Info, news & debate
Tree / woodland management
Work / farmshare opportunity for someone interested in farming, smallholding, forestry, livestock, mushrooms or building stone
Here’s a very interesting opportunity for a budding smallholder – either paid work or farm share, near Totnes in Devon. Over to Richard:
Viable self-sufficiency
Back 40 years ago in 1976, John Seymour’s most famous work –The Complete Book of Self-Sufficiency – was published. It was billed as for dreamers and realists which was pretty accurate.
Win a copy of our partner Sally Morgan’s great new book, ‘Living on One Acre or Less’
This is a new book by our partner Sally Morgan of Empire Farm. It’s a comprehensive guide to starting and running your own micro-smallholding.
Keeping the chickens out of the garden with a woven birch fence
After a number of incidents where our hens ran riot through the vegetable garden, we realised that a permanent barrier was the only way to keep them at bay, and so looked around for a solution. Inspiration came when we visited the Ulster American Folk Park, and saw a woven birch fence.
How to make a new axe handle
First, wood selection. The perfect wood is nice straight grain ash fairly fast grown, if it gets more than 6-8 rings per inch it is much more brittle, 4-6 rings per inch is perfect.
How to fit a new axe handle
This blog post shows how to fit a new axe handle, it could be a new store bought handle or one you made yourself – more on this soon.
Here’s why it’s a good idea to plant more willow (just not close to drains)
Willow is a native UK plant, which grows well in our temperate climate and is very easy to grow from cuttings. There are hundreds of different varieties of willow. Each variety differs in terms of growth rate, colour of stem and leaf shape.
Visit to the Gransfors Burks forge in Sweden – makers of the world’s best axes
Standing outside Huddiksval train station, it’s pouring with rain and I am beginning to wonder what the hell I am doing here. Having been travelling for 12 hours I’m tired and hungry, there is no one here to collect me, a taxi is more expensive than my flight from the UK and not a bus …
Protest to save food-growing land in Bristol
Protestors are occupying trees in Bristol, UK, on food-growing land threatened by a controversial road-building scheme. Evictions started yesterday, after Bristol City council won a High Court possession order.
Interested in rural cohousing? Introducing the Agroecological Land Initiative
The Agroecological Land Initiative is an new organisation founded to advocate and implement agroecological methods in the UK to help secure food sovereignty, energy independence, and environmental regeneration in a way that is financially viable and socially just.
How to turn trees into houses, and why it’s a good idea
There’s a lot of talk these days about ‘carbon sequestration’ – how to lock up carbon from the atmosphere in various ways, including:
Lime: Swiss army knife of trees
The lime has got to be one of my favourite trees – not just for its tall leafy elegance, but for it’s multitude of uses in bushcraft. When I mention the lime tree on bushcraft courses people sometimes think I am referring to it’s exotic, citrus-bearing namesake!
Woodheat community share offer: 10% left
Woolhope Woodheat are now up to 90% of their share total with 2 days to go. Thats £27,000 more we need with a mighty £247,650 already subscribed for by 127 prospective members.
Local firewood auction & fair in your county?
The Lincolnshire Firewood Fair receives The Lincolnshire Environmental Award 2012. 4 years ago a disparate group of foresters, woodmen, agents, and firewood merchants got together with direction from the local Forestry Commission officer.
The Woolhope Woodheat Project
You might like to have a look at our project which covers a load of bases – reducing carbon emissions, protecting neglected woodland, creating employment in woodland management, providing greener heat for hard-to-heat buildings.