Posted on

mid-July

It’s been really hot lately – especially when we’ve been burning charcoal and working hard in the meadow. Eric and his band of willing helpers have made great progress on the wooden shelter they’re building.  The damaged ash tree has been safely removed and the jetty has been repaired. We’ve also had a stab at removing the bracken from the hillside which was pretty difficult.

 

ENVIRONMENTAL NOTES

There was great excitement last week when we surprised a grass-snake which wa probably about two and a half to three feet long. It promptly slithered into the canal and swam to the other side. Bob found the home of a Leaf Cutter Bee and we also saw a Green Orb-Weaver spider with her egg-sac on the leaves of one of our trees. This has been a great summer for butterflies, moths and other insects, such as the Common Red Soldier beetles on the hogweed in the meadow – they are also apparently called the Hogweed Bonking Beetle…

 

 This week’s work plan:                                        
1. Continue working on roof of the shelter which is now in place
2. Prepare hedgehog huts and templates for other wildlife boxes
3. Charcoal burn & sift – Lots of customers waiting for charcoal
4. Get shave horses out and re-stock labels etc.
5. Check the pod roofs

At 1.00 we’ll break for lunch, which this week will be a curry and a vegetable tagine.

This will be followed by our AGM 

Posted on

1st July

We seem to be in the middle of a minor heatwave. Whilst the weather is like this we’ve decide to start our Tuesday sessions an hour earlier than usual so that we can get a lot done before the temperature and humidity rise too much.
Last week Bob and Jackie spent some time checking the bees, we continued to burn charcoal and we gave our newly planted apple trees a good soaking of water from the stream. It looks as though two of the eighteen that were planted may be dead so we’ll have to make a decision about them. There was some excitement, however, when we realised that one of the trees was already sporting an apple!
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This week we are planning to get some wood delivered so Rob and helper will be getting the best use of our great new trailer and hoping to make three deliveries.  The proceeds from sales go in to our annual income account and helps to keep the organisation financially viable without having to apply for lots of grants.  It’s also a clean fuel (although recent publicity might have you thinking otherwise) and is sustainable because we plant as many trees (almost) as we cut down.  
 
There’s lots of other work to do this week too.  We need to get some hedgehog huts, bird boxes and bat boxes built to sell, and possibly owl boxes. 
 
There’s a damaged ash tree hanging over our new shelter, which is causing a few problems. Canal & River Trust are looking into getting a contractor in to help us with this.  Once we get that tree down we can put the roof on the shelter. 
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Posted on

17th June

Last week we continued with preparing wood for charcoal burning, as there’s plenty of demand for our charcoal. Chris was on site early as usual to start the charcoal burners. Work began on repairing the jetty and more non-slip strips have been ordered. Last year’s saplings were checked and bracken cleared from them so they get the best chance of thriving. The weather has contributed to the growth spurt all around and we had to take a scythe to the long grass that was beginning to take over the paths.

Construction of the shelter continued, with a positively medieval feel to the building techniques and to the appearance of the shelter. Who knows – we may get a gothic arch?

Update from Jackie on the new bench by the redwood which has been purchased by Canal & River Trust from the winnings received when the tree was a runner up in the Welsh Tree of the Year 2017:  Kevin Philips has asked Eric to come up with some words on the plaque which will go on the bench.  

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We will now be starting at 9.30 for anyone who wishes to come along earlier and leave earlier as we all suffer from overheating when the sun comes out down at the woodland because it is so sheltered.  This Tuesday we’ll have visitors, including Darren and a colleague who will be having training on the splitter, and CRT Gilwern Volunteers who will be joining us to help out cutting back the bracken.  

Here is the workplan:-

  1. Bracken cutting with CRT volunteers and check trees
  2. Splitter joining us and training to be given to hirer Darren
  3. Continue to repair the jetty
  4. Charcoal burn & sift – Lots of customers waiting for charcoal
  5. Get shave horses out and re-stock labels etc.
  6. Shelter construction continues – all hands needed to get the roof on!!
  7. Someone to put out the LCW sign in the pod on a pole by jetty.

Not on the work plan but still to do will be checking the bees.  Bob and Jackie will be at the woodland at 9.30 to do this before the day gets too hot

Environmental notes

There’s plenty of wild angelica blooming around the stream and the first of the common spotted orchids are appearing. We’re still on the lookout for nesting birds and slow-worms.

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