John Russell

Has everyone heard the news about the Amazon? It will be on TV tonight and in all the papers tomorrow. The 2005 drought was supposed to be a 'once in 100 years' event and now it appears 2010 was worse. Many of the rivers dried up and million of trees died which are now rotting and giving off CO2. When I was at school we were taught that the Amazon rain forest was 'the lungs of the world'. Now it's a shadow of its former self. Add this terrible news to the price of oil (just gone over $100/barrel) and the rocketing bulk food prices and it looks like we have big problems. We all need to be thinking about what we can do if the s*** hits the fan. Best wishes, John Russell

If you've enjoyed this episode you might like to read this and then sign the petition. Quote: "New photos obtained by Survival International show uncontacted Indians in never-seen-before detail. The Indians are living in Brazil, near the Peruvian border..." Best wishes, John

No. I know all I need to know about travellers. I'll be across on BBC2 watching, "Do we really need the moon?". Sounds interesting.

I find it difficult to believe Hooper was correct. The hedge alongside my house is not much more than 250 years old because it is not on the maps I have dated around 1750: however it contains at least 9 substantial tree species -- off the top of my head -- oak, ash, hazel, alder, blackthorn, hawthorn, beech, goat willow + ivy. Best wishes, John Russell

"You can estimate the age of an established hedgerow by counting the number of plant species present in random 30-yard lengths -- each species occurring in your sample represents roughly 100 years of age. So, the more species you find, the older the hedge is likely to be." Quote from here Obviously, the fewer the species the more inaccurate this rule of thumb. Read more here. And here. Hedgerow Dating I suppose if you and the hedge get on well it could end in marriage. Best wishes, John Russell

Made my stomach churn watching that! If anyone wants to know about it it's here: Caminito del Rey Best wishes, John Russell

Ha! I hadn't realised they owned that site. Must say they're damn good at marketing. They bought about 75 acres near to me at the same time as I bought one of my woods. I seem to remember they paid about £90K for it. They chopped it up into blocks of about 6 acres each and at the moment they selling the blocks for about £25K a pop. I think they have discovered that £25K is the sort of price suburban people will happily pay to own a bit of countryside. Best wishes, John Russell

I made my wife's raised beds from 'dung board' -- available at any farm suppliers. She likes quite high raised beds -- less stooping down -- and they are tongued and grooved which makes for a good finish. I came up with a way to make the corners pretty and will try to get a photo of them tomorrow to post. Best wishes, John Russell

I'm still trying to decide whether the government sell-off (if it happens) will make woodland cheaper to buy, or more expensive because it attracts more people into the market. A few years back I bought several woodlands at less than the guide price; today, similar sized woodlands are fetching quite a bit more than the GP. Just offered about 3% over the GP on 58 acres of mainly 30-year-old conifers and was too low -- it went for about 10% over -- which I think shows there is a demand at the moment. I'd be careful of buying small areas, it's usually priced very high -- particularly if near centres of habitation 30 acres plus is best value: I think we all know 'Woodland for Sale's' tactics. Can't help much about how much woodland you need to make a living -- even part time. I think it would be hard, though (as I'm sure you know), satisfying. I know a chap who sold his house and put the proceeds and his pension fund into buying woodland. He started buying in around 2000 and now owns around 300 acres from which he makes a living + doing tree-surgery jobs for people. But he lives in a caravan in a wood and drives a beat-up old Land Rover. He's probably sitting on £1m worth of woodland now, but nobody thinks he's a rich man because he's up to his neck in bank loans to buy a Fastrack, County, etc! I do know that a lot of those people protesting about the FC sell-off think woodland owners are Range-Rover-driving, tweed-coated, asset strippers who make a fortune out of wood. A few might be, I suppose, but most people I know who own woodland just like trees, wildlife and being out in the open air. Any road up; best of luck with the quest. In my experience owning woodland is very rewarding. Try looking at the SWOG site. Best wishes, John Russell

