes see signs that say 'Woods for Sale' and do a bit of dreaming. When I was a student, our college owned a country estate, with woods, and we spent a day a week out in the wood for a year supposedly studying. It was all such a long time ago that I have forgotten how to identify most of the things I once learned, but I do look back and think that was a lovely experience to have been given. Rain or shine, snow or gale - we were out there with our little bits of collecting equipment, notepads, magnifying glasses and wellington boots.

So I go a bit nostalgic about woods.

My grandparents owned a random corner of a sort of wooded section of land with a steam running through it. Oh the fun we had damning up that stream. The family has kept it now they've gone, although none of us live anywhere near.

So what I am trying to say is, how cool is that! Enjoy the squirrels and bluebells.

Is it public access or just for you?

Wow, Waz, you're living my dream. I wish I could get a decent patch of land! I would totally use it to the max for cultivating and conserving rare plants of this region ... and seeing which butterflies and other insects come to visit would be a bonus.

By the way are you keeping up with the challenge or have you missed a posting?

We've used magnifying glasses - S for plants, telling yellow pimpernel from creeping jenny if I remember right, and me for moths. We're keeping species lists but haven't been very thorough in looking yet.

There's a public footpath along the track that marks the boundary on one side but it's not public access. It's selfish but I'm very glad of that. Working in it would be so much more difficult and it would not be as relaxing to simply be in.

Willem, I wish you had that land, I know what good use you'd make of it. I don't think I've missed a posting yet - I'm pretty sure I've posted a journal everyday between getting up and going to bed. But I might have missed posting before midnight by a couple of minutes on a couple of occasions. So it depends on the definition of a day. And it might depend also which of the laptop clock, the clock on the chest or the clock on the cooker is actually correct! If any of them. None of them agree.

One year on. The Forestry Commission guy was happy with the first year coppicing. The new growth from the cut hazels, alders and willow looks very healthy. Some of it is up to five foot high already. In the clearings woodland grasses are coming up, there is some very nice wood millet, and a range of flowering plants are beginning to show. Found a vetch coming up last week, really pleased with that. And a violet that had seeded, lots of foxgloves, marsh thistles, a beautiful fat figwort, more yellow pimpernel. Lots of young bramble too but it wasn't too difficult this autumn to weed enough to stop it taking over. Autumn was just in time, runners were beginning to take root but easy to pull out the soft leaf-mould.

A hares' nest was found in the windrows in spring, with leverets. That was good.

Part of the plan was to create a pond - that has not been a success. Yet. Four attempts at creating one by damming one of the water-runs down the hill were complete rubbish. Some nice ponds on the track though.

The logs haven't seasoned as quickly as I expected. Moisture readings of around 20% in the top 12" of the piles, but 30% below. Even higher in the log pile with the gigantic tarpaulin. Gigantic tarpaulins are not the way to go. Maybe it was the wet summer, maybe the wood type. But there are enough seasoned logs to fuel the stoves through this winter.

Three areas are deer fenced. The fence round coppiced section has been fine. Just some holes at ground level presumably made by hares, squirrels, rabbits and badgers. There was some deer damage to the second area, but none since it was repaired. The third area had a proper deer break-in with entrance and exit holes, and now someone has cut a 6' length out. The hazel and alder cut in the unfenced clearing have had all their new growth nibbled down to about 12".

Year two now underway.

http://public.fotki.com/h2g2Waz/for-sharing-with-friends/blokeintheroad/p1080255.html

Part of year one's coppiced section. If the link works.

It does. i miss helping with coppicing in my locality but the body complains too much these days.

Websailor

Thanks for that link Waz, and I've been looking at some of your other photos as well - they're wonderful, inspiring me with ideas for paintings.

LL Waz, I have only just realised this is your very own bit of woodland. Like Willem I am so envious. There was a lovely piece of woodland next to some land my parents owned, but when I was about nine, it was sold off for a factory to be be bilt. Beautiful trees, bluebells, blackberries and everything else a woodland should hold, decimated in a couple of days.

I still feel the pain, but we just didn't have the money to save it.

So, than you for sharing your patch with us.

Websailor

Willem, inspiring your paintings is an honour.

Websailor, ouch, ouch, ouch.
I know how lucky we are to have this woodland. I love it more every time we go there. When the coppicing gets beyond us, we'll make sure it's still done.

My sister and family and a friend are joining us there tomorrow, or rather later today, that will be good. Should get a lot done too.

The weather is improving slightly, so I hope you had a good day.

Websailor