A Walk With the Forester

This is a reworking of a post I wrote in March 2014.

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Friday 21 March was the International Day of Forests, and our local forest managers organised a walk lead by the head forester, Jean-Pierre Couturier. He had hosted a school trip that morning and was giving a lecture in the evening. He was quite open about the fact that his professional sphere was the production of timber, and he was not an expert on the birds and animals of the forest.

The Office National des Forêts (ONF) manages the Forest of Tours-Preuilly on behalf of its owner, the City of Tours, with the aim of reconciling the production of high quality timber, the preservation of natural surroundings and the countryside and the recreation needs of the public. The ONF is a public body dating back to Colbert's 17th century economic reforms in the reign of Louis XIV, and acts as a policy developer, consultant and law enforcer in all things forestry related in France, as well as hands on management of large swathes of the country. Although the City of Tours is the nominal owner, the forest is a long way from there and in fact, most maintenance and improvements (signage, barriers, etc) in the forest are funded by the Communauté des Communes de la Touraine du Sud (CCTS) [now amalgamated with Loches to become the Communauté des Communes de Loches Sud Touraine].

Jean-Pierre Couturier giving us some history before we start the walk.

The forest was left to the City of Tours in 1952 by the last private owner, Madame Hersent-Luzarche. She also left the family home, the chateau of Azay-le-Ferron to the city, and the area of land which became the Parc Animalier de Haute Touche to the National Museum of Natural History. The Luzarche family had acquired the estate in the aftermath of the Revolution. Prior to their ownership, the forest had been exploited for its reserves of iron ore, which were smelted and forged down on the Claise, using the power of the water to run mills and the wood from the forest to fuel furnaces.

It has taken 50 years of modern forestry practices to bring the forest to the generally good condition we see today. Azay le Ferron was not the Luzarches principle residence, and they viewed the forest as a private leisure park for hunting. They made no attempt to maintain the forest ecosystem in good condition.

A parcel that has had a couple of thinnings and now has chosen trees marked. These will be given a 12m clearing around them on the ground and allowed to grow to prime timber to be harvested at about 200 - 250 years old. These trees are Sessile Oak.

Consequently, at the time of the legacy, there were many 'empty' parcels of forest, requiring extensive 'cleaning' and replanting. That was stage one of the forest regeneration, and the aim was enable stage two ie to start producing saleable wood which could fund further maintenance. 300 hectares in all (one third of the forest) were replanted in this first stage. Stage 3, which was basically the regeneration of another third, finished last year. Stage 4 begins this year [2014] and is consolidating more complex and integrated management systems that began in Stage 3.

A total of 9 people, including Jean-Pierre, are responsible for managing the forest. No hunting is allowed except to control vermin, which means that they don't have the benefit of that potential income stream [this has now changed and there is a regular hunt on Thursdays]. However, Jean-Pierre is very firm that the forest is for everyone, and hunting is difficult to reconcile with other, more popular, leisure activities such as walking. Twice a year there are organised culls of big game, but otherwise the forest can be freely used by anyone at any time. He was asked if the deer population was a problem for the forest plantations and he said no, not as far as he could see, although he would like to have a pot of money to fund some research on their impact. He observed that the deer tended to concentrate on the edges of the forest.

Two of the foresters thin a young naturally regenerated parcel that is about 12 years old. The brash will be left on the ground to rot and replace nutrients in the soil.

At this point in the proceedings he told us a story about his colleague who manages the nearby Royal Forest of Loches. The ONF forests have simple wooden bar type barriers across any track they don't want vehicles to use. Apparently his colleague arrived at work one morning and discovered that every single barrier was missing, presumably stolen overnight. The barriers are milled timbers about 5m long and probably 15cm by 10cm in section, with a strip of green reflective plastic fixed to the middle. The whereabouts of these timbers was discovered not long after, by someone arriving at a house in Genillé after dark and noticing that a roof under construction on the property was glowing eerily in his headlights. The 'rafters' had been given away by their reflective strips and the police were called.

