Back to the harvest

At last, some space in the diary to get the blog going again. Last year, 2014, the blog was left behind for a while due to lots of other things, hope to catch up during 2015.

Harvest of witch hazel (Hamamelis virginiana)

The witch hazel shrubs are doing well, both on the edge of woodland and in the understorey where they tend to reach up higher, to over 6 ft. The shrub throws out long twigs with lovely fresh shiny and smooth leaves (Hazel nut leaf is furry). So, each spring the witch hazels get a 'haircut' to take off most of the twiggy sprouts. This young leaf and twig distils to produce a delightful floral water which seems to reduce inflammation in sprains, bites and suchlike. We sell it in small amounts of 50 ml (Herbaid shop). It is more expensive than distilled witch hazel from a chemist, but it is a locally produced in Devon, seasonal, sustainable product which has never been near any pesticides. A bit like artisanal production of fine wines! The provenance of this distilled water is carefully logged and linked to a barcode label. Every batch of witch hazel is recorded by weight with the date and location of harvest, and a sample of the plant and product kept - see the image of the specimen of the most recent harvest.

Other developments

The Sweet Chestnuts (Castanea sativa) are flowering so we must keep an eye on them to see if they produce nuts.

Meanwhile we have noticed that bracken (Pteridium aquilinum) is spreading, and needs to be controlled. Although we have strimmed frequently in grassy rides, the bracken still comes up. Our approach probably needs to be more vigorous and consistent to beat this. And we can use the leaves on the compost heap, to make a mulch for young plants. A good way to knock it back is trampling, so we will soon be asking visitors if they could trample a few square feet of bracken before they leave!

New Year News from Holt Wood

Time is flying again, my efforts to keep up to date are just not good enough so this year I have a resolution to do better! At least we have details of our Holt Wood Programme in 2014 arranged. Our first visit to Holt Wood in 2014 coincided with brilliant blue skies between fierce squalls of wind and rain. The River Torridge nearby was within inches of the top of the bank and, by now, is probably washing over the neighbouring meadow. It has been even higher as we can see by the debris which has collected on the deer fence. There is plenty of standing water around so clearing away blockages in water channels and courses becomes important as not many of the trees (perhaps the exception is Alder) like to stand too long in water. A ditch runs all the way downhill along one border of Holt Wood and this needs regular checking to make sure it is feeding down to a stream and into the river.

Standing water at field level in Holt Wood, 2nd January 2014

Saving water!

Of course we do not want to lose all of the water arriving at Holt Wood and it is wonderful to see our newly dug pond filling up steadily. It has been puddled with clay found on site and, once this has firmed up, it should hold water. It is called 'Anne's last pond' because for years I have been digging small 'ponds' or holes in various places in the Wood to try to work out the best location. We finally realised that the best place is near the shed where we can appreciate the ensuing wildlife, ensure that some water is piped in and out, use as an emergency water source, and readily rake out leaves and blanket weed.

Anne's last pond, 2nd January 2014

What is sprouting

It does not feel like winter has truly arrived here, and many plants are still green if not growing - there are leaf buds already sprouting on the elder (Sambucus nigra) trees. It is interesting to see the seed pods that have formed on the Virginian Witch Hazel (Hamamelis virginiana), after flowering these stay on for a full year and then they dehisce or burst open to eject the seeds.

Seed pod of Virginian Witch Hazel at Holt Wood

Herbal Harvest Weekend Course

This course is planned for Saturday 7–Sunday 8 June 2014. Ideal if you want to immerse yourself in a herbal haven in beautiful Devon. You will spend several days learning about growing herbs sustainably, harvesting herbs and preparing herbal products for health and beauty uses. The weekend is based at Holt Wood near Great Torrington in Devon, our project on cultivating and harvesting medicinal trees and shrubs sustainably. Your guide will be Anne Stobart, MNIMH, PhD, an experienced medical herbalist, herbal lecturer, herb grower and researcher.

The cost of this weekend is £120.00. This covers daytime refreshments at Holt Wood, all talks and demonstrations, course materials and handouts. Places are limited and must be booked in advance. For further details, download the course description or email herbaid@herbaid.co.uk.

Identifying medicinal trees and shrubs from winter buds

The winter woodland landscape may seem bare, but there is life stirring in the buds! One of the nicest things about seeing Holt Wood through the seasons is that we have begun to recognise trees during winter as a result of being able to closely observe the buds and bare twigs.  Perhaps we are fortunate to have trees that are relatively young (planted in 2005 or since then) and so their twigs are still low down so that we can readily see the winter buds. Some medicinal trees will stay smaller and shrublike (such as Cramp Bark, Elder and Witchhazel), others readily grow adventitious shoots on the main stem or trunk (such as Lime). Size, shape, colour and arrangement of buds are all useful to note. Buds can be terminal, on the end of the twig, or lateral, arranged in an opposite or alternate manner along the sides of twigs. Buds often have protective scales, if not they are considered 'naked'. Other identification features on the twigs include the scars from previous leaves and the lenticels through which air travels in and out. Here are some examples of buds seen at Holt Wood in early January 2013.

Cramp Bark (Viburnum opulus) has opposite plump and pointy coppery-brown buds in January in Devon. Each bud has two pairs of bud scales although only one pair is visible in winter giving a smooth appearance. The bark of this tree can be readily lifted in spring for use as an antispasmodic in powder or tincture form.

Elder (Sambucus nigra) buds are purple and almost bursting open in January in Devon, little patches of green shoots already peeping out at the base of opposite twigs. Twigs are greyish with raised lenticels.  The leaves are no longer used in herbal medicine (they are fairly noxious so can be made into an insect repellent), but the flowers and fruit are valuable in colds and flu.

Horsechestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum) buds are huge with large and richly coloured brown scales. Apart from the tip, the other buds grow in pairs. The medicinal use of this tree is based on the preparations made from the fruit such as an ointment for varicose veins.

Lime (Tilia x europaea) has plump and rounded reddish-brown buds alternating on short shiny twigs which can pop out almost anywhere on the smooth trunk. Each bud has 2 scales, one larger than the other. The flowers will make a superb relaxing tea.

Witch Hazel (Hamamelis virginiana) still has tiny yellow flower clusters in January hanging on from the previous autumn, these are accompanied by furry loose hand-like buds. A North American tree or large shrub and not a native to the UK, this shrub will provide leafy twigs for distillation in late spring.

Some useful online tree identification sources for the UK:

http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-online/british-natural-history/urban-tree-survey/identify-trees/tree-key/index.html#tree-s1-2 This site provides a 28 page downloadable tree identification key which has interactive steps and includes ornamental trees as well as native trees. Includes leaves, flowers, fruit as well as buds.

http://paulkirtley.co.uk/2011/bark-buds-common-european-deciduous-trees-winter-identification/ This site has a 'Bark and Buds' page with superb photos of 12 native trees to help winter id.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/animals/wildbritain/field_guides/tree_id.shtml A BBC page on 'Trees in Winter' which has some useful examples of buds.

http://www.hainaultforest.co.uk/3Winter%20twigs.htm Very useful page with common winter twig photos.

http://cabinetofcuriosities-greenfingers.blogspot.co.uk/2009/11/tree-spotters-guide-to-buds-part-1.html A naturalist site based on North-east England with glorious colour close up photos of buds. 

Since some of our medicinal trees are North American natives, some useful ID photos for North America include:

http://www.ccfpd.org/NaturalResources/WinterTreeIDpocketguide.pdf A US site with superb winter photos of key North American trees.

http://www.florabymax.net/FLORAbyMAX/WinterBuds.pdf Another US site with a wide range of bud photos.