Cadlemas work camp 2012 - What we did...

Well despite the snow we got lots done this weekend on the hill: we managed to coppice the stools we wanted to do (thanks to Mike and his chainsaw... until it gave up the ghost, hope it's not to costly to fix Mike?) Below is a rough sketch map showing the bit we did (very crudely marked with hashing)

The rest of Coupe A either had young saps in or the mature Oaks were shading the hazel, so to give it a chance we have left them to get bigger and stronger before coppicing them.

We generated a fair bit of product: Spars for the stables roof to form a floor to place hay on, wood for the charcoal stack (will be used in 2013 if not later) as well as pea sticks, bean poles and lots of lop and top to make faggots for the ovens and to repair the top pigsty roof with later this year.
























We also finished the post and rail fence down the length of triangle field and dug in a post for the gate at the bottom end. We also replaced the post and rail in top orchard where the horses had got through into the coppice recently - thankfully they had not done any damage.

All in all a very successful weekend.

Candlemas work camp

Tomorrow is Candlemas or the midpoint of winter, halfway between the shortest day and the spring equinox so I have arbitrarily decided to call this weekend's work camp 'Candlemas work camp'....

Right, what are we going to do this weekend? I have spoken with Stuart and we need to start coppicing in Coupe A, starting in the corner adjacent to to triangle field and top orchard. From this we are hoping to get:

• A very small amount of hazel to complete wattling in the stables.
  
• A few thick pieces could go into the stables roof to make a 'floor' for the hay to sit on although Stuart hopes to get some birch dropped for this.
  
• New poles for peas would probably be good as well.
• A lot of the coppice is too chunkey for wattling and best used by the Wood Colliers to make charcoal. This will need to be cut to lengths - we need roughly as long and as thick as a mans arm - then stacked for at least one summer to season.
  
• We can make faggots from the top and lop, but judging from the amount of deer in the area this may be better put to use making a brash dead hedge around the coppiced stools to keep the nibblers out.
• I also need a selection of poles to rebuild the Charcoal hut and to make wind breaks (see previous post) these we will store in the stable roof or cart shed until the summer.
  
• And finally any good straight rods might be dumped in the pond for use at Easter wattling the woad house.

As well as coppicing we hope to have more post and rail arrived by the weekend to complete the boundary along triangle field, plus we will need to think about making a gate at the bottom end, gate posts available in store can be dug in as well.

So quite a lot to do. If you are coming then billhooks, axes, gloves and brute force would be useful to bring.

I will update the blog post weekend to tell you all the things we didn't get around to doing!