Issue #26 The Misc. Adventures Digest
Issue #26 The Misc. Adventures Digest
A canoeing breakfast adventure, weekend in the woods and soapy saponins.
Hello. We hope you managed to spend some time in the woods over the past week. The glowing vibrancy of freshly unfurled leaves doesn’t last long so be sure to catch a glimpse of it while you can.
We have been in the woods again, this time down in Silverdale catching up with wood-and-crafts-people at this year’s Weekend in the Woods organised by the Coppice Association North West. The weekend is based around a series of traditional craft courses taught by skilled craftspeople; hazel basketry, spoon carving and cleft gate hurdle making were all part of the line up amongst other interesting things that I’d like to have tried. This year a fellow member of the Coppice Coop organised the event, so we were invited to go along and lurk around.
It was good to bump into lots of people I met at last year’s Woodland Pioneers event (also run by CANW), plus to see other familiar and friendly faces we’ve met through working in the woods since moving up here and from even earlier.
We caught up with James, who had been on one of our original Woodland Woodcarving Workshops in Sussex over 7 years ago. James attributes coming on our workshop to prompting his career shift into forestry and woodland management. He now has a super interesting job for Forestry England advising land owners on the benefits of agroforestry. We’re honoured to have helped him on his journey into all things tree and woodland related, and we couldn’t ask for better feedback on our workshops which we always hoped would offer more than just practical skills.
We knew the weather was set to deteriorate after a bright start on Sunday, so we made plans to head out early on the canoe and cook breakfast somewhere along the lakeshore and get back home before the rain set in. The day dawned bright, though not as sunny as forecast and we wondered if the bad weather would come in early, but we were fully committed to the idea and our bags were already packed with stoves and food so we headed out anyway.
Our nearest lake is just about half an hour away; sometimes it’s hard to believe we actually live so close to places like this. There’s something stressful about getting everything ready to get out on the water. The canoe is heavy and hard to get on and off the car roof, and it’s not easy to carry it across the road and down to the water’s edge and then shuttle run back and forwards to get all our kit. But once you push off from the shore and the boat glides buoyantly through the water, all is calm, weightless and free.
The lake was glass smooth, the mountains mirrored so clearly in the water, our whole world turned upside down. It’s hard to not think of the depth of water beneath as you paddle across the middle of the lake, of the creatures that may or may not dwell in the dark and ancient cold below. Our paddles cut through the mountains with ease, sending any illusion of solidity swirling away in miniature whirlpools. All was silent bar the gentle sound of water lapping against the canoe and the shrill descending notes of distant chaffinches.
On the opposite side of the lake, we found a small gravel beach and disembarked with tummies rumbling, ready for breakfast. One great thing about the canoe is that you don’t have to worry about packing light. Our cooler was packed with food and three (yes, three) stoves, plus flasks of hot drinks and we cooked up a delicious, hearty, if not very healthy, breakfast of hash browns, bacon and beans which we devoured at pace.
We washed, loaded and packed up, and set off again on our homeward journey, taking the long route along the shore’s edge, exploring mini beaches and rock falls. Before too long we quickened our pace and headed for a more direct route across the lake; the glassy smooth surface of the water was ruffled by an increasingly steady breeze and wavelets lapped against the boat. By the time we got to shore, the wind was strong and we were glad to have got up early and (only just) beat the weather to it.
As we packed up the car and drove home, others just started arriving. They had missed the gloriously still conditions of the early morning and we couldn’t help but feel a little smug.
The early bird does indeed sometimes get the worm.
Nature Happenings
Hello, Emma here once more with this week’s Nature Happenings! Amongst the beauty of the bluebells, stitchwort, wild garlic flowers and wood anemones, another favourite flower has been blooming lately in the woods, verges and hedgerows: red campion.
Red campion (Silene dioica) is suddenly everywhere at the moment. Its large bright flowers sitting at the top of tall, downy stems announce its presence as one of the first pink flowers to bloom in spring making it easy to spot among the mainly whites and yellows of the other wild flowers that have appeared before it. Red campion is an important plant for pollinators, especially bees and hover-flies (we have grown some in our garden this year to encourage more critters). It’s also apparently an ancient woodland indicator species, although we’ve never seen it actually in the woods, more on the edges of woodlands and perhaps on rides and glades. Interestingly, it makes a good soap substitute, the plant contains saponins, so when you rub it between wet hands, a foamy substance will appear which breaks down dirt (I did this whilst on an ethnobotany course a few years back - it works really well!). The roots contain the highest concentration of saponins and can be boiled and the liquid used to clean laundry. It is mildly toxic however, so don’t ingest it and wash your hands afterwards.
Later, as the flowers go to seed, they form seed capsules, similar to those of poppies, which look like tiny pots. The ‘pot’ has an open top, thus allowing the plant to spill tiny seeds everywhere as the wind blows them from side to side, spreading them far and wide.
Red campion will be flowering from now until as late as November, so do look out for it and remember to revisit and check out the seed capsules later on (and maybe even collect a few to grow in your garden or in a pot for next spring!)
Well, that's all from us this week. It’s been a busy week of work for both of us but perhaps we’ll share more about that next week. We hope you manage to find time to explore, remember to take it slow, rise early, and notice nature’s happenings.
With warm wishes from the three of us,
Andrew, Emma and Benji