Blog

This week we had a small group as lots of people were away for half term or ill. However, we worked as a team on emptying the large wood store and sorting the wood, before refilling it neatly. After lunch most of the group went for a walk with Barley and Twig, we found lots of different mushrooms and toadstalls along the way. At the end of the day we gave the fire circle area a tidy up and emptied the wood from under the shepherd's hut to add to the new spacious wood shed.

It was a blustery day in the woods. We began the morning by moving the chainsawed logs and chopping them. One student continued work on the sniffari. Some others moved brash to the perimeter in order to create a safe boundary for the dogs. Netting was placed over the new plants in Fruit Corner, plum, beech, and chestnut seeds were planted with the hope of growing some new saplings in the spring. While taking Twig for a small walk, one of our students came across two deer walk

Today at Heartwood we started off with a morning tea break before making green tomato and apple chutney around the fire. Meanwhile, Mark did some chainsawing and these were split by one of the students. We had some lunch to eat when it started to rain. Luckily, we have put up the shelter so there were some places to stay dry. Two trees were felled in the afternoon to make them safe for the winter storms. We foraged some chestnuts to roast over the fire when some of us did som

On Wednesday we all worked together on the Yoda Hut again. A lot more clay was dug and brought down to the hut site, as well as willow weaving to fill in the gaps. It was good to work as a big team and we got quite a bit done. After lunch most of us worked on making a huge vat of green chutney. We used all the green tomatoes from Fruit corner and worked together to cut them all up, as well as the onions and peppers. The jam jars were washed and sterilised and once the chutney

Today at Heartwood, it was all about making cob and starting to cover the Yoda Hut willow frame. This is the first time we've tried making cob and it was super messy fun! The clay was dug from the old pond and mixed with cut up hay and water to create a thick, sticky dough. This was mixed by stomping around in welly boots which was great fun. We then applied the cob onto the willow frame of the hut with our hands. Meanwhile some of us worked on Fruit corner. We pulled out the

Today at Heartwood it was another glorious autumn sunny day. We started off with a group tea break. We filled up some firewood bags and started making a ladder. Work continued on the woodshed and one of the wooden chairs. Some of us saw and split some chestnuts to make posts for fencing and two for the posts were sharpened with an axe. We had some lunch before we went on a country walk to see the cows and the chestnut tree. Afterwards we had another tea break before tidying u

This morning, the group were busy doing a variety of different activities. The final tomatoes and cucumbers in Fruit Corner were picked, the shelving made yesterday was oiled, Mark started to create the roof for the Yoda Hut. Some of the students finished a planter for Fruit Corner in preparation for next season's growing. Work was continued on the Bodger's shelter for the pole lathe. Whilst moving logs to a new corral, we had an exciting discovery of a toad named Frank. We g

Another fabulous autumnal day; it was wonderfully warm and sunny. We had a new team project starting today, which was to build a wood shed for Helen. We used recycled palletwood and followed Mark's carefully drwn plan. There was a lot of careful measururing and sawing required before the drilling and nailing took place. In the afternoon, we went for a longer walk to ancient Sweet Chestnut trees close to Herstmonceux Castle, nearby. They are majestic and offer a wonderful, rar

It was a hot September day and we enjoyed working together to finally complete the mud kitchen. It has now been delivered to the forest school and is waiting to welcome it's first forest school children. We hope they have as much fun playing with it as we all did making it these past few weeks. The woods are looking incredible at the moment and some of these photos are taken by one of of our students who is a talented photographer. Work continued with a chair and we celebrate

A beautiful sunny start to this equinoxical autumn day. It's been a fun day here at Heartwood and we've move the marquee to a new space. This required a fair bit of digging, pick axing and raking to create a level bit of ground then the whole team worked together to move the marquee in one fluid movement (actually not very fluid!). In amongst all that, we fixed the leaky hoses, finished the last few bits on the mud kitchen put a new solid wheel on the wheelbarrow. Oh and cl

