Dry jobs waiting for the weather to improve in my small Devon wood

Maggie bought a lovely window bird feeder which is attached by suction cups to the window I look out of as I type. It's positioned at eye level and the visiting birds come and go, not pausing very long and just 2 feet away. Just beyond, the tall hazel and alder trees by the roadside allow glimpses of the steep grassy field rising high up the other side of the river valley where a hedge and more trees are silloutted against the sky. Today, inevitably, the sky is grey. Later in the day the hoots of tawny owls will sound from there prompting a response from our woods behind me.

In the time it took to compose the last paragraph coal tits, willow tits, blue tits, the robin and male and female chaffinches have been to the window feeder. The blue tit usually stays the longest, being happy to pick out a peanut and dine in. It will hold the nut between its feet and peck at the flesh leaving the husk to blow away in the wind. 

I've never seen so many chaffinches before. Naturally a ground feeder it flaps and clings uncomfortably to get food from the feeders hanging from the tress out the front. At first it struggled with the window feeder but seems to have mastered the technique and now we have many female and the magnificent males at the window. They will also dine in but are quick, nervous eaters preferring take-aways.

The coal tit has take-aways as does the willow tit. These have a quick rummage, pick what takes their fancy and speed off to the nearest branch or to the trees across the road to eat in safety.

As it's been so wet, I've been using my forced absence from work to do some of the 'dry' jobs that can be completed with current reduced levels of sight. Appropriate tasks do not involve the chainsaw and minimum use of other machinery. If I take my time and measure not twice, but thrice, or even more, and limit myself to the 'country style' things don't turn out too bad.

A good job was completing the rustic gate to replace the existing, ill-fitting and rotting gate from the garden to the wood. It's deliberately wonky and roughly finished to emphasise the use of natural materials and hand working - and doesn't need perfect vision! Made of coppiced hazel from the wood, it turned out ok and simply involved the use of a bow saw, bit and brace, home made mallet and chisel, draw knife and some dowels. I may replace the very wonky vertical bar and add another horizontal one in the centre at some point.

Wonky hazel gate to the wood.

Other dry jobs involve making some seats that will be placed at key resting points in the wood: perhaps where the view is worth pausing to contemplate or where the setting is particularly peaceful. These will all be made from my own wood and built using simple hand tools. I cut my teeth on a 3 legged stool. The seat was made from a round off the large fallen beech tree and the legs from coppiced hazel.

Using the draw knife and shave horse to fashion the legs gives enormous pleasure. As the blade slices along the length of the hazel peeling long lengths of bark and wood it makes a satisfying swish sound. Then as I release the grip of the shave horse and turn the hazel rod for more of the same treatment there's a hard knock as the seasoned timber of the shave horse slams down onto the greenwood of the hazel. Firmly in place, the swish of the draw knife sounds again followed by another knock, then swish and knock until the hazel is removed and checked for size. These words really don't do it justice. Maybe I'll make a little video.
I've also made a simple bench seat from a large split ash trunk using the same technique. A bit harder work with just hand tools. I'll post a picture when it's sited in the wood.

Rain, mud, more rain and more mud in my small Devon wood

Sometimes we feel as though the very wet weather is just aimed at us here in mid-Devon. It seems to have been this way for months. However bad it seems though, other parts of the country have clearly had it worse. Our house stands 15-20 feet above the river Bathern and our greatest risk is probably from any water coming down the hill at the back.

Regardless of the wet and consequent mud, we've kept up the tree planting and bramble clearing plus other 'dry' jobs like the new entrance gate to the wood. I've also constructed the first seat for the wood. I'll write a separate post abut those two little projects.

We took possession of the wood in late May 2019 when the wild garlic and dog's mercury covered just about the whole ground layer. That meant we only just caught the tail end of the spring growth seeing only hints of what we missed - the solitary bluebell, a single early purple orchid (pic below) and the then flowerless primulas.

Early purple orchid pictured in April 2019 when
 we were viewing the property prior to purchase. The
plants around it are the ubiquitous dog's mercury.

