Chestnut Coppice

Tracy P · Post by **Tracy P** » 02 Jun 2007, 09:46

.... and that is great advice Biff, on joining the groups, I will look into that. We really don't know very much at all, so their experience and their volunteers could be very useful!
We will take it all slowly and see how we go - although we now can't wait to get down there. So hard being so far away at the moment!

Erik · Post by **Erik** » 02 Jun 2007, 10:25

Andy Hunt wrote:I was chatting with a colleague just now, and she was saying that apparently people will pay a fortune these days for woodland burials in wicker coffins.

Could be a way of bringing in a good income, good fertiliser too!

You're not trying to set yourself up for another "grave shortage of..." joke are you?!

I for one don't want to be cremated or have any good wood wasted on me when I'm sent off. Even a bit of wicker could be put to better use, couldn't it? But anyway, the burial subject is interesting enough for a thread of it's own probably, rather than getting all morbid on this one!

Andy Hunt · Post by **Andy Hunt** » 04 Jun 2007, 10:38

I wouldn't mind being co-fired with coal. We're all biomass at the end of the day, innit.

Not sure what they'd do about my moisture content though.

Post by **kenneal - lagger** » 04 Jun 2007, 16:10

Andy Hunt wrote:I wouldn't mind being co-fired with coal. We're all biomass at the end of the day, innit.

Not sure what they'd do about my moisture content though.

Hang you out to dry first?

Like the North American Indians used to do.

Andy Hunt · Post by **Andy Hunt** » 04 Jun 2007, 16:12

The ultimate 'cure' for life.

Andy Hunt · Post by **Andy Hunt** » 04 Jun 2007, 16:12

BTW Ken, how was the Sunrise Celebration?

Post by **kenneal - lagger** » 04 Jun 2007, 17:07

The Celebration was great, some fantastic music that took me back to my youth 40 years ago - loads of ska and funk. The ID Spiral and Fish Seeks Bicycle stages had some seriously good bands and music and the ID Spiral arena decoration was brilliant. Had a good chat with jonny2mad who was stewarding.

My cob building workshops didn't go too well, they didn't go at all really, as the head gasket on my disco blew about 20 miles from Yeovil. The disco and trailer with all my kit for the workshops got towed home. We put a load of A3 laminated pictures of our house build and also a small cob oven in the boot of my wife's Focus and went back down. We spent the afternoons cooking pizzas and talking to people about cob building instead of demonstrating it.

We had prepared for four days of rain, but after the first day it was beautiful weather. After experiencing the wood fired sauna there, I've added one to our garden plans which include a swimming pond at the moment. It'll be bread into the cob oven, me into the sauna, out into the pond and a fresh baked loaf for breakfast every morning in a few years time. Who said post PO will be a hard place?

Andy Hunt · Post by **Andy Hunt** » 04 Jun 2007, 17:30

Sounds absolutely bloody marvellous Ken!

Sorry to hear about your mechanical troubles, someone I know from another forum who was giving a talk there had to go home after her tent ripped and her air bed burst and everything she had got wet in the rain, so it sounds like day 1 was a bit traumatic!

Wish I had enough room in my small back yard for wood-fired saunas and the like. Maybe one day.

The Sunrise Celebration may well be the one to attend for me next year, I think. It's the only festival I know of where people from all 3 internet fora I participate in talked about going to this year.

Post by **mikepepler** » 05 Jun 2007, 08:44

Well, we've applied for a flat to rent in Rye... just waiting to hear back after they've followed up references, etc.

It's right in the town centre, near all the pubs and shops, but amazingly, has a garage where we can store tools and the bikes, as well as fit the car in. There's also lots of people walking along the road, so we already have ideas about selling "woodland products" to passing tourists in the summer!

Vortex · Post by **Vortex** » 05 Jun 2007, 08:52

Well, we've applied for a flat to rent in Rye... just waiting to hear back after they've followed up references, etc.

So you have been able to move your job there too?
Or will you just be there at weekends?

Billhook · Post by **Billhook** » 05 Jun 2007, 13:07

Mike -

a couple of points that might be worth considering

the common traditional cycle for sweet chestnut was 11 years,
so, if this was appropriate for your wants,
and you were to set one coup aside for growing on / accom / sanctuary /etc,
thus making 12 plots in all,
you'd be cutting ~ 2/3rds of an acre per year,
less any trees left to become standards.