Today at Heartwood we had an exciting start as Mark was felling a chestnut stool to make way for the marquee to be moved to a new spot. There is a lot of wood to be cut, split and peeled so we can make use of every bit. Meanwhile, some of us collected more rowan berries and made rowan berry necklaces, this was a relaxing and pleasing activity. Before lunch we went for a morning walk and saw the donkeys and enjoyed walking in a different area. After lunch the finishing touches

This morning, we laid the tarp out to dry - the dogs enjoyed helping us with this task. We made Elderberry syrup which is good for coughs and colds. Some students sewed through the centre of some Rowan berries to make necklaces for protection. Progress was made with the mud kitchen - we painted a blackboard to hook on, added spinning knobs, and secured hobs to the top. The tadpoles had some cucumber, they are growing well. In the afternoon, we went for a walk to give the dogs

Today at Heartwood it was pouring down with rain. We started making some elderberry syrup by heating it up over the fire, and using a sieve, jug and funnel to pour it into a sterilised jam-jar. Some students dug mud and clay and wheelbarrowed it down to the Yoda Hut area whilst others made a start on the roof posts for the bodger's hut. We picked some ripe tomatoes and cucumbers from Fruit Corner and it was delicious. Afterwards we had some lunch around the fire. We even play

This morning, some students made significant progress on the mud kitchen which involved sawing, drilling, and sanding the pallet wood to prepare it for assembling. Others helped make biochar, by digging crushed charcoal fines and adding them to leaf litter. Work was done in Fruit Corner, more blackberries were picked, and more kindling was split. In the afternoon, most students went for a walk while some of us continued work on the mud kitchen assembly. Then we finished our

Today at Heartwood we started making native chocolate with roasted linden and honey. Two of the students helped Lily make it and it was brilliant. After lunch we went for a walk along the grass with our hi-vis jackets. One of the students spotted a tiny lizard about 12cm. We had a lovely time. Afterwards we had a tea break before we tried the native chocolate and some people thought it was yummy. One student was splitting some wood and another student did some sawing and hamm

Today, one student and Helen tended Fruit Corner. They watered the tomato and the cucumber plants, and dug up some beetroot which was very exciting. They also did some general tidying up in the Poly Tunnel and in the Container, and dug up some of the charcoal to wheelbarrow up to make some new biochar. Lastly, they repotted an Ash Tree sapling to grow tall and strong to replant at a later date. Beth and the other students continued the process of making chocolate out of Linse

Today at Heartwood we started off by bagging up charcoal and feeding the tadpoles with some cucumber we cut up. After that we prepared elder and linden berries to be used for elderflower syrup later. We had a tea break and then split some wood and broke pallets. After lunch we went on a walk in the woods and came back to harvest some tomatoes at Fruit Corner. We tended David's tree and Fruit Corner and continued bagging up charcoal before tidying and washing up. up.

Today at Heartwood, we processed elderberries for a medicinal syrup and linden tree berries to make chocolate at a later date. Beth and Mark carried on working on the mud kitchen whilst other students carried on working on making their chairs. We had a short tea break and sanded down and painted some wooden "hobs" for the mud kitchen. After lunch, we were splitting wood and, foraging blackberries. We kept working on the elderberries by straining them, adding sugar, and simmer

Today at Heartwood we started the day off watering the plants and harvesting some cucumbers, tomatoes and green beans from Fruit Corner. We bagged up some charcoal and then added the labels. After a short tea break, we went for a walk in the woods before getting back in time to have some lunch and celebrating two birthdays. In the afternoon, we carried on bagging up charcoal and deconstructing some pallets. One student worked on splitting some wood and another carried on work

This morning, before it got too hot, we watered the oak and fig trees. It took six watering cans to get enough water for them both. One of our students did some woodworking to finish off another planter, while another worked towards finishing the tortoise house. Both are now complete. Helen and a student axed a load of logs to be left to season in the new coppice area. Large logs were stacked neatly for storage. Beth and a couple of students fed the tadpoles and opened the ap