These last few weeks though have given a better sense of what we missed last year. For example, I've counted 15 early purple orchids and each wandering reveals more of the distinctive leaves with their great blotches of black. 'Snowdrop wood' wouldn't be a misnomer here: the recently cleared banks have revealed hundreds of them. The first to flower are nearly over now but the blooming continues. Snowdrop bulbs are divided when green so we have been spreading them around hoping for an even better show next year. Daffodils are also abundent. There are what appear to be patches of the smaller wild ones plus other larger cultivated species. Not as many as there are snowdrops but still impressive.

Species of woodland flora take their turns in coming back to life after the dormant winter period. First the snowdrops, who don't seem to mind the low light of late winter. The daffodils follow as the light strengthens and the ground hugging primula provide first a welcome splash of bright green followed by the tentative showing of the pale yellow flowers. About this time the much maligned stinging nettle starts to shoot. It's a great plant for some species of butterfly and when young, can be harvested and added to stews and soups. Cooking neutralises the stinging properties. Meanwhile, first signs of the wild garlic begin to show. The shallot shaped semi transluscent bulbs often get pushed above the surface as the roots extend and when we walk the paths our feet bruise them releasing the distinctive garlic smell. The wild garlic is now growing like grass so the orchids and other spring awakener don't have much time before they will be overwhelmed. Somewhere we have a recipe for wild garlic pesto and we may give that a go this year.

Wild daffodills in the wood.

The English blubell won't be overwhelmed. It's a sturdy, vigorous plant that will outgrow the garlic. They are now emerging and early signs are that they will rival the snowdrops in number and spread. Looking forward to that.

Not knowing what we would find in the Spring, we took out the insurance of planting our own spring bulbs. Not sure we needed to do that now we can see what's on the way and really didn't need to bring that plant pot of wild garlic with us....

I wish there wasn't so much dog's mercury. This is shooting up and will outgrow and outlst the wild garlic and bluebells.  So-named because dogs will nibble at it in the same way they will often eat grass as an emetic. Jarvis isn't too bothered but Honey eats it and in her advancing years, we rather she did not. From now on the birdsong is likely to be broken by the harsh human sound of 'Honey! Leave that alone!'. It doesn't make much difference needless to say.

Just 3 trees left to plant out of the 50 or so we purchased from the local nursery. Looking at  the ones we have already planted they have healthy signs of buds coming to life. It was fairly hard work digging out holes in the rocky ground, fetching leaf mould from beneath the beech trees to give the roots a decent medium to grow in and stopping Honey from digging the trees up again. Looking at them now it was worth the effort.

More tree planting, sprouting orchids and making a new hazel gate to the wood.

Whilst the wind has been howling all around and rain , sun and cold have taken their turns in trying to unsettle us, we've carried on as usual thanks to being in a sheltered valley and the wood giving shelter.

Each newly planted tree has its own bunch of snowdrops.

We've had the whips from the local garden centre for a couple of weeks now and despite planting nearly every day, still seem to have loads left. It goes without saying we no longer know which species is which as they got jumbled up in the plastic sack after the first week of planting. That doesn't bother us. Each one planted, beit spindle, field maple, cherry or hornbeam has been given a position where it will be treasured and carefully watched over. They won't all survive but come the spring/early summer the buds will eventaully reveal the leaves and we'll soon know what is where.

As the snowdrops appeared we decided they needed dividing to increase their spread across the banks. Then we thought we'd combine dividing snowdrops and planting trees. Now each new sapling has its own group of snowdrops.




It's when you start to work closely with any piece of land that you see more and appreciate just what you have. Although clearing brambles was important we have been careful in not trampling and hacking all over the place. That care has paid dividends already as we now see the Early purple orchids start to appear. No flowers till april probably but the leaves are distinctive with large black blotches marking them out.
These are dotted around the wood on the banks so not likely to be trampled accidentally or dug up by those with 4 paws.

Nothing fixed yet - just looking at different designs.

When not up the wood time has been well spent working the harvestd hazel for the replacement gate into the wood. This unsophisticated bodging suits me as I can't see very well at the moment. Sawing  branches, shaving into shape and cutting more or less to the correct length is manageable though takes longer than it used to - and a good job too. Whether I will be able to cut the tenons and chisel out the mortices with the required accuracy remains to be seen. Haven't settled on the final design yet - maybe a fan shape? We'll see. The basic structure will be the same regardless. One thing for sure, using the shave horse and draw knife is a great way to make a mess!

There's no point at all in doing a job unless you can make  a mess at the same time.