The commercial crop of trees is primarily oak, which is produced to the specifications of the timber industry. They want trees of a maximum of 85 cm diameter, and preferably 55 cm, which is cheaper to process. Any tree that has grown faster than 5mm per year in diameter will be rejected. Foresters have to consider whether they want bulk yields but low margins, or restricted yields and high margins. Conifers are usually an example of the former and need to yield 3000m³ / ha to be commercially viable. Tree felling machines harvest about 140m³ / hour. The management of a commercial plantation is a matrix of time, yield, timber industry requirements, and the average price received by the forest is about €25/m³. The best quality timber, from 3m lengths of trunk, will fetch €300/m³ and non lumber about €40/m³. The upper branches sell for €8/m³. Nowadays, over half of all timber produced in France comes from ONF sites. [I suspect prices have gone up in the past few years.]

Pruning the lower branches of young trees so the trees produce knot free timber.

The ONF aims to maintain a zero carbon footprint with its planting and harvesting cycle, as well as considering the forest as a resource for the future. The forest is managed so it is a mosaic, taking into consideration a mixture of mature commercial parcels, regenerating parcels, and parcels which will not be harvested, but left to mature naturally. Tree density and light penetration has to be managed to keep the trees in good condition. Trees chosen for timber production are ultimately given a 12m clear zone around them. At any one time these days they have 100ha in regeneration. 

Parcels are regenerated naturally as far as possible, as planted parcels do not grow as vigorously, and are more fragile and less stable. Sometimes seed from uncommercial areas is used to augment entirely natural regeneration, and occasionally a parcel will be manually planted. Machines are not used to plant in the Forest of Preuilly as they compact the soil and have other disadvantages. Regenerated areas are now mixed species (hazel, hornbeam, chestnut and sessile oak dominating, with a bit of ash, beech, birch and aspen, along with some smaller species such as service tree, wild cherry, field maple and rowan). It is recognised that monocultures of oak do not thrive, especially if they follow a previous oak plantation on the same soil. A mixture of species ensures groups of trees are not all competing for the same micronutrients, and that the soil does not become exhausted after multiple generations of the same monoculture.

A Sessile Oak in its prime, about 200 - 240 years old, capable of producing several big solid and flawless beams of at least 5 metres. A friend pointed out that the men who did the final brash on this tree may then not have returned from the First World War. Foresters here traditionally count on there being six human generations from seed germination to felling.

Once the parcel is about 10 years old the foresters will move in and thin out the trees. The resulting brash is left piled on the ground to rot and feed the soil. After another 5 or 10 years more thinning takes place and trees are pruned to remove branches at a point when the knot formed at the junction between the base of the branch and the trunk will be resorbed into the trunk and not leave a difficult flaw in the timber once processed. The clearance of branches and understory that may tangle, and the extra light at low level is a bonus but not the foresters main aim. This pruning is also the beginning of ensuring that trees can be felled cleanly and not break branches as they come down. Initially the trees are left growing close together, to ensure they grow straight up. The next stage is to mark certain trees with orange bands. These trees are the ones that have been chosen by the foresters and timber mills as the ones that will be harvested at around 250 years old, and over the years they are given more and more room to grow. Oak trees can live to a thousand years (if pollarded), but they become hollow inside and therefore valueless as timber if left too long. By the time they are ready it is hoped they will be worth three to four thousand euros each.

This mixed planting regime is a change from the planting schemes immediately following the Second World War and up until the 1970s. The great conifer forests of the Ardenne were badly damaged during the war and France was desperate for timber to rebuild, particularly in the mining industry. Consquently, the practice in the Forest then was to plant 10ha alternating parcels of conifers (Maritime Pine, Corsican Pine or Scots Pine) with Sessile Oak. The remnant conifer parcels are a disaster according to Jean-Pierre. The soil in these areas has been acidified to such an extent that he may not be able to plant broadleaf trees once the pines are removed. He's worried that the consultant ecologists will force him to bring in soil at great expense to reinstate the natural pH, rather than allow him to plant conifers again. On the other hand, conifers don't make any money and these acid soils lead to a proliferation of bracken and heather.

Other areas are left to gently age in a natural way. These are parcels which have proved uneconomical to harvest, and are now being reserved to provide tree seed, ensure biodiversity and create attractive leisure areas. Jean-Pierre is a staunch defender of Ivy, which is allowed to grow naturally and is not controlled or removed. He says it doesn't harm the trees, and protects and nourishes the birds, which in their turn, reduce the insect pests.

