Resilient Woodlands

Great mention of our #flamingexcellent sustainable BBQ charcoal on Radio 4 Food Programme last week in the BarbeQnA special. We get a mention about 4 mins in but whole programme is very good with HangFire crew & DJ BBQ , listen here:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000747 3
Order yours here:
... https://resilientwoodlands.co.uk/bbq-shop /
#sustainableBBQ #SustainableCharcoal #BBQ #ForestofDean #ResilientWoodlands
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Our new woodland barn nearing completion & new luxury eco cabins coming along nicely ready for October launch.

We put up our stunning roundwood frame barn this week to give us the extra space to sustainably manage more local coppice woodland. Roof going on next week to create some beautiful space with a view to die for!
#roundwoodframing #sustainablebuilding #growninbritain #sustainablewoodland #granddesigns #forestofdean #woolaston

We finally got the foundations poured for the new wood processing barn in atrocious conditions today. Anyone would think its British summer & BBQ season!

Our slightly sweet smokey Alder charcoal is not only one of the best for cooking on but also perfect for making charcoal oil. You can use the smokey infused oil to add a BBQ flavour to condiments, steak or venison tartare & its also amazing to add to curries! A good video of how to make it here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pk33u_MXB 7Q

Great review of our charcoal & good analysis of the cost benefit of using good quality, local charcoal.

Slowly making progress on the roundwood frame processing barn. Entrance in & topsoil stripped ready for mini pile foundations. Using 500mm twinwall to form pile casings. Each pile will have a steel pile cap on top to secure the lightweight timber frame to. As much to stop it blowing away as holding it up.
Installing a drain was the first job to stop the river flooding in through the top gate every time it rained!
#Woolaston #SustainableWoodland #Coppicing #RoundwoodFraming #ForestofDean

Thanks to the guys Todd & Lewis for coming in this weekend to knock out a special batch of our Alder charcoal for Hangfire Southern Kitchen & BBC who are filming new series of Sam & Shaunas big cook out starting on Tuesday. 9 bags winging their way to you as we speak. Am sure you'll love it!

Pleased to be working with Roundwood Design for our new wood storage & processing barn. Built for practical use but a work of art & demonstration of woodland craft & expertise.
#sustainablewoodlands #resilientwoodlands #roundwood #growninbritain #coppicewoodland #forestofdean

A lovely neat job by Forest ECO Systems ltd installing our new log gasifying boiler, before it all disappears under insulation to keep it warm! The boiler will be using logs & offcuts from our sustainably managed coppiced woodlands, were trees are cut on a 12 years rolling basis with minimal processing & rapid regrowth.
The HDG F series is a full gasifying boiler, that takes 0.5m long logs & burns them at 93% efficiency, provided the wood is properly seasoned & the moisture content is <20%. Heat energy is then stored in the 2,054 litre accumulator tank allowing on demand heating & hot water at mains pressure.
The system is also eligible for the Renewable Heat Incentive payment which provides an income for the first 7yrs to offset some of the costs.

Looks like its going to be an amazing year for fruit, apple, cider apple, cherry & pear trees all laden with blossom.
Cider apple trees look especially spectacular with Kingston Black, Hereford Redstreak & Forest of Dean Foxwhelp all exploding into bloom following Easter weekends warm weather. Looks like we may get a bumper crop this year & some amazing cider!
Our local variety cider blend using Kingston Black/Redstreak/Foxwhelp was outstanding last time!
... #Agroforestry #CiderOrchards #AppleOrchard #Woolaston #ForestofDean #ResilientWoodlands
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Good to see this Forestry Commission video on coppicing & a great introduction to what we do here & why. Managing our woodlands for wildlife diversity as well as making a decent living.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=share &v=Pk7o4q87h-A
#coppice #coppicewoodland #sustainablecharcoal #resilientwoodlands

It was lovely to have a group of great people from the ASHA Centre come to visit us today at Resilient Energy Great Dunkilns and Resilient Woodlands HQ to learn about our community energy projects and our sustainable woodland management practices.
It's so rewarding to be able to share our knowledge with people who are interested in what we do and perhaps one day they will manage their own woodland or develop their own community energy project!
https://www.facebook.com/AshaCentre/

Today we put some more of our Resilient Woodlands ideas into practice.
In 2017 we collected acorns from some of the most magnificient, healthiest & resilient oak trees we have here on the southern flank of the Forest of Dean. Grew them on as 18" whips in root trainers for 1 year, to ensure they developed a really healthy tap root &, today planted them out to be the start of a magnificient oak coppice with standards. First cut will be in 16-18yrs time in 2036 to develop th...e coppice stools & then every 16-18yrs.
They should yield someone 120 tonnes per acre of beautiful straight oak poles every 18yrs from then on.
#ResilientWoodlands #ForwardPlanning #PayingItForwards #coppicewoodland
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Small Woodlands have a huge role to play in tackling climate change & delivering local economic & social benefits by providing skilled local jobs & a place for communities to relax & come together. In a recent post by our sister organisation The Resilience Centre we found out the Forest of Dean would struggle to absorb much more than 8-10% of its carbon emissions in the 11,000Ha of woodland under Forestry Commission control.
However, seldom included in national statistics ...are the additional ~8,660 hectares of small private, commons & local authority owned woodlands here in the Forest of Dean. These woodlands make up 44% of the wooded area of the Forest of Dean & are typically ignored as the majority are in lots of less than 10 hectares & therefore not eligible for forestry commission management grant funding!
These small private woodlands are also some of our most ecologically diverse, having been largely ignored by the plantation forest mentality & historically managed sustainably as coppice woodland by small farmers, smallholders & local woodsman. They also have the greatest potential to contribute to tackling climate change & ecological collapse, especially if brought back into active coppice management mimicking natural cycles.
Compared with plantation forestry, which contributes up to a maximum of 3 tonnes of carbon lock up per hectare per year, our coppice woodlands have the potential to deliver twice this at 6 tonnnes of carbon lock up per hectare per year. Yields in a well managed coppice woodland can exceed 12 tonnes of hardwood per hectare per year, details here: Forestry Commission's.own Bulletin:
https://www.google.co.uk/url…
With a carbon content of ~50% for coppice hardwoods, we get from the 12 tonnes per hectare yield, 6 tonnes of carbon stripped from our atmosphere every year by every hectare of coppice. By counting & supporting small woodlands to maintain coppicing we could increase the lock up of personal carbon emissions from the 21% delivered by the Forestry Commission plantations to 55%, for every person here in the Forest of Dean. In the bigger picture we could increase the lock up of all carbon emissions for the Forest of Dean from personal, agriculture, transport & industry from 10% to 26%. A huge potential increase in contribution to tackling climate change that has been long overlooked & needs to be supported.
Help Support our work by visiting our website & buying local sustainably made charcoal & coppice products here:
https://resilientwoodlands.co.uk/coppice- shop/
#smallwoods #ForestofDean #resilientwoodlands #coppicing #coppicewood #climatechange #carbonsequestration #sustainablewoodland
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Timber was critical in WW2: it was needed for aircraft, shipbuilding, communications & coal mining. With only 7 months supply of timber stockpiled, Britain was in serious trouble. Reluctantly, the government opened lumber work for women to apply – & apply they did in huge numbers.
http://thelumberjills.uk
Great new book coming out by Jo Foat to celebrate this amazing overlooked achievement.
... #Lumberjills
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