Under this green tarpaulin is our wood chip pile.

Each year, we coppice willow in Willow Field and hazel in Hazel Field. The best branches are sold for hedge laying, the remainder is piled up and left to dry over the summer before we hire in a big chipper for a few hours – see here.

The result of all that is stored here for use over the winter as fuel for our wood chip boiler.

Interestingly, in previous years the whole pile would be used by the spring and yet the house was never very warm. since 2023 the house has been lovely and warm and we’ve only used half the pile each year. How? We sealed the drafts and added lots of insulation to the house!

For more about energy at Wakelyns see here.