Sunday 26th February saw us travel to the outskirts of Spalding for a talk and practical demonstration on woodcarving, the meeting was led by Alan Bycraft and his friend Paul. Alan began by giving a quick chat about some of his methods of food preservation; these include how to use a dehydrator and a steam juicer. Alan uses free and foraged fruit to make wine, herb vinegars and juices, as well as this he dries fruit and veg in its natural state and as fruit 'leather'.

After a few questions Alan passed us to Paul who spoke enthusiastically about green woodcraft and the revival of woodworking skills, he explained that green wood is recently cut, unseasoned wood which is relatively easy to carve. He also explained the difference between this type of wood and wood we see at the DIY shops, which is known in the trade as construction timber. Paul demonstrated how wood grows and showed the best way to split 'round wood' ready for carving.

We were impressed by the vast quantity of tools Alan and Paul brought along (some of which I know to be very expensive), however Paul assured us for something as simple as a spoon only a pocket knife is needed. Should you wish to buy tools Paul recommended this chap who has a showroom near Horncastle:

http://www.oldtoolstore.com/

After a chat and a spot of lunch we went outside and took turns using a shave horse and a pole lathe, it would appear that the pole lathe is much harder to use than it would appear to look (however we would appear to have a few members with some natural ability......sorry Sarah).

I was asked recently to try and arrange a farm safety training day by a couple of members unfortunately the cost of arranging this is prohibitive , however there is a free course taking place in March in Derby . It's run by the Health and Safety Executive and one member who has been to a similar event in the past says it was very valuable and eye opening.

The details are here:

http://www.hse.gov.uk/agriculture/diary.htm

Sharron Harris (meetings organiser)