Tree Bog Update

Although slow, the tree bog is progressing!  Here are the latest pictures:

The roof went on today.  I chose to use transparent corrugated plastic sheeting, to provide a smooth, clean surface for collecting rainwater (for handwashing), and for a light, airy feel.

I also built the door frame and started the feather edge board cladding.  This will go up to a metre above the floor, with reed screening above this.

The picture above shows the "hole".  A wooden box will be built above this in a rather nice varnished mahogany finish (salvaged from the bath panel in our still-being-refurbished bathroom!  A standard pine loo seat (also salvaged from the bathroom) will complete the "business end".

The rectangle in the picture is salvaged from the packaging a piece of equipment came in.  It's made of plywood.  I thought I'd use this to make a window that can be obscured with a small roller blind.  In this way the bog could double as a photographic hide.  (Don't knock it till you've tried it!)

Here's the view up through the roof.  Inspiring, no?  Less of a bog, more a cathedral to celebrate the human digestive system!

Fungi!!

Looks like we're having an early start to the mushroom season.  Picked up some Amethyst Deceivers last week, which we added to a wild mushroom sauce to go on some pork steaks.

And today I found a whole load of Peppery Boletes:

These are currently residing in the fridge with a warning label on.  They are hot and decidedly peppery to taste!  (Nice though)

SCF Diversification Course

I attended a Scottish Crofting Federation course on Diversification over the last two days.  Great course, with some immediate application for the woodland (and some of the other micro-businesses we are getting off the ground).

Although our woodland is not a registered croft, we decided to join the SCF a few months ago, for a couple of reasons:

1.  We subscribe to the crofting ethos of small-scale, local, sustainable production and land management.

2.  The SCF offers some fantastic resources, including their training, and membership provides some useful benefits (for example, one year's membership of WWOOFing - the website promoting and connecting volunteers with work opportunities).

Some of the subjects on offer over the two days included:
- Marketing and distributing food products locally (useful for us with the eggs, and also thinking ahead to mushroom harvesting and cultivation)
- Use of social media to promote products and services
- Earning additional income from internet-based businesses on the croft
- Tapping into the tourism market
 ..and many others.

The course participants included a wide range of people with different levels of experience and backgrounds, resulting in some good debate.