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!