by Steve Byrne | Jan 13, 2017 | woodlands
An exciting development for 2017 is the formation of our first Forest School group, which will be led by Lucy, an experienced Forest School teacher. Ever since hearing about the idea of forest schools or outdoor schools we’ve been excited by the idea of getting a group going and an amazing bunch of children and parents have come together to make this happen.
by Steve Byrne | Jan 19, 2015 | woodlands
Today was a day of mixed emotions, as we had to take down the big sycamore tree that stands over our stables. The recent high winds tore one side of the tree off, revealing really significant rot in the centre of the tree at its base. Often this isn’t a...
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...
by Steve Byrne | Jan 20, 2014 | woodlands
Last year we took part in the million trees in one day initiative, which very ambitiously hoped to do what it said on the tin. Technically this year it should be called ‘The rest of one million trees in one day’ but the sentiment is the right one. Some...
by Steve Byrne | May 7, 2013 | self sufficiency
For a while there we thought it might never be sunny again, but once again we are enjoying the warmth, and the knowledge that the sun is providing our electricity and an increasing amount of our hot water. All around us the place is bursting into life, and the brown...
by Steve Byrne | Mar 9, 2013 | smallholding, woodlands
Well, for a while there we thought that spring had sprung, and so it would seem did the snowdrops. After what seemed like a long winter, suddenly there is a dash to get all the jobs done before spring arrives properly (whatever happened to hibernation?). For...