Climate change is providing a new challenge. Various cedar species and Downy Oak are being planted throughout France as a 'hedge' against climate change. Jean-Pierre predicted that Chestnut, Beech and Ash could disappear from the forest within the next 30 years, and Sessile Oak within the next 100, due to the increasingly dry summers. Already the natural distribution of these species is moving north, and it is not worth persisting with trees that will not thrive. He reminded everyone of how quickly Elm disappeared once Dutch Elm Disease struck and said it only took 2-3 days of hot dry weather to permanently damage a tree. On the other hand, he reported that Douglas Fir has already adapted to drier summers, and perhaps other species will too.

[Jean-Pierre Couturier has now retired.]

Walking From Barrou

On Thursday 24 November Joel led a 10 kilometre walk around Barrou, a village that sits on the Creuse River. We left from the village, went up the northern slopes, through the forest, back down again and along the valley a bit before regaining the village.

Galyia and I were vastly amused by the bicycle support for the window planter.

I think this might be Red-cracking Bolete Xerocomellus chrysenteron (Fr. Bolet à chair jaune).

I think this might be a Poison Pie Hebeloma sp, but it might be an Entoloma spp. They were big, pale peachy pink and there were lots of them, growing in a huge 'fairy ring' in one part of the forest.

This one has obviously done something to alarm Galyia.

Panthercap Amanita pantherina (Fr. Amanite panthère).

Galyia reties her bootlaces on an old mobile fruit press on the side of the road. This would have been used for apples as much as grapes in the old days.

Chooks in a garden in Barrou. I suspect they are supposed to be locked up and undercover at the moment because of bird flu.

An old ford across the Creuse in Barrou, which is associated with a sad story from some time ago. Apparently the man who owned the garden on the right was clearing vegetation and fell in the river. His body was found in Chinon weeks later.

Many trees were down in the forest.

It is a very mixed forest, with rowan, oak, pine, chestnut and other species.

 I think this is Snowy Waxcap Cuphophyllus virgineus (Fr. Hygrophore blanc).

French Radishes

Lots of people seem to know about the little pink round radishes that are a favourite pre-dinner snack with French people. There are piles and piles of them at the markets in the late spring and early autumn, and they are eaten by putting a dab of butter and a sprinkle of salt on them. Personally, I've never taken to them, but all my French friends adore them.

A pink Asian radish, a daikon and three round black winter radishes, from Les Jardins Vergers de la Petite Rabaudiere.

But what people don't know is that you can get radishes all year round in France, and not just the little pink ones. In the autumn there are Asian radishes like daikon, and in the winter the black radish rules. 

Long black winter radish at Karim's shop in Preuilly.

I like to pickle the Asian ones Vietnamese or Korean style. They are fantastic on salads. I've pickled the little round ones in the past too, and taken them to a classic car outing. My French friends had never had pickled radishes before, but they loved them.

Small round and oval pink radishes at the organic farm shop at La Petite Rabaudiere.

Something We Forgot To Do

The past couple of months have been a bit odd. Whereas May, which is normally our busiest month, was quiet, September was really busy for two weeks, quiet for a week, then we had other stuff to do but no clients. What all that added up to is that we never managed to take our traditional cyclamen photo.

This year was a really good year for cyclamen, there was plenty of them and they lasted a long time, but we never got to the situation where we had time to stop and take a photo. There are a number of photos of cyclamen we took this year, but none up to the standard of this photo, taken a couple of years ago.

In other news, yesterday I deactivated our Twitter account. I wouldn't like to think I was enabling Elon Musk.

Not Quite Finished

Normally at this time of year we are thinking about which of the ladies is going to over-winter in Preuilly, and which we are going to have to find a foster home for.

I was getting to that stage at the start of this week, but we have had a job enquiry come in. Most years we would have tried to find a way of saying "it's too cold, and the cars don't have heating" without sounding like we were saying "no". This year is different: it's been very mild, and I thought it would be good to get out of the house. We don't yet know if the enquiry will amount to a booking, but we're hopeful.

Claudette and Célestine at our garage in Saint Pierre des Corps.

At some stage soon we will have to make the decision as to who goes where, but hopefully this year we can get Célestine in to the mechanic's for a minor front end rebuild and Claudette can stay at home.

We do have a booking for just before Christmas, but it's for a largish group and we won't be using a Traction. Then we can start thinking about next year.