I have a principle that I've applied throughout my working life. Either do the job at the proper price, or do it free -- nothing in between. If you're doing it for free you can do as much or as little as you want, or need to, and no one will complain. Best wishes, JR

So do I! Not much hope though on the wet, heavy clay of central Devon. Still, at least we can dig ponds without having to put liners in them. Can't have it both ways! Very nice work, BTW! Best wishes, John Russell

I think you might mean 'that's a misunderstanding', rather than 'that's a lie'? I know from experience that I would want to injure someone (break-ins cost us £60,000 in 2005) -- but then self control kicks in. I only wrote what I did because a lot of people read these threads and I just want them to think about what's lawful and not get themselves in to trouble by taking the law into their own hands. Best of luck getting a number plate or image. We even managed to get a blood sample (DNA) from the thieves that broke into our place. The thieves in question had done so many break-ins (to buy drugs) that the police used it as a bargaining tool -- "tell us who your dealer is and we'll let you off all the break-ins." Frankly, I'd legalise all drugs. It would save the likes of you and me a fortune. At least then addicts would become a medical problem rather than a 'law and order' problem and their addiction could be managed and made safe. Without the glamour of drugs being illegal it would be less attractive and the country wouldn't have to pay so much in insurance and to sort out the property destruction they leave behind. It's a big drain on all of us. Best wishes, John Russell

OK. The key thing is to make sure that anything you do could not be interpreted as being a deliberate attempt to injure someone. Dogs are not a problem. As a deterrent, they work. Frankly, I'd be tempted to make a recording of a large vicious dog barking very loudly and arrange it so that it starts playing inside the shed when a beam is triggered. I know someone who did this -- worked a treat. Best wishes, JR

4 foot bucket would be fine. Just scoop out a big root ball in one go and dig the same size hole to put it in. It'll hardly know it's been moved. Best wishes, John Russell

Be very aware that if you do anything (booby traps or the like) that could possibly injure anyone -- even if they are thieves caught in the act, and even if they are not actually injured -- the police will have no hesitation in prosecuting you. I know, it's very frustrating but please stay legal. The only time this does not apply is if you're protecting your, or anyone else's, life and then any retaliation must be proportional. Best wishes, John Russell

I've done it many times with a digger. Winter is the time to transplant -- any time before the first buds start to show signs of life, but around now is ideal provided the ground is not frozen. A 9" trenching bucket is a bit on the small side for a tree 1" diameter. Really I'd use the biggest digging bucket you've got -- say 18" for a 1.5 tonne digger. Best wishes, John Russell

Too right. And probably next time they come back they'll be tooled up to take the lot. Even if the same people don't come back they'll have told some of their mates what's in there. On one occasion my company was broken into twice within 24 hours, but usually it's a few days later. In 2005 we were broken into eleven times in one year. In the end the police refused to come because they said we we had too many break-ins -- work that one out! Ironically we have very little worth stealing -- ie, that would be saleable down the pub. In the end we just had to keep escalating the security until it wasn't worth their while any more. It cost a fortune. We now have a monitored alarm and a security company with a guaranteed 15 minute attendance once the alarm is tripped. The police will follow half an hour later if we're lucky. Best wishes, John Russell

The issue is humidity build-up in a sealed space. When the sun shines on the roof the air inside the barn warms up and dries the logs which then release moisture. Warm air holds more moisture -- but then when the air cools at night it has to drop its moisture content which has to condense out on the wood and any equipment standing in the barn. You will notice this when you enter a barn in the morning as dew which has settled out on equipment -- and logs. This effect is most noticeable on lumps of heavy metal such as engine blocks. You need to get rid of the humidity that will builds up when damp things dry in the barn. A de-humidifier is the expensive way. The best way is vents low down and also high up. If fitting air bricks around building low down is an option, then do it. But also add vents high up at the eaves level to create rising airflow between the two on days where the sun warms the air. I can guarantee that -- if done properly -- this will work. Best wishes, John Russell

