Life In The Sloe Lane...

This week we have six sloe trees arriving to be planted in Badger’s Wood. We have waited patiently for several years to get our hands on some of these. There is only one nursery in NZ which grafts them, and for the last few years there has been a waiting list which outstripped supply due to a poor rate of the grafts taking. However, this year we were top of the list and have secured enough to grow our own little Blackthorn spinney within the woods.

Sloes (Prunus spinosa) are a member of the plum family, which grow wild in many places throughout Europe (and supposedly, according to Wikipedia, many places in New Zealand, although with years of searching we have not been able to find them growing in any of the hedgerows!).

Their common name of Blackthorn derives from the dark bark of the tree, which has large spikey spurs protruding from it. In the spring it blossoms with creamy white flowers which develop into a small highly astringent dark purple berry, known as a sloe. It is similar I guess to a Damson. 

The fruit is used for preserves and for fillings (once combined with an unhealthy amount of sugar to make it palatable); and also for making sloe gin, which is a liqueur made by steeping the sloes in large jars heaped with sugar and then topped with plain gin and left for 6 months.

Traditionally the fruits are picking after the first frost of autumn. The frost allows the fruits to start to bletch a little (although these days one could pick them any time and put them in the freezer to achieve this). I like the tradition of picking them after the first frost, it seems so much more in-tuned with the passing of the seasons and leaves one something to look forward to. 

Sloe Gin

Once picked, the fruits are then pricked several times piercing the skin. It is traditional to do this with one of the thorns from the bush itself. Once pricked one puts them in a wide necked jar or demijohn and for each pint of sloes (570 mls) one adds 4 Oz (110g) of sugar. The jar is then filled up with gin and left in a cool dark place for a minimum of 3 months, but much better 6 months (as when made sufficiently slowly the liqueur starts to take on a slightly almond-like taste as well, from the berry pips). 

Above photo from London Eats Blog

The sugar is vital not just to humour the bitterness of the berries, but to help draw the flavour out of them into the gin. Turn the jars every day for the first week, and then every week for the remaining time. The gin will take on a lovely deep crimson hue. At the end of this time carefully decant the gin into display bottles and label. Be careful not to discard the sloes as these will now make a nice filling for a pie, perhaps mixed with strewed apple to make them go further, or for creating sloe truffles!

 Sloe Truffles

To make sloe truffles put the left over fruit into a pan and gently simmer until there is minimal liquid left in the mixture and the fruit has softened well. Rub the sloes through a sieve to separate the pulp from the stones. Weigh the pulp, and then add the same weight again in sugar (would make a great treat for the festive season due to both timing of completing the gin and in not caring about what one's waistline does for that month). Simmer again until all the sugar has fully dissolved (one does not want a crystalline filling). Scrape into a jar and leave to set. At this point you can also use this sloe mixture on biscuits with cheese, like quince paste).  To make truffles blend the mixture with an equal amount of dark chocolate (or milk if you prefer), roll into little balls. Allow to set and then dust with cocoa powder and enjoy.

Coppicing...

Above: Stands of coppiced trees.

We have planted evergreen Alders along the length of the brook. These little foot tall sticks over the past 3 years have grown into 10m tall, bushy trees. Evergreen Alder - Alnus acuminate (aka jorullensis or Mexican / Andean Alder) is a quick growing tree. It grows 25 m tall in 10 years, then slows to grow to a maximum height of 30m. 

Above: One of the Alders along our brook.

We chose it as it is almost evergreen in milder climates such as Willowbrook's (being only deciduous for 3 months a year, loosing it’s leaves in very late autumn and gaining them again in very early spring, as opposed to European Alder (Alnus glutinosa), which is bare for 6 months of the year).

Alders grow to 30 metres under natural conditions, which would be far taller than we would want along our brook. We have a tall stand of trees on the adjacent estate, and so to have a tiered view we would like our trees to be shorter than those, but taller than the trees in front making up the backdrop for the bell lawn, which will be trimmed at about 10 feet tall (3 metres). Therefore we want our Alders to only grow to about 30 feet tall (9 metres). Trimming them perpetually at this height would be technically difficult and would require trimming twice yearly given how quickly they grow. It would also give them an unnatural hedged appearance, which is not the look we wish to achieve along the brook, which we would like to look like a natural waterway. Thus we have decided to coppice them. 

Coppicing is a fairly ancient technique for maintaining healthy forests as well as being able to harvest firewood and poles for use.

Usually it would take alders 3 years to  bounce back after being coppiced, but our soil is so fertile we have found 18 months to be the norm for most trees. We have had several trees struck down from winds, but have left the stumps in situ and they have grown back to be the same height and density as the other trees of the same species which were not blown down, and it has only taken them 12-18 months to do this! This is because their root structure is intact, so they have plenty of water and nutrients to draw from and they put all their energy into growing their canopies again. The stump left behind after coppicing is traditionally referred to as ‘the stool’

Above: A newly coppiced stool of Alder.

Below: The same stool 18 months later.

Alnus acuminata has a good root structure suitable for suring up slopes and eroded or deforested areas. Like most species of Alder, it is found near waterways and wet lands. The wood burns well - a good even burning firewood - which is good given we have 7 open hearth fires to fuel (our planting of thousands of trees on the estate over the last 7 years far out strips any negative effects of our carbon footprint). Its freshly harvested poles are also useful in gardening and agriculture as posts and stakes. In Costa Rica the wood, with its straight grain, fine texture and reddish brown colour, is considered too good for firewood and is used for boxes and furniture. It coppices well (better than Alnus glutinosa – European Alder). 

