our new clearing, originally uploaded by CathyArt.
We will plant in with pioneer species that suit our soil, alder and birch or maybe let nature do the work for us.
our new clearing
our new clearing, originally uploaded by CathyArt.
The Hollywood Forest Story : An EcoSocial Art Practice | Co. Carlow Ireland 
Hi Cathy, – is the idea of the clearing to introduce new tree species? I feel sure a lot will come in there, – alder and ash at least. Or is this clearing for cabin and pond as you spoke about a while back?
Jan
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Hi Jan
Yes, we may put a cabin here, but i think the first thing will be a chipping party to reduce the amount of brash
It looks well doesn’t it, huge amount of light now coming in
Cathy
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It looks great. I loved the photos of the iron horse. I haven’t seen one like that. Sort of like a mini forwarder. Ideal for thinning small forests. It’ll be great to see the forest in spring time. Many changes will slowly come in. It’s great that you are documenting it all.
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Hi Cathy.Just had a look at your work looks very interesting.I must say of all the forestry work going this kind of job is my favorite.
I was wondering why you used the iron horse instead of getting in a horse logger.
This is my line of work and the finished product is far supperior to any machine work.How was the iron horse as far as cost and production went,Id be very interested to know.
Great reading,Im looking forward to checking back to read more, well done.
Tom.
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Hi Tom
Great to hear from you. Yes a horse logger would have been great, but the first priority was to find a forester locally who was into ‘close to nature’ forestry and as far as I know, hosre logging in Ireland is not common. In fact, this was the first time to my knowledge that an Iron Horse has been used commercially in Ireland, as our forester is just starting to use and is the sole importer of the Iron Horse in Ireland.
By the way, if you are interested in this area you may want to read my friend’s blog http://www.localforestlog.wordpress.com, Jan has been working in this area for longer, with Pro Silva Ireland – I’m just an artist who seems to have been forever hanging round with foresters so I feel its important to document such work. but my forestry knowledge is still a work in progress.
Tom, I’ve also set up a flickr group so people can submit photos of close to nature, sustainable foresty. I’m inviting people to pool their photos, so we can all learn together, its here http://ww w.flickr.com/groups/987960@N23/ – I know the group says Ireland, but you are more than welcome to contribute some horse logging shots – I’m just about to invite my community to start posting their photos.
Look in again Tom and thanks for the comment
Cathy
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Hi again Cathy
These wintry days are great to catch up and make new friends.As far as I know Im the only fulltime horse logger in Ireland at the moment.But I also turn the horses to other things too,google Trojan Heavy Horses.
Logging is extremely physical work but hugely satisfying,and so important to keep alive now that we’re all much more aware of our countryside and woodlands,Its the ultimate low impact means of timber extraction using the horse as the base machine and with modern equipment designed to improve daily output we’ve come on in leaps and bounds from the days of snigging one log at a time.
Horse logging is also the obvious choice for small woodlands and forests where a mechanical
harvester does’nt make economic sense or the land would’nt suit one,or maybe the land owner would just prefer to look at a fine well trained draught horse doing a first class job with no polution or forest floor damage,
and where the only noise is the quietly spoken horseman
and the jingle of chains.
If anyone out there is interested in getting work done just go into the blog and have a look.
Please dont hesitate in contacting me where ever you are as I travel countrywide.
Tom.
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