The forrest in July

 The Forest Project – First Year

The forest I’ve been given free rein over is wonderfully secluded. On one side, it’s bordered by a stream. For the last 20 years, it hasn’t really been maintained - only partially. As a result, there are large piles of branches and brush stacked in inconvenient places.

Since I’ll be living in the forest forever, I can throw myself into as many projects as I like. This first year, my main focus is cleanup and establishing a kitchen garden. The garden will be cleared and prepared in the autumn, so it’s ready for the next growing season. In the meantime, I’m tidying up the forest.

Next year, it’s time to build a shelter, a permanent camp, and whatever else I come up with.

A few days ago, I heard a raven while out on a morning walk. That was awesome. I hope they settle in for good.

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Brushwood Fences

The forest is already nicely private, and no one else comes through. There are just two minor sources of noise—not anything disruptive, but they’re the only ones. In some parts of the forest, you can hear ventilation from a nearby barn, and cars pass by on the road every now and then.

I was lucky to find around 120 pressure-treated fence posts, 240 cm long, for very cheap. I coated the bottoms with tar mixed with linseed oil, followed by another layer of tar. Hopefully, that will help them last several extra years in the ground.

I’ve also made one section of fence without tar, just to have a comparison in a few years.

Using a post driver, I’ve driven them into the ground at about 70 cm spacing along the forest edge. From different camp spots, I’m building fence lines in straight sight-lines toward the barn. Soon, half of the forest’s edge facing the public road will be covered with brushwood fence too.

First of all, I love privacy. But the fences are also great for birds and critters, just like brush piles and they dampen the (minimal) noise. It’s actually interesting to stand with your head above the fence, then duck down you can hear a noticeable difference.

As the brush breaks down and I keep adding more, it’ll be exciting to see if they become more effective over time.

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Willow

As an upgrade to the house, we’re building a new gate and some extra fencing for the dogs. I’m not a fan of big solid fences, but metal fencing doesn’t look great either. I’ve cut a bunch of willow from a nearby field (with permission from the treatment plant). The sticks will be woven into the metal fence to hide it a bit. Hopefully, ivy will climb over it with time too.

Even though the season isn’t ideal and I haven’t done much prep work (like rooting them in buckets) I’ve still planted all the willow cuttings in various places around the property. This summer has been rainy enough, so I’m hoping some will take root.

To gain some experience, I’ve tried both short cuttings and full branches. Some are planted by the stream, some in "gaps" along the forest edge, and some by the brushwood fences (maybe they’ll grow into natural fence posts someday).

If every single branch fails, it’s still just a bit of time lost not much in terms of effort.

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The Stream

It used to be a drainage ditch, but now it’s been meandering again in several places. The municipality has created spawning beds and stocked it with fish to bring more life into the water. That’s just plain awesome. So on my stretch of the stream, I’ll do what I can to make it even better.

Whenever I pass a recycling center, I toss whatever fieldstones I can find into the car. The plan is to place stones along the bank in various spots small waterfalls, bends both with and against the current, and so on to create different flows and resting areas in the stream.

The first thing I built was a small crossing to stay dry-footed and now there’s the lovely sound of trickling water at that spot. It also happens to be a great place to sit and has an excellent climbing tree nearby.