Buried in the Forest

This is a reworking of a post about a walk in the Forest of Preuilly from June 2019.

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In June 2019 Simon and I, Gaynor and Tim, and Bob did a 7.5 kilometre walk in the Forest of Preuilly. The highlight was going to see the Resistance encampment, with its graves and remains of their mobile kitchen, deep in the forest. We already knew the graves at Péchoire, but none of us except Simon had ever been to the other site connected with the World War II skirmish of 23 July 1944. 

Goldsmith beetle Carabus auratus (Fr. le Jardinière) on one of the forestry tracks. It sat like this for at least a minute -- amazing for a beetle that hitherto I only have blurry photos of one disappearing.

The day of the walk started off cool, but after lunch the humidity and heat soared. Later, in the middle of the night we had a very energetic summer storm. All of us picked up quite a few minute ticks from the long grass on the unmown forest rides (the record was Tim, with 16!), and horse fly season had started, so no more walks in the forest were advisable for a couple of months. 

Female Moustached Darter Sympetrum vulgatum (Fr. Sympétrum vulgaire).

The graves of three of the eight Resistance fighters killed in the forest by the Germans on 24 July 1944. Arrested at the nearby Chateau de Bossée they were brought here to their encampment in the forest, tortured and finally shot. They are buried more or less where they fell. 

Photograph of Sergeant Gaston Goblet on the cross marking his grave.

The remains of a mobile military cantine at the Resistance encampment site. Meals for the maquis troupes Carol and Epernon were prepared on it and it marked the central bivouac for both groups. The Germans used explosives to render it useless, and the wheels and stockpots were later stolen.

One of a number of old pollarded Hornbeam trees in the area of the Resistance encampment.

Wild native Foxgloves Digitalis purpurea (Fr. Digitale pourprée) in a glade.

Bundles of firewood awaiting collection.

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Traditional Pasture and Hay Meadow - Under Rated and Disappearing Habitat

Pasture and hay meadow has a value as farmland, but its biodiversity needs to be taken into account, as that is how the ecosystem remains stable ecologically. A pasture or hay meadow with high biodiversity is resilient after a disaster and provides ecosystem services to humanity. A diversity of pastures and hay meadows can be important in meeting the challenges of climate change and agro-ecological transition.

Sheep grazing in a natural grassland field with access to the woodland edge.

Farmers should not just focus on yield, but they should take into account how semi-natural permanent grasslands with a diverse flora can be more flexibly managed. Grazing animals find such pasture palatable and it is beneficial to the animals health and improves the quality of their milk, cheese and meat. Studies show how a site high in biodiversity functions better in terms of the use of resources such as water, light and minerals. This biodiversity is at the heart of a site's ability to recover from an extreme climate event and is important for farmers in terms of their ability to maintain production.

 

Aubrac cattle, a heritage breed, in traditional bocage pasture. Bocage everywhere is at risk of being drained and ploughed.

Farmers have an enormous influence on local ecosystems by their choices of land management. For example, fertilization favours competitive vigorous and productive species, but discourages species diversity, causing the disappearance of slow growing species or those of small size. Extensive (as opposed to intensive) farm management and husbandry systems favour a diversity of habitats and the presence of species that are not demanding of nutrients, often less productive but allowing for different market opportunities because production peaks at different times. Different types of pasture can complement one another and create opportunities for the farmer.

 

Solognote sheep, a heritage breed, grazing natural grassland as part of the conservation management of a nature reserve.

Pastures are sustainable if there is a good match between the plant community, the environment and the soil. With temporary pastures the challenge is to maintain the balance of species sown for as long as possible so that they are make good grazing for as long as possible. Usually after about 4 or 5 years these sorts of temporary pastures have decreased in quality. For permanent semi-natural grasslands which are managed more extensively, the challenge is to maintain the ecosystem and the highest possible level of biodiversity. 

A small flock of sheep in a semi-natural grassland pasture.

The point of pasture management on a farm is to ensure the quantity and quality of the grass is at its peak at the time the stock needs it. If the farmer concentrates on the nutritive value of a pasture, with low biodiversity, the pasture is often of high nutritional value early in the season, but declines rapidly as the species go to seed. In a biodiverse pasture species will peak at different times so it isn't such a 'feast and famine' in terms of nutritive value over the course of the first cycle of vegetation, from April to June. This gives flexibility to the grazier. A diversity of pastures allows for fluctuations in quality to be managed and the deficiencies in one to be compensated for with elements of another. The farmer can be assured of pasture despite the climate fluctuations. The challenge is to understand each of these pastures and be able to react and anticipate situations to secure the farm forage system, using stocking rates, rotations, and active intervention to keep the grass growing if necessary.

