A Wood in Winter

A wood which has become the extension 

of a 
Chianti garden

Once the woods around here were cultivated for their various uses: brush for fires and ovens, wood for fuel, tools and farmwork and to make charcoal.

 Friends of ours near Panzano in Chianti have spent endless hours clearing the brush, brambles, stunted trees and bushes from the wood above their house.

The Perfect Woodstack

Zen 

and the 

Art of Building a Woodstack

Our Trees

Local Trees and Bushes,

a Taxonomy

This list is restricted to trees which we found at Le Ripe on our arrival and excludes the (now) wild fruit trees such as fig, cherry and plum planted or at least harvested by our predecessors. All except the juniper and cypress are deciduous.

downy oak - Quercus pubescens - roverella

Typical of hill country from the Alps to Sicily, in Tuscany the downy oak replaces the Mediterranean woods or macchia above a certain altitude. It has been characterized as a 'frugal' oak since it survives well in dry locations with poor, lime-rich, stony soil. The downy oak grows slowly and can live to several hundred years; it is not very tall (about 20 metres max) and has traditionally been used for firewood and to make charcoal. Downy oak acorns are much loved by wild boar and fed to domestic pigs, but were historically used for human consumption in times of famine.
The oak's name derives from the fine down which covers its younger leaves and the acorn stalks. In regions with milder temperatures, like ours, it is easy to distinguish in autumn and winter as it is the only oak to keep its leaves (which turn pale brown), sometimes until early spring. 

Winter Wood Work

 Wood Clearings

We have been absent on and off from Le Ripe for the past two months but Paolo and his helper have been hard at work, continuing to clear the northwestern section of the (extended) garden. Paolo likes to refer to this converted area as parco or parkland.

before - a wilderness

Field Work

Clearing Track and Field

 The other day a man and his tractor came to clear our lower fields and the access track for the second time (or third if you count the hunters who offered to clear the field some years ago).

this track was cleared by Paolo and my husband about two years ago, following indications of the former cart track

Unsung Local Heroes I

Paolo the Woodsman

woodwork

log splitting demonstration

stacked logs: this pile is three logs deep

"A force of nature" is how he has described himself. And, modesty apart, we tend to agree. Paolo has been an important part of Le Ripe since 2006 when we first met him, perched on the roof of our barn which was to become the Fienile cottage. He and the master builder Pasquale were responsible for restoring the buildings at Le Ripe over two years. Over that time we came to appreciate Paolo's great energy, enthusiasm for hard work and knowledge of his world. 

Pruning

Reflections on Pruning

well-pruned mulberry

Pruning 

can be a pleasing activity:

removing the dead stems, 

the leaves that might spread infection, 

cutting the shrub or tree back to its bare essentials, 

anticipating, through the exercise, 

an abundant leafing and flowering in spring.

It is a complex art, since each species or variety 

can react differently to the cut,

and weighty decisions must be taken.

Although I plan to buy an electric hedge trimmer,

since forty lavender bushes, 

numerous shrubs 

and burgeoning hedges

exact much labour,

I am aware that some of that fine pleasure will be lost.

Woodcutting

Woodwork II

before (summer)

after (winter)

Fuel

Woodwork I

delivered

unloaded

stacked

The before and after of one aspect of winter work here at Le Ripe: stacking wood. The arrival of the truck of wood is often eventful. Sometimes we only realize that Checchucci has come with his load when we hear the incredible thundering rattle as three tons/tonnes of seasoned wood clatters to the ground right outside the furnace room. On other occasions, Checchucci calls us for help to get up or down the access drive - which has two slopes.   

This year the slope up towards the house had been soaked by days of rain. It churned to mud as soon as he tried to drive up, so he had to back down again and asked for bundles of twigs to spread over the mud and provide some purchase. All we had was my bundles of denuded lavender twigs, thriftily preserved for light kindling. The lavender saved the day and a delightful perfume rose about, a whiff of summer, as Checchucci's truck lurched and shuddered back up the slope... 

For an amusing - and informative - article about the Norwegians' fascination with firewood see here.