Sunday 20 January 2013

Estimating the Ages of Our Oaks...and Making a Fine Oak Table out of Scrap Wood


Snow covering the local fields
The largest, sturdiest trees on our smallholding are the oaks.  In this snowy weather, they stand like white-cloaked guardians around the edge of the land, looking solid and permanent - and spreading out long branches that are loved by visiting birds and squirrels.  I've decided to discover the ages of the oaks standing closest to our new barn, and to do this, I've used the simple method of measuring their girths (following the Woodland Trust's guide).  The age of the tree is estimated by measuring the metres/centimetres of the girth (from about 1.5 metres from the ground).  I selected the two oaks nearest to the barn (I couldn't reach a third because of some holly at the trunk) and I estimated, using this method, that one is about 100 years old and the other is about 80 years old.  I wish I knew, now, the history of their growth.




We'll never cut these oaks down, but we do use and craft oak on the smallholding.  As well as smaller items like a bread board and a case for a clock, we've crafted an oak table out of off-cuts and scraps of oak accumulated over the years.  This has now been placed as the central feature in the barn's kitchen area.

Moving in the oak table made from off-cuts and waste timber
After designing how the table should look, we took the oak-timber to the carpenters in the village.  We know them well - so as a favour to us they put the timber through their saw and planing machines.  The timber was also shaped with a jigsaw and router, before it was assembled using clamps, glue and dowels.  The table legs were originally four (rescued) old oak fence posts, which were turned by a local wood turning company.

The table legs made from old fence posts
When the table was finished and placed in the barn, we sourced some cheap chairs on eBay.  As these were being sold about three miles away, they became a local purchase.  All in all, it's been satisfying to create the table (and acquire the chairs) for so little money - and using local wood and craftsmanship. The table and the chairs are now an important addition to the barn.




I hope the barn will stand, with the oaks, for many, many years to come.  The idea behind the barn has always been to merge it with the natural world; blending wood with wood.  I'm pleased we've achieved this; so many local, modern barns have been constructed quickly and are huge, ugly, metal buildings. Our aim has always been that our barn should have an organic feel, so that it becomes truly rooted in its local landscape.


19 comments:

  1. That table is gorgeous and interesting to see how tree dating done lucky you having such magnificent specimens

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  2. Thank you. I think I'll now find out the ages of some of the other trees because it's such a simple method.

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  3. To think that beautiful table was just pieces of scrap wood - the term waste not want not comes to mind - you certainly are very resourceful. I hope you get many more years use out of it.

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  4. Yes, thanks; I think we will.

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  5. I love your table. We have a number of oaks round and about but no old ones on our land, although we do have ash and yew trees. We planted some young oaks grown from acorns by a stone mason who did some work for us. They may take a while!

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    1. Thanks, I hope your young oaks grow well. Encouraging the next "generation" of trees is such a wonderful thing to do.

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  6. What a wonderful table, and great to have involved different local craftspeople in preparing the materials. I'm deeply envious.

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    1. Thanks - we are very lucky to know these local craftspeople. They've been very generous with their time and help.

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  7. You are so lucky to have oak trees, they are fast disappearing and even oak furniture is becoming hard to come by. And how wonderful to have made a table from wood from your beautiful old trees, it makes it so very special as well as beautiful. You are very fortunate to have two acres of land, although I bet it's lots of hard work too.
    I think I'm going to enjoy following your progress.xxxxx

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    1. Thank you - we really value our old oak trees and we love working with oak. It's true that two acres can be hard work, especially when we've so many things we want to do!

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  9. Hi Wendy, thanks for dropping by my blog. I am deeply envious of you having your own oak trees! Such magnificent trees, and to have so much history represented, right there, is wonerful. I love your table, how nice to have such a story to go with a great piece of furniture, about as far from an Ikea table as you can get!

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    1. Thanks; I'm really pleased we've "inherited" these oaks - and the table took some time in the designing and the making, but it was worth it, I know.

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  10. What beautiful photos!!! I love oaks. They have such beautiful stories behind them...

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    1. Thank you. They are very special trees - and I'm now looking at all oaks wondering how old they are.

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  11. Thanks for commenting on my blog which made me stop by yours.

    I often wonder what old oak trees have witnessed in the past. In fact when I was a primary teacher we used to consider this sort of thing as part of a history lesson

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    1. Thanks - I agree; as the age of the oldest oak is 100 years, then it is interesting to think about the human history that has taken place around it.

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  12. What special furniture! That's absolute treasure with a story behind it! Well done.

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    1. Thank you. We want to make as much furniture as we can ourselves for the new barn, even though it's taking time.

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