We do have some rather beautifully grained wood available to us and decided that this log was crying out for making into planks. This time, using a chainsaw!
The need for speed
In order to keep pace with increasing demand for our firewood, we’ve just taken delivery of our first ever firewood processor. Powered by our new, old tractor, it will power through cutting and splitting logs at a rate far greater than we can manage manually.
An Englishman's castle
The beautiful waney edges of our sweet chestnut planks give this workshop a lovely rustic character.
Pizza in the round
From this year’s coppice, several of our green sweet chestnut trunks are being used to create this roundhouse frame. Once completed, the roundhouse will be home to the family pizzeria.
Charcoal making
A relatively new venture is the production of charcoal from sweet chestnut.
The charcoal sized chunks of wood are cooked in giant barrels over an open fire for 3 or 4 hours to make the perfect barbecue fuel!
Putting down roots
Our woodland is predominantly sweet chestnut which we coppice to produce wood for construction projects.
This area has been coppiced over the past two years and will now be rested. To create more diversity in the rootstock, we planted a nursery of 200 mixed species saplings last year.
The muntjac deer are very partial to saplings for dinner so these are surrounded by net fencing to give them a chance to grow tall enough to be left alone.
Woodland projects
A woodland retrospective.
Wood drying extension
The roof is complete and the new wood drying shelter is now all ready to be used this season.
Roof frame in place
Work is progressing nicely on the new extension to the wood drying shelter.
The uprights are long lasting sweet chestnut timbers selected from our own wood.
No room at the inn
Space is a little tight in the wood drying shelter adjacent to the saw mill.
We decided to create an extention so have begun by selecting timber from our own trees to create the sturdy uprights.
The season gets underway
Filling up with wood.
The Anglo-Saxon ship build project
A project that we're pleased to be supporting is the Anglo-Saxon ship build which is part of the development of the old Whisstocks boat yard site in Woodbridge.
The plan is to build a full sized replica of the ship buried at Sutton Hoo.
Woodbridge Riverside Trust are managing the project and are custodians of Sae Wylfing, a half length replica of the ship, which is being shown at events in and around the area.
A good day for the ducks
If only the brook at Kersey had looked like this when we were there today! Instead, the water was deep enough that we decided to deliver by barrow and then turn around and go back the way we had come.
Only to find that at Whatfield, the river had broken its bank and was flowing deep and fast across the road! Thankfully, all of our deliveries had been made by that point and so the trailer was light enough to detach whilst we turned around.
From tree to thee
The second stage of preparing the wood fuel is to cut the log into short sections ready to feed into the splitter.
On the straight and narrow
Testing the cutting and drying process for producing sweet chestnut planks.
It was wonderful
We've been visiting the Weird & Wonderful Wood for several years now and so, once we had woodland of our own, we were keen to visit as exhibitors.
We had no trouble setting up and were ready to receive visitors early enough to enjoy a cup of coffee before the gates opened.
Our wood fuel was the main focus of our stand and we were offering special show prices for anyone who stopped by.
We were also demonstrating our 'anyone can do it' log splitter.
The weather was fantastic and the event was very well attended.
There was a constant throng of youngsters visiting the stand to peel sticks until mid-afternoon today when our stocks were completely exhausted.
The legacy of 1987
The devastation caused by the great storm of 1987 would be hard to overstate. The woodland still shows evidence of the damage done.
Some of the branches overhanging the paths were broken and so precariously attached that it was a priority to get a team in to remove them.
The Rocket Stove
Of course, there are the creature comforts to consider and so we turned our attention to brewing the all-important cuppa!
No gas stove for us! Instead, a Rocket Stove. Designed to suck in air and increase the combustion temperature to the point that most of the pollutants are consumed.
The Logmatic is our 'anyone can do it' log splitter
Every so often, a product comes along which truly changes the ease with which we get things done. This is one of those products.
Working with gravity to drive a wedge into the log, it's a safe and relatively easy way to split logs and to produce kindling. Simply line up, lift and plunge.
Maintenance
To give us somewhere to load the trailers, turn the vehicles and stand the larger sections of timber, we created a hard standing next to our woodshed.
Part of the fun was driving the roller!
We also needed to replace the upright at the corner of the wood shelter. No vehicle to drive this time - the digger arrived with one!