Author Archives: stevetomlin

Local councils join No Mow May 2024

It’s great to read that 40 local councils have signed up to No Mow May 2024 to leave some of their verges and parks to grow and increase biodiversity. Is your local council one of them?

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May whistle instructions

May Day is a traditional time of year to make a simple wooden whistle from the hedgerow. While the sap is rising, you can slip the bark off a stick as a tube then carve the airway and cavity. It’s … Continue reading

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No Mow May 2024

Whatever size your meadow or garden is, No Mow May is a worthwhile project to try and see what plants grow. Obviously, the timing will depend on where you are in the world and the species you already have but … Continue reading

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Fellsman mandatory spoon

This weekend I’ll be attempting to complete The Fellsman, a 61mile navigational event with 11000ft of climbing across the Yorkshire Dales. It’ll be the furthest I’ve ever run and I’m hoping to complete in 24hrs, meaning I’ll be spending a … Continue reading

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Carving an eating spoon

While I was in Derbyshire the other week, I had some spare time to carve, using some beautiful, fresh cherry wood. After splitting the log and marking out a pattern, I carve using an axe to create the shape. As … Continue reading

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How to make a wooden hay rake video – Austria

I’ve been making my own wooden hay rakes for a few years now but I’m still learning about the craft and intrested in examples from other regions. My friend Christiane brought me one from Austria and sent me the link … Continue reading

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Learning to peen a scythe with the jig

A second day in Cumbria with two of the estate team learning how to peen Austrian scythes with the peening jig. Lewis and Lee already maintain a lot of the other tools for the team so they were chosen to … Continue reading

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Scything in the Cumbrian rain

Today, I’ve been back to CGP Publishing to teach a Learn to Scythe course in Cumbria. I came and taught a scything workshop for them a few years ago but, with their team expanding, they decided another course was in … Continue reading

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Spoon carving course 2024

My first spoon carving course of 2024 was a lovely day working with a terrific group of beginners. Using fresh silver birch we learned to split billets and carve spoon blanks using axes. Then it was onto knife work, refining … Continue reading

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Carving a spoon by axe

An axe is a fabulous tool to work with for carving green wood spoons. It can work quickly, efficiently and accurately to create a spoon blank for finishing with knife work. During my spoon carving courses, we spend time carving … Continue reading

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