16/06/2026
I mentioned in an earlier post that the Fox Gloves were lookin promising, well holy god was that an understatement - they're putting on an awesome display and most encouragingly they've popped up in waves right beneath the massive holes in the canopy left by our old friend, Storm Ewoyn.
The tallest one next to Jono is well over 8 ft!
With each passing day and rambles through the forest with Jono, its becoming more & more evident that these once in a generation storms are a crucial part or Mother Natures cycle, clearing out the dead, diseased natives & Evergreens stealing all the light.
Some of these must have been in a kind of stasis, because neither Dermot nor I had seen them before & whats really cool is I can see exactly the same response where I cleared some of our adjoining Coillte planted
Sitka Spruce to re-instate a fire break, all the trees nearby with new leaf, ferns & mushrooms popping up, where previously there was only layers of bloody pine needles.
Love the juxdaposition of the massive 3-4Ft stump that nearly wiped out meself (Saw) & Eugene Barry (Digger) in tandem, trying to disentangle it from the trees it hung up in V's these delicate beauty's - another pay off from all the necessary destruction.
Growth of natives planted in the main forest is off the hook, some Wagon remarked a few years back that it was very 'open', like you can see through it..... I bit my tongue knowing time, determination & perseverance were on my side - well not anymore my dear.
40 years ago when it was thick with evergreens & Rhody, as kids we christened it the Deep Dark Forest, its getting quite dark again in there, which is massively encouraging!
