by Steve Byrne | Feb 9, 2018 | self sufficiency
Our first basket willow crop Our first basket willow crop is now ready and we’ve begun to harvest it. We weren’t terribly good about keeping the planted willow cuttings weed free, so its a little patchy, but about 90% of the planting has established. Funny...
by Steve Byrne | Mar 29, 2017 | woodlands
Been so busy that I forgot to mention that I went hedge laying on possibly the wettest day of the century so far, back in February. It was a great group to work with, and I learned a lot. It was great to see the transformation and I can’t wait to take a look in the spring as the new growth emerges. Plus I am an accredited hedge layer now..
by Steve Byrne | Dec 11, 2014 | woodlands
One of the main reasons we chose to live here at Lackan was that it came with several acres of birch woodland, growing on what was cut over bog. There is something magical about the woods, the birch gives them an especially norther european feeling, and they evoke the...
by Steve Byrne | Jun 21, 2014 | woodlands
The prospect of a place on our one day courses has proved very popular amongst our crowdfunding supporters, so we thought we’d give a flavour of the sorts of things that we will be doing on those courses. The idea is to give people a choice, and we’ve...
by Steve Byrne | May 19, 2014 | woodlands
Last winter we began to coppice our birch woodland, and it is encouraging to see how quickly new growth is emerging from the cut trees. These stems are now 30 inches tall, and within  10-15 years should be ready to harvest for fuel. Coppicing effectively...