Flat out in April

April has been an incredibly busy month here at Lackan Cottage Farm, as for the first time we’re keeping pace with all the jobs that traditionally need done before spring arrives properly. Finally the ground is drying out, and all the plants are coming back to...
Better firewood storage

Better firewood storage

This is one of thoseobvious  things that I should have thought of a lot sooner. Our woodstore is on the back of the cottage with a door that allows you to get in from inside the house. It has slatted walls to let air circulate, but its always had a solid roof because...
Simple tips for easy firewood processing

Simple tips for easy firewood processing

We process a lot of firewood here and these two simple additions have made life a million times easier. First, we made up a thing to put long bits of wood in for cutting. Its a heavy bottom piece with uprights made from easily replaceable pallet wood, spaced so that cutting midway between them leaves us with 10″ pieces. Simply fill it up with wood, and you can cut mountains of fiddly bits with just 3 or 4 cuts.

Filling up with firewood

Filling up with firewood

Last winter we were the masters of firewood. Ample supplies, thanks to kind folk,and having our own huge sycamore fall over in the wind. The summer of 2015 saw the woodyard completely cleared, as amazing volunteers helped us split, chop, and stack the whole lot inside.

Tree surgery

Tree surgery

The four huge spruce trees at the front of our cottage offer plenty of welcome privacy, but they do overshadow the growing field somewhat, so we decided to take down the largest of them and see what a difference it makes.

Firewood finally

Firewood finally

The past two winters have involved a constant battle to find enough wood fuel to keep us warm, and at times when trudging around in sleet and snow to retrieve sodden timber from the woods has been nothing short of miserable. So this spring we built the lovely new...
The finer points of firewood

The finer points of firewood

When you rely on wood for your heating and cooking, you realise that there is a vast amount of knowledge that was once common but is now largely forgotten, all of which is really quite vital to your success. Our first year has been a steep learning curve, but...

Wood gathering rights

I had an interesting dilemma this week as I did my regular trawl of the woods for dry kindling and fallen trees. We own half of a block of woodland that has been largely untouched for many years – being old bog it is seen as being of little value, and not worth...