Subscribe to our occasional newsletter to receive updates on the croft and events
Latest Updates
Taken from our Instagram feed. Click on each image for the full post.
Workshop update! It`s been a slow burner this one, juggling with croft jobs and @timbertunnel builds, but we`ve finally got the cladding finished and have made a good start on the inside too. Thanks to Aurore, Ike and Dylan for their help!
Still to do are electrics and workbenches inside but it`s already been amazing having a decent space to work in. It`ll also be connected up to the old workshop with a canopy at some point.
We`ve almost doubled our solar capacity too with the extra roof space, now with over 8kw of panels, which should give enough energy to power the house and heat hot water most of the year, and surplus to charge the car on sunny days.
Aug 21
Thanks to everyone who came to our second croft woodland workshop on Saturday. It was lovely to show folk around and chat about trees in the sunshine.
We`ll hopefully have a few volunteer days over the winter in the coppice and harvesting basketry willow so sign up to the newsletter on our website if you`d like to hear about those.
Aug 18
We got off lightly with last week`s storm, with just a few branches snapped, but along the road from the house some chunky willows had come down and were hung up on phone lines (pun intended) and other trees.
So, it was a great excuse to finally buy a long pole saw and we made the most of the free bounty, chipping most of it plus a few firewood logs. The chips will have a higher nitrogen content than usual as they have leaves in with them, so ideal for composting. I`ve layered them with grass clippings, sheep`s wool and chicken manure.
On another note, there`s still 1 space left on next Saturday`s woodland workshop if you fancy a tour of our croft woodlands. Booking via our website.
Aug 10
Processing this year`s firewood in the #timbertunnel. I`m loving the log saw I got last year. It runs off the tractor which is outside the tunnel to keep the noise and fumes away.
I stack the smaller stuff to dry and pile up larger bits to split later. This will be left to dry until next Spring.
We`ve still got a few more spaces left on our woodland management workshop on the 16th August if you`d like to learn more about our coppice systems on the croft (as well as basketry and much more!). Booking is our website.
Jul 26
I thought I`d pick a few raspberries today. And twice had to come back to the house to get another basket! Ended up with 6kg and there`s plenty more still to come.
It`s been an amazing year for soft fruit here, and we`ve already had (indoor) plums, blueberries, blackcurrants, gooseberries, strawberries and a few samples from new bushes we`ve planted such as Saskatoon and honeyberries. But as usual the birds didn`t leave us any red, pink or white currants.
We`re going to be adding more soft fruit soon, filling in gaps between existing bushes and have planted a dozen apple trees in the last few years too.
Jul 21
Back out in the coppice to check on regrowth. This is the area cut in winter 23 and doing really well. Flowers and other plants are coming up too with more sunlight hitting the floor.
I`m also starting to bring in the logs to process from last winter and loving my new mini log trailer from TCF Engineering, perfectly sized for my 1970`s Kubota and the narrow tracks into the coppice.
Jul 4
Fancy coming to learn how we manage our croft woodland for multiple products and uses? We`ve got another woodland management workshop lined up on 16th August after the success of our first one in May. Booking is now open on our website.
We`ll wander around the croft and look at our coppice areas, basketry, shelter plantings and hedges. Plus there will be a nice shared lunch and lots of tea and coffee!
Thanks again to @woodlandtrustscotland for funding the day.
Jun 15
Thanks to everyone who came to our first woodland management workshop at the weekend. We had a great time showing folk around our croft woodland and chatting all things trees.
We`re hoping to run the day again later in the summer for those who didn`t get a spot this time, sign up to the newsletter on our website to be the first to know.
Jun 4
Fancy learning more about our woodland croft? Join us on 31st May for a walk and talk workshop looking at how we manage trees and woodland on our croft.
We`ll delve into woodland design, shelter, coppice, fruit, hedgelaying, growing trees from seed, tools and more.
Lunch is included and it`s free to attend, but booking is essential as there are limited spaces.
Thanks to @woodlandtrustscotland for funding the event.
Find out more and book via our website.
May 12
After a while away on #timbertunnel jobs I`ve managed to get the roof done on the workshop despite the soggy weather and thanks to a neighbour for an extra pair of hands.
I opted for OSB sheets under box profile as without it you can get condensation dripping onto tools which doesn`t do them any good. Reclaimed windows on the roadside to break up the cladding and clear roofing on the north side (the south face will be completely covered in solar panels).
I`ll pause on it now as I need to get back to other croft jobs such as chipping brash in the coppice.
May 4
Very exciting to be starting on my new workshop and today we got the frames raised and purlins fitted.
I opted for a portal frame design which is pretty rare to find in timber (usually steel). The reason I chose it is the open shape with no horizontal ties, which makes it much handier for a workshop, moving long bits of wood around etc. I also needed to keep the eaves height low for planning reasons and so it fits in with nearby buildings.
It`s taken me a while to get this far as I needed to dig into the hill by hand to get the width I wanted. All made with Scottish Douglas fir and will be clad in larch. Roofing will be metal sheets thought they`ll be hidden under solar panels.
Apr 18