Given the climate prognosis, I'd strongly recommend getting a lot of wind shelter established for the coppices -
full-on shelterbelts would not only draw the regrowth up but also reduce near-ground wind speed,
thus keeping better soil temperature in spring & autumn and better soil moisture during droughts,
thus significantly improving growth rates.

The products, and indeed the coppicer, are of course prior decisions to that of setting the cycle length.
On these issues I'd say that
a/. it's worth having a first rate professional in for the first few years,
for you to work alongside and learn from,
and possibly to take some of the the crop as payment in kind, and

b/. finding saleable "rustic" produce from coppice wood is problematic,
as there are quite a few suppliers for the level of demand.
No doubt the SWA can offer good local advice on this.

If you were nearer Wales I'd be enquiring about seasoned cleft fencing stakes,
but by rights I should really try for some with less embedded road diesel than I'd have to give yours.

However, a lot of organic farms are still using costly tanalized plantation pine stakes,
which ain't right,
so there may be some growing demand there.

Another possibility would be Three-Legged Stools,
which are very simple to make well,
and can be done in childrens' sizes,
and have the cachet of each being unique,
and could easily be sold from a dwelling in Rye.

BTW - have you considered erecting a carrier pigeon loft ?
It would be good to stay in touch if & when the web becomes unworkable.

Regards,

Bill

Post by **mikepepler** » 05 Jun 2007, 16:21

Vortex wrote:
Well, we've applied for a flat to rent in Rye... just waiting to hear back after they've followed up references, etc.
So you have been able to move your job there too?
Or will you just be there at weekends?

I work from home, and go to London one day a week, so I'll carry on as I have been here. Very fortunate really! As for Tracy, she's doing supply teaching and private tutoring here, and will continue with that in Rye, though she'll probably apply for some permanent part-time posts as well.

This is a proper move - no going back to Oxford afterwards. Some people must think we're weird for buying a wood in a seemingly random place then moving to be near it!

Post by **mikepepler** » 05 Jun 2007, 16:31

Billhook wrote:Mike - a couple of points that might be worth considering

Thanks Bill - I'm going to have to print this thread to keep for reference!

On coppice cycles, we're probably going to end up with coups on different length cycles, with different end products in mind. For example, there's a local company that buys up overstood or large coppice for cutting into smaller sections and "gluing" into nice-looking beams: http://www.in-wood.co.uk/ Then there's the fence posts, which you mentioned, and possibly some smaller stuff - I forget what the product was, but Ben Law said he runs some of his wood on only a 3 year cycle! Fencing seems to be a good option though, at least to start with.

We haven't got any detailed plans yet though - we need to wait until we've moved down there, and my busy period (Apr-Jun) at work is over, then we can get on with it. However, we're going to take it slowly though, so as not to mess things up and have time to learn from mistakes. That's the idea behind keeping our existing jobs part-time to pay the rent, as well as the fact that we'd probably struggle to make a living off 8 acres under the current economic environment! Once things have changed, that may be different though...

Andy Hunt · Post by **Andy Hunt** » 09 Jun 2007, 20:31

Hi Mike,

What are the absolute minimum overheads for owning a piece of woodland? Could you in theory just leave it and do nothing to it at all, and incur no expense? What about maintenance of fences and stuff?

I presume you would have to have public liability insurance (?50 annually?), but are there any other minimum overheads?

Just curious . . .

Post by **mikepepler** » 09 Jun 2007, 21:12

Andy Hunt wrote:I presume you would have to have public liability insurance (?50 annually?), but are there any other minimum overheads?

About ?80 actually.

Andy Hunt wrote:What are the absolute minimum overheads for owning a piece of woodland? Could you in theory just leave it and do nothing to it at all, and incur no expense? What about maintenance of fences and stuff?

Fences depends on if you have any obligations - we don't for ours. Same would apply if you have a footpath on the land - you have to do basic maintenance.

As for the trees, you can leave them alone for fairly long periods, but if you are going to split coppice into coups then that implies some amount of work every winter, and doing something with the wood, maybe in the summer after it's had some chance to dry.

I suppose what it comes down to is this: the wood won't die if you leave it alone. However, it may not be in the best possible shape for productivity or biodiversity. There are a lot of "neglected" woodlands around.

I think the most important bit is this though - if you don't go and do any work in it, then you don't get to enjoy it!