coppice cutter

I have a lot of customers on minimum wage who just keep their head down, work away making the best of it, and gurn far less than people earning considerably more. Don't try to tell me they are figments of my imagination. Being opinionated is one thing, talking out of your arse is something else. I used to think you were the former, but increasingly think you're most likely the latter.

The real irony is that such people tend to complain considerably less (if at all) compared to those who have little or nothing to complain about.

A niece of Mrs CC and her husband have a combined income of about £140k, it's mostly him as he has a very high up job in a local council. They tell anyone dumb enough to listen that they're going to struggle to buy heating oil this winter. Inflation doesn't lie, the country is awash with money and that's the main problem.

Yep, that's the fella.

My guess is that with the recent hot weather the can has expanded a bit. Wouldn't have to swell much to lower the level noticeably.

There's a chemical available which acts as a growth regulator on both grass and cereal crops. Hasn't many down sides in cereals as they're an annual and harvested in less than a year, but it has to be used very carefully on grass apparently.

Hazel is awesome, tough, resilient, pretty, incredibly easy to manage, great for wildlife, gives you excellent firewood, and you get nuts. I planted about 500 hundred, if I'd known then what I know now I'd have doubled that. If I had more ground I'd definitely plant an area of hazel coppice, maybe with a few standards through it. But then there'd have to be fewer sheep, and I like keeping them too. But I'm being picky, overall I should just be glad I planted what I did when I did.

Was more like this, which t'internet told me was mice.

Well it's bound to be some sort of outdoorsy type of mouse, so that'll do me. Was quite happy when I figured out what had been eating them, just another indication of bringing new life to what was previously a relatively sterile area.

Not so far, I planted it in the heart of a 100% agricultural area and seldom see a grey. I find lots of nuts on the woodland floor during late winter/early spring which have a little perfectly round hole on the top of them which apparently is mice so they seem to be the main beneficiary to date.

Maybe I was lucky but when planting my woodland I only used bog standard corylus avellana, think they were about 80p per plant back then, and all from the same supplier. First got a few nuts about four years ago, with more and more bushes producing every year since until this year where there are nuts everywhere you look. I wasn't even aware there were issues with cross-pollination?

This and your previous post all very accurate. News was much more fair and balanced when they simply reported what was happening. But it now encompasses so much commentary and personal opinion that the pure factual nature of it has been diminished practically to the point of being non-existent.

God love it. We've had two Springers, both rescues, and both classed as 'problem dogs', but we never had any trouble with them strangely enough. Not surprisingly we're Collie people primarily, but both the Springers have as big a place in our dog history as anything else.

Even if Echo still make the 390, I struggle to see why any importer would go to the trouble of stocking it along with the new 4310 which is more powerful and lighter. And I say that as someone with a fairly new 390esx sitting on the bench.

The expression "long runs the fox" is plainly multicultural.

When I started working basic rate was 33%, there was no minimum wage, and personal allowances were much smaller than now even in real terms. So if you're pissed off now just be thankful you weren't trying to forge a path then.

I detest Nicola Sturgeon with a passion which terrifies me. Therefore I ignore her as much as humanly possible, and then some more. Merely pointing out the inaccuracy of you stating that "nearly half" is taken of you when it isn't, it only serves to somewhat discredit an otherwise valid point.

Not that it affects me, but yes, sneaky and unnecessary. Every chancellor that I can remember since I cared enough to listen has pledged to make the taxation system more simple, transparent, and easier to understand. Yet they never do.

But you still only pay between 19 and 21% on what you earn up to that £43,600 surely, plus up to £100k you have your tax free allowance? Unless you earn so much that those figures are negligible?

You always worry about a spaniel when they go off their food. Their two base instincts seem to be to hunt, and to eat. You'll be glad to get her home again.

On the face of it, it has also made Echo's own 390esx obsolete as it's both lighter and more powerful. But presumably that's what it is meant to replace so you'd be expecting an improvement. Not many pro saws under 50cc available so if it's a good saw there's no reason why it shouldn't sell. The 43cc Makita is widely used and well regarded here but as above, not being made any more, this seems like a good replacement.

Naturally the birds have no interest in the crab apples which are dotted around the place everywhere!

As Paul says, you look to find suitable positions around the edges or in my case you also position near to stuff that can be coppiced or thinned (hazel, oak, maple, etc) to give the apples a head-start. Stronger root-stocks for a bit of vigour and height is also a consideration. This wee area was slightly different, it was supposed to be 100% Norway Maple but in the first few years they done badly so (again similar to Paul) I stuck a few apple trees in the spaces but as it's a southerly facing corner it started to develop a bit of a micro climate and soon became obvious that it was worth a bit of extra effort so I moved a couple of weaker maples for space, added a few fruit bushes, and I keep the grass trimmed a bit. The remaining maples will be managed to provide a bit of shelter but without being too shady, at least that's the plan at present. But it's ongoing and every year you find out something else, which is just as likely to be something you done wrong as right!

I did wonder if the still relatively small number was an issue. Certainly in the early days with soft fruit, it was nearly impossible to get anything, but now that the bushes are much bigger and more of them, it seems more a case of everybody being able to get a bit, humans included. Maybe going to have to be similarly patient with the apples.

Has anyone experience of growing apples in a native woodland environment as opposed to a bespoke orchard or even just a tree or two randomly in your garden? This is the first year of any apples on most of my trees and they are being absolutely mullered by birds already. Wondering if there's any practical preventative measures possible or is it just a bad idea trying to grow apples in a relatively wild setting? Any experiences or advice welcome as ever.