We have a new Podcast! Lessons from the Woods is available to listen to now!

Photos and thoughts from a week of woodland management work with Wild Sussex in a beautiful small woodland in Surrey.

We have just wrapped up a busy week here in the woods selectively thinning a number of Scots pines (Pines sylvestris) as part of our long term management plan. Woodland management is a complicated business, one which I have conflicting views on. In truth I loathe the idea of ‘managing’ any part of nature in any way. Management sounds sterile and dull, yet nature is chaotic, messy and pulsing with living energy. I am an advocate of allowing natural processes to take place and learning from nature by watching events unfold.

Sometimes multiple events or situations culminate at just the right time to generate a greater impact than each individual moment could of by itself. One of those moments, which lead to the start of Miscellaneous Adventures is the tale of Dick Proenneke. 

It's become an annual tradition for us in recent years to celebrate the festive season by heading into the woods and cooking up a Christmas feast over the campfire. Read on for all the details our latest recipe maybe give it a go this holiday season.

All around us here in the woods, autumn is making its presence felt; vivid green leaves are slowly yellowing, robins are singing their melancholy song, acorns are raining down from above and flowers have transformed into colourful, shiny alluring fruits.

In spring, as a tree awakens from its dormant winter state, water and nutrients begin to pump through the sapwood as sap. These nutrients are sent to the buds enabling them to unfurl and thus begins the process of new growth for that year. In this post we'll show you how to tap a birch tree for it's sap and how to make beer with the results.