Rustical

Category: Rustic Wood Stuff

  • Frosty mornings on the farm

    This week has seen some lovely crisp frosty mornings which is always a beautiful sight and is a real pleasure to walk around the farm. Our willow trials continue with a mix of biomass hybrids and traditional basket making varieties planted. The photo above is of some one year old willow whips which are ideal…

  • Coppicing Hazel

    As the seasonal wreath making draws to a close a lovely morning allowed a chance to make a start on the Hazel coppice. Our stand of hazel was planted specifically to provide a harvest of walking stick blanks for the surprisingly large number of local stick making enthusiasts. We now use the remaining wood for crafts…

  • New range of smokehouse wood chips added

    Our little Wood Chunks website has been selling our home grown wood for some time now to the point where our regular customers kindly bring samples of their fare which is very much appreciated (hint, hint) . Food smoking is an art and from my experience, each ‘artist’ likes to understandably select the materials that…

  • Rustic Chopping & Serving Boards

    Rustic Chopping & Serving Boards

    The past few days have taken place in a large cloud of sawdust as we try and catch up on a few bespoke orders for BIG chunky chopping boards. Thick milled planks are cut to best make use of their individual natural grain patterns. All boards are marked out by hand and consequently no two boards…

  • Growing our own firewood – 2016

    Many years ago we abandoned the idea of being able to own our own woodland as there is so little of it in West Lancashire in the first place and, of that, it is very rare that it comes up for sale. But, rather than admit defeat, we bought some arable land and field by…

  • Making rustic table numbers

    I have been getting a bit behind with restocking our rustic table numbers and with the wedding season ramping up today was the day to put that right. They are easily made from any suitable, seasoned logs but risking your fingers in a band saw to save a couple of pounds is not to everyones taste.…

  • Outdoor Wood Fired Pizza Oven

    Having made it all the way from Portugal to Hesketh Bank without damage, it was quite exciting to unpack our new brick built outdoor pizza oven. As it weighs about 600kg, the forktruck was definitely needed to carefully lift it out of its packing crate and onto a pallet. I have been reading up on…

  • Frying Pan Flue Fix

    The storms at the end of 2015 left our little ‘woodcutters hut’ wood burning stove chimney cowl blown off. Made from an old twin walled gas flue, the lightweight aluminium had ripped in the wind and was beyond repair. The stove would probably work very well without any chimney cowl being fitted but I really didn’t…

  • Pollarding Ash Trees

    We have quite a few young ash trees which we grew from seed gathered from local trees and planted out around 8 years ago. Whilst the vast majority of our ash trees are being grown to coppice, we have some that are under grazed by free range chickens. Pollarding trees is a bit out of…

  • Harvesting Basket Making Willow

    Having packed away the fresh wreath making ‘production line’ for another year our next job is to get our home grown willow rods cut and into storage for processing as willow whip tips for floristry, straight sticks for crafts and little log bundles for picks to decorate next year’s wreaths. These items are sold all…