Low impact forestry in a small Scottish woodland
With the rapidly lengthening days, the passing of the equinox and the woods filling with birdsong, it was time to wind down the winter’s woodland work. We stopped felling at the end of March and finished extracting the logs by early May, leaving the birds to nest in peace. I’ve been able to spend one […]
On a cold, frosty morning in January the thermometer by the house was reading minus 3. As I walked up the track under the powerlines the mud was frozen solid. However, as I moved further up into the spruce plantation I suddenly noticed that the track here was not frozen and was still muddy – […]
A whole growing season has elapsed since my last blog post. Having toddlers to look after seems to make time fly by! So, in summary: Flowers started to appear. Leaves came. The woodland turned green. Blooms of various shades of blue, white, yellow, pink and purple burst open in their annual sequence over the spring, […]
With the dark and cold of winter comes wood burning season, and lighting the wood burner in the evening is part of the daily routine. However, the use of wood burners and wood-fuel in general has recently become a contentious issue. According to a government survey in 2015, 7.5 percent of households in the UK […]
We’ve been back at Comar Wood for six months as a family of four, after baby Ewan’s stay in hospital finally came to an end last April. As you might imagine, looking after two babies is quite time consuming, so there has not been much time for doing anything in the woodland, let alone writing […]
Life has changed rather dramatically for us since my last blog post. Our baby twins, Ewan and Megan, gave us a surprise by arriving early, on 23rd November. We have been staying in Glasgow (4 hours drive away from home) ever since, due to baby Ewan needing treatment for his heart. Becoming parents has been […]
Autumn’s now in full swing here in Cannich. The glen is turning various shades of golds and browns and the slightest breeze sends flurries of leaves drifting down from the birch trees. Our aspen trees up by the waterfall have turned a bright yellow and the ground below is becoming carpeted in their leaves, which […]
August I started writing this post back in August, when we had a spell of hot weather. Things are starting to feel a lot more autumnal now and that seems like a distant memory but I thought I would still include it: I have been enjoying August in the woodland. The spell of hot, humid […]
Soon after my last blog post, open areas in the woodland underwent quite a sudden transformation into their summer look, with the growth of one plant in particular – the bracken. This plant grows rapidly and prolifically in many of the native woodland areas in Comar Wood, especially in the more open places where there […]
Two days of persistent rain followed by a spell of warm sunshine brought a feeling of lushness to the woodland last week. Wandering through the open areas of the wood on recent sunny mornings, I sensed a sudden intensity of growth and life. Abundant greenery, together with prolific flowers, and all buzzing with thousands of […]