Agreed very common. Yes, I think it's sphagnum (but I'll stand being corrected). Here in the SW a high percentage of my trees have this -- particularly where the ground is boggy, the trees are growing close together and there's not much light getting to the ground. Never observed it doing any harm. Tends to be more of it on the north side of the tree. Best wishes, John Russell

No, I wasn't pulling anyone's leg. It was me that made the comment. In ancient times it was a recognised way of preventing damage from browsing animals. Cut the trees at around waist or chest height -- depending on whether the deer are reds or roe. The coppard will then grow back with multiple stems from that height. Also saves bending down in eight year's time or so when you take the next cut. Some will argue that deer can reach higher than chest height -- but my experience is that they are opportunist browsers. Most of the summer they'll feed at ground level -- because the grass and other tasty plants are growing -- and they only resort to eating tree growth in the winter. During a summer most trees will put on at least a couple of feet -- so add that to a chest height cut in the previous winter and they've got away from the deer. I think you'll find this thread very interesting: Why coppice low SWOG Forum Try it -- it works for me -- and let us know how you get on. Best wishes, John Russell

I'd question your uncle-in-law about whether his information is based on personal experience or is based on scientific study. Everything I read suggests fish stocks are down in virtually all corners of the planet. In some areas fish species have been completely wiped out. Unfortunately quotas are necessary to stop further depletion: it's the way they're operated that is madness -- not the principle of quotas themselves. Here are some facts if you'd like to read up. First the simple version: Overfishing - A global environmental problem, threat and disaster And then there's the science behind it: Overfishing - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Best wishes, John Russell

I know for a fact that other countries' fishing fleets are not as assiduous about the regs as British fishing fleets. A friend of mine was making a film about the EU fishing quotas several years ago and, in Spain, filmed illegal landings of fish. The regulations are crazy and have been for years. The problem is that the fishermen are allowed to catch x tonnes of A, y tonnes of B and z tonnes of C. Once they have reached the limit on one fish species they want to keep fishing for the other fish species and then the first species just becomes by-catch and is thrown over the side. Also they are not allowed to land fish smaller than a certain size so any they catch that don't meet the criteria are just thrown back -- dead. The entire system is completely mad -- you have to be a bureaucrat to come up with it and think it's OK. So what should happen? The fishing fleets should be given a limit for fish caught in a given year and they should have to land everything they catch. Once they've achieved the limit then that's it -- take the rest of the year off. What's really crazy to me is the amount of red diesel trawlers have to burn to make their catches. In times of oil shortages, to then throw a significant percentage of what they catch back is simply mind-numbingly, ecologically, stupid. I see they've hit 440,000 on the petition now. I hope they can extend it to other countries because we can shout all we like in the UK but it's an EU problem and unless all the countries agree to a change we're pissing in the wind. Best wishes, John Russell

I would agree with that. Sage if you want to take up accounting or book-keeping professionally, or Quickbooks if you just want to get the job done as quickly and efficiently as possible. As to which version -- I would say start with the simplest version (as someone has said there's a free trial version you can download) and then upgrade if you need to. I use a version that was superseded in 2002 but it does everything I want and I know it backwards. A colleague of mine has kept upgrading as newer version come out. Each to his own. Best wishes, John Russell

Well done, Ian. I hope the job turns out to be everything you're hoping it will be. Best wishes, JR

I would recommend Quickbooks by Intuit (google it). Brilliantly intuitive and ideal for all small businesses. I've been using and recommending it to others for 15 years and the five people who are using it as a result of my recommendation now swear by it. The only negative thing to say about it is that some accountants would prefer their clients to use a 'professional' accounts package -- that's because they like their clients to be dependant on them. There are a few enlightened accountants around who realise that it's good for their clients to buy software that they don't need a degree in accounting to use. Best wishes, John Russell