We recently blogged about a project: ‘rebuilding a home, and changing the surrounding fields from dead agricultural land into an oasis of natural life’ – as well as building an off-grid electrical and heating system. Here’s the next in the series – about repairing an off-grid wind and solar electrical system.
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Hi. I’m Andy Reynolds – author, instructor, forester, promoter of self-reliance, and for the last few years I have been reflecting on our project’s progression, as it seems to have reached the stage of early maturity. The project – rebuilding a home, and changing the surrounding fields from dead agricultural land into an oasis of natural life, and a delightful place to live – is something that many people may aspire to, or even dream of. Read more …
There are many and various drivers behind the desire to become a woodland owner, varying from wishing to impose one’s self on the landscape and latterly build a house on a green field site; to the other end of the spectrum to benignly caring for an increasingly rare habitat. Read more …
From growing the trees to selecting the right timber for the job, Andy Reynolds brings a lifetime of experience in forestry, carpentry and innovative thinking to timber for building. Here he explains how to source timber as responsibly as you can. Read more …
I have been running our home for the last decade or so using wind and solar electricity. The experiences of building this system have been distilled into a book, of which we are now in the third edition. Read more …
After reading the excellent article in Smallwoods magazine (issue 61) on formative pruning by Steve Woollard, I thought to build on that article with a perspective from a timber user. Read more …
I am Andy Reynolds, a long-term practitioner of low-impact living, smallholder, author, forester, teacher, carpenter, builder. I’ve been working with Lowimpact.org since the early noughties, and I’d like to share my philosophy on self-reliance with you. Read more …
This article holds some clues to the faults in timber most commonly found in Oak and Sweet Chestnut, but I have also encountered it in Southern Yellow Pine. For the novice, timber shake may sound a bit nautical or piratical, but it is a fault in growing trees Read more …
The various pressures and threats to UK woodland are ever-increasing. These can include development, climate change or globalisation contributing to the spread of disease, insect and mammalian pests. Read more …
So after much effort edition three is now published. Renewable energy technology is changing quickly and so a couple of years ago I contacted Dave Darby with a view to updating edition two. Read more …
This was an interesting diversion. I was asked a couple of years ago if I would take a look at a watermill in Bourne (Lincolnshire) and see what the problem was with the generator. Interesting – how often do you get asked to play with a watermill? Read more …
Working outside and sometimes in remote situations requires a certain mindset to not only enjoy the experience, but also have an overall philosophy of self-reliance. Read more …
This is an idea that allows you to heat water via solar electric panels instead of exporting surplus electricity to the National Grid. This makes sense because it then means that you can do the work yourself instead of hiring an (expensive) accredited installer – plus you can use second-hand gear.
It’s that time of year when thoughts have already turned to the vegetable patch and raising seedlings. This is where the glasshouse and cold frame make a huge difference to getting those plants going. Read more …
Our friend Andy is determined to be self-sufficient in energy should there be a collapse of the National Grid (and / or societal collapse), and has maintained a wind and solar electrical system with a bank of second-hand forklift batteries for 25 years. Read more …
We bought a house with a demolition order on it, not something that many people will do, then we rebuilt it, not something many people will do, and we always repair stuff, not something that many people will do – you get the idea. Read more …
The Lincolnshire Firewood Fair receives The Lincolnshire Environmental Award 2012. 4 years ago a disparate group of foresters, woodmen, agents, and firewood merchants got together with direction from the local Forestry Commission officer. Read more …