Although they are not legumes, they do have root nodules which are nitrogen fixing (convert nitrogen in the air into ammonium for storage, thus enhancing soil fertility and promoting good undergrowth of flora below their canopies.

I would not go as far as to say coppicing is a lost art, but it is certainly less common than it once was.

Coppicing was known in the Neolithic times – the coppiced shoots, being characteristically curved at the base where they grow out from the side of the stool, have been identified in pre-historic archaeological sites). In particular there was a good find of coppiced lime in Sweet Track Sommerset which dates back to about 3800 BC. The thin poles were used for fencing, walking sticks, thatching, hedge laying and faggots (bundles of brushwood for fires).

Coppicing was common practice with alders, willows, beech, hazel, poplar and ash. Typically a woodland would be harvested in coups – small areas - at a time, so that perhaps over a 3-5 year period (depending on the species being coppiced). This would provide sustainable forestry as well as allow light into the forest to promote growth of the forest floor flora.

Brambles often grow around the coppiced stools allowing insects and small mammals refuge, encouraging biodiversity. Creating glades in the middle of a wood by coppicing a group of trees provides the open space required for many animals such as butterflies to thrive. There are far fewer butterflies now than there were at the turn of last century, so I think we should do every little thing to promote their well being. Don't even get me started on the plight of the honey bee...

Coppicing also maintains the vigour of the tree (trees that are coppiced regularly will live longer than those which are not – virtually forever - as they have no old growth and when you coppice them the weakest part of the root system will usually die back naturally to balance the growth of the canopy above).

  

One can also use the practice of singling to allow one shoot to grow on. So after the first coppicing, where you leave behind essentially only one trunk, you then get several shoots coming out of it. You would harvest all of those shoots when they are ready, except one which you allow to grow on to be a proper tree again.

I think our trees will be due for their first coppicing next winter (16 months time). We will take some before, during and after photos to share I am sure.

Up Up and Away....

Despite feeling despondent about the two month 'down tools' time (due to the materials not being on site for the builders to be able to continue any work), my last trip home wasn't all bad. We met up with a friend at Willowbrook who had brought his new Phantom 2 Vision drone for us to play with.

It was quite an impressive piece of kit, designed for the prosumer market.

It had an HD camera in an auto-levelling gantry hung below the quadcopter. We were able to get some quite stunning aerial shots of our project...

Above: A shot looking east towards the manor and carriage house.

Below: Looking north into the Nymphaeum.

Above: A view directly down into the Nymphaeum from 200m high.

Below: A view directly down into the Potager from 150m high.

Below: A view directly down onto Badger's Wood from 200m high.

Above: A view from above the olive grove looking north west over the estate. The lake is somewhat empty and needs topping up after a final landscaping effort this autumn during which we will put in the bridge and the folly, and some stones around the margin.

So, delays aside, it is very different from a year ago. We are hoping to have some interior photos to share next month. Till then thanks for dropping by and keeping up with the progress.

Willowbrook Christmas Update...

Well, last week I had a quick trip back to NZ, just for four days, to see how everything was going, and to catch up with friends and my Dad who was back in the country for Christmas. Everything was doing pretty well out at WBP...

Above and below: The entrance to the Bluebell Walk. It has come on quite quickly since it was planted 2.5 years ago.

Below: The grass knoll behind the lake where the Temple Folly is going.

Below: The plans for the Temple Folly

Below: The view down the south avenue of The Lime Walk from the upper balcony.

Below: Same view from the start of the avenue. Note where the statue of Bacchus is currently shall be the position for the Roman Rotunda.

Below: The plans for the Roman Rotunda

Below: The view from the Rotunda back to the Manor

Below: The view down the east avenue of the Lime Walk from the Rotunda to the Urn en Flambeau

Below: The view from the Rotunda down the north avenue towards the farm...

Below: A panorama from the farm gate at the end of the north avenue, with the new barn on the left and the large piles of mulch ready for use.

Below: View of The Nymphaeum from the upper balcony.

Below: The Vineyard, which has come on in at a great rate since it was created just over 12 month ago.

Below: My friend Gaynor at the entrance to The Vineyard from The Potager.

Below: Some of the berry beds in The Potager. The one in the centre is full of black currants.

Below: Blackberry Blossoms...

Below: Raspberries

Below: The Dovecote with the entrance to The Orchard from The Potager behind it.

Below: Willoughby decided he was too tired to shift when Daddy was trimming the hedge.

Below: The Orchard, with a view of The Manor rising in the distance.

Below: One of the Horse Chestnuts. They are the slowest growing of all the trees that we have planted, but they have still grown about 3 feet over 2 years.

A view over to Spencer's corner and The Nymphaeum...

Manor House Progress...

This week the block work was finished for the second floor, ready for the trusses to go on hopefully by Friday. Then the builders will be having two weeks off for Christmas, before getting back into it (which is really neat, as most builders would take a month off over this period). We are tracking on time and on budget so far. At this rate the roof should be on early February, with lock up not too far behind that. They are also planning on starting construction of the Carriage House and Chapel in the new year, then the huge job of the interior fit out will start.

Above: A view of the Manor from the West.

Below: A view of the Manor from the South.

Above: A view of the front portico forming, with the balcony above.

Below: A view inside The Manor from the front door.

Above: A view inside The Ballroom. It looks small inside until you have something to give it scale, such as in the photo below, where Peter is standing in one of the arched doorways...

Below: A view of Badger's Wood and The Serpentine Walk from the upper balcony.

And finally, a view of the sunset from the Master Bedroom...