This type of pasture management is complex and in industrial farming models is considered an operational difficulty to be avoided.

Flat open natural herb and flower rich calcareous grassland, mown periodically for hay. This parcel has been ploughed for growing arable crops since I took this photo.

INRAE, the national agronomy research institute is working on supporting and educating farmers so they have the skills to manage their pasture sustainably. They particularly want to encourage the regeneration of pasture by sowing native grass seeds. Part of the skillset is the knowledge to be able to manage a mixture of old and young pastures. Farmers should value their old pasture as a reservoir of heritage species allowing their dispersal throughout a mosaic of mixed pasture and creating pockets of high biodiversity.

A Bumper Year for Ceps

This year was a bumper year for ceps (also known by their Italian name porcini, and in French called cèpes). There are four species that are highly prized, and a few more, referred to as boletes (Fr. bolets) that provide tasty bulk.

Ceps foraged in the Forest of Amboise.

One of the surprises was how many Summer Ceps Boletus reticulatus (Fr. Cèpe d'été) there were in late October and early November. Normally they are a much earlier fruiting mushroom, and not the most abundant species. It was explained to me that the extremely dry conditions, followed eventually by moderate rain with still warm days and a few colder nights, provided conditions when everything fruited at once, all desperately trying to reproduce once the dry ended.

The man on the left turned up at the annual fungi exhibition in Sainte Maure de Touraine with a boot full of Dark Ceps, including the very large one he is holding, foraged nearby.

The Dark Cep Boletus aereus (Fr. Cèpe bronzé) also fruited in unusually large numbers. Whereas Edible Cep Boletus edulis and Bay Bolete Imleria badia (Fr. Bolet bai) seemed to be in normal to low abundance. Orange Oak Bolete Leccinum aurantiacum (Fr. Bolet orangé) was abundant and everywhere, just like in normal years.

Summer Ceps foraged in late October in a forest near Séligny.

Edible Cep and Orange Oak Bolete foraged in a local forest.

Orange Oak Bolete in the Forest of La Guerche.

Ceps from the Creuse at the market in La Roche Posay.

Ceps from the Creuse at the market in La Roche Posay.

Walking Around Descartes

 On Thursday 10 November Joel led a 10 kilometre walk around Descartes.

The attractive park on the river in Descartes.

The barrage on the Creuse River at the papermill was lowered last year, allowing to river to flow more naturally and completely changing the character of the river. There was considerable public opposition, but from a nature conservation point of view it was the right thing to do.

Big Sheath Mushroom Volvopluteus glioicephalus (Fr. Volvaire gluante). You can see the volva (like a sheath at the bottom of the stem) that give this species its name.

Scarletina Bolete Neoboletus luridiformis (Fr. Bolet à pied rouge), showing the important diagnostic character of no red layer between the flesh of the cap and the tubes.

White Saddle Mushroom Helvella crispa (Fr. Helvelle crépue). This was a new species in its natural habitat for me.

A Bit of Weather

Last night was interesting: very windy, although probably not windy enough to be a tempete  but breezy enough that the wind was whistling through the telephone and power lines, and we had a couple of blackouts.

Apart from that, yesterday was mundanely normal, with shopping and trying to avoid getting wet. Not every day is an adventure!

Walking Around La Celle Guenand

 On Monday 5 November David led a 5 kilometre walk around La Celle Guenand.

Meeting at the newly restored church.

We stopped to admire this house, which the owner told us was formerly a café.

We found these Giant Puffballs Calvatia gigantea (Fr. Vesse-de-loup géante) on the side of the road by a farm house. The farmer told us he found 5 of them, but these two were too old to eat (you can see the brown staining caused by the spores, which is a sign they are too old to eat).

Big Sheath Mushroom Volvopluteus glioicephalus (Fr. Volvaire gluante), found in almost every field and roadside.

A grand old house with a greenhouse which retains its original staging inside.

A view of the church from behind.