celebrating hazel

, by Coigach & Assynt Living Landscape
Despite beautiful weather more than twenty people were willing to come inside to celebrate Hazel Day at Stoer Village Hall on Thursday 21st February. The hazel was chosen as it has played one of the biggest roles in the development of our civilisation than almost any other plant species and goes largely ignored.  From walking sticks to hurdles, from cookies…

Brownies and Rainbows gather cones in Culag Woods

, by Coigach & Assynt Living Landscape
On Friday 25th January the Lochinver branch of brownies and rainbows went to collect pine cones in Culag Woods in Lochinver. As outreach officer for CALL one of my key aims is to encourage people and especially children to become more involved in woodlands, trees and wildlife.  Before starting the walk we talked through the uses of wood and trees…

volunteers get stuck in at the nursery

, by Coigach & Assynt Living Landscape
 The first volunteer day on 31st January started well with four people turning up ready to help. They were all very keen and with muscles and forks ready we unloaded a trailer load of muck that had been collected from a farm in Elphin. The cow manure was forked into barrows and wheeled into one of the poly tunnels. Then…

growing networks

, by Coigach & Assynt Living Landscape
Well, the conference was a full-on couple of days, but very interesting and a chance to promote the CALL project to a wide range of people from Britain and Europe.  I think I must have talked to each of the 200 delegates….!  As well as the usual laptop presentation and leaflets, on the CALL table we had ‘seed capsules’ to…

National Ecological Networks

, by Coigach & Assynt Living Landscape
Next week I’m off to the Big Smoke of Edinburgh to take part in a two-day conference organised by Scottish Wildlife Trust.  This will focus on the Scottish, UK and European approaches to Ecological Networks and I think will be very inspiring.  The conference is supported by Scottish Government and Coigach – Assynt Living Landscape will feature as an example…

It's YourCALL!

, by Coigach & Assynt Living Landscape
One of the things I’d like to do but which there never seems to be enough time for, is to keep local folk up-to-speed with what is developing through the CALL project, and to get local input.  I’m horrified to find that it’s a year since I last set up public meetings! There is so much happening that it’s time for…

Happy New Year!

, by Coigach & Assynt Living Landscape
  Bliadhna Mhath Ur! Tha mi an dochas gum bi bliadhna math agad! I’m afraid that’s about as good as my Gaelic gets, but I do hope you will have a good year in 2013.  We have high hopes for lots of positive developments in CALL.  A major piece of work for me is helping to pull together the Landscape…

Boreal bliss in Assynt

, by Coigach & Assynt Living Landscape
It was icy cold on Thursday 13th December when we set off on our seed collection walk for the Little Assynt Tree Nursery. There was snow on the high ground with a white sprinkling everywhere and the ground was frozen solid, it was really beautiful in the low winter sun.  We had heard of a particularly good area of Juniper growing…

mince pies and……gin?!

, by Coigach & Assynt Living Landscape
  I attended my first main event as the new tree nursery outreach officer at the Lochinver craft fair on the 7th and 8th of December.  Amidst the smell of mulled wine and mince pies, the Christmas wreaths I made were very popular:  in fact I sold 19 wreaths and I had to make more after the first day as…

The perfect Christmas gift!

, by Coigach & Assynt Living Landscape
If you’re stuck for a present idea, or have decided this year to give to charity instead, why not donate to the CALL project?  Your gift will go towards growing on tree seedlings from locally-collected seed, which in a couple of years’ time will be planted out in Coigach and Assynt to begin the process of getting our woodland back. …

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