Oxfordshire Woodfuel Programme bulletin
March 2013
Chalara / ash die-back: You will probably have heard about chalara in
the news. It is a spore-borne disease
which is expected to kill nearly all ash in the coming years. A small proportion – maybe one in 100 trees –
will be immune. As ash trees come into
leaf, it will become apparent if they have chalara or not. Signs of the disease include wilting leaves,
brown veins in the leaves, and browning of young stems. Forestry Commission advice is not to fell ash
trees unless they are ill: the felled tree might be in the 1% that are
immune. Besides, the spores can travel
huge distances so felling trees as a prophylactic measure is not
effective. If you are aware of ash trees
with chalara, www.forestry.gov.uk/chalara
gives advice on what to do. they can be
used as firewood unless the government places a special order on the trees that
prohibits their movement.
Time to buy firewood and
stoves/boilers: The woodfuel cutting year may be over, but this is the time
to buy firewood and store it for next autumn, and also to think about
installing a wood stove or boiler. The website
www.oxonwoodfuel.org.uk, provides
lots of advice on this, including information on the Renewable Heat Incentive
and lists of woodfuel and wood stove suppliers.
Woodfuel study visits: There
will be three woodfuel themed study visits in the coming months: on 15 April, 1
June and 8 June. The first and last of
these will each involve a visit to a woodland, a wood processor and an
interesting wood boiler. The 1 June
event is a unique opportunity to visit a woodland in a Ministry of Defence
site, and taste wild rabbit if you want.
The cost is £25-£30 and numbers are limited. More information is at www.oxonwoodfuel.org.uk/woodfuel-site-visits.
Logs for labour: Thank
you to everyone who contacted me about this.
We have had five successful events this spring, and hope to roll out the
programme much more widely next autumn. If
you are a woodland owner who could use some free help with woodland management
in return for people taking some firewood (labour for your logs), or if you would
like to work outdoors in return for some firewood (logs for your labour),
please get in touch with me. More
information is at www.oxonwoodfuel.org.uk/logs-for-labour.
Firewood quality standard:
The Oxfordshire Woodfuel Programme is setting up a quality standard for
small-scale firewood suppliers in Oxfordshire, called 'OxLogs'. It aims to provide transparency about the
amount, type, length and moisture content of firewood, and in time improve firewood
quality. OxLogs suppliers will state
the amount of wood in 'cubic metres tossed' (tossed is how it comes off the
truck; a tossed cubic metre is about 0.7 stacked cubic metres); type as
hardwood, softwood or mixed; and moisture content as <25% which is ready
to burn, or unclassified which buyers would need to season themselves. Please ask your supplier if they provide
OxLogs.
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