One of the most traditional forms of woodland management is that of coppicing - cutting a tree to its base, using the material you have cut to make things like tool handles, fencing or chair legs, letting the tree regrow and cutting it again later on. This craft and way of living has had something of a resurgence in South Cumbria with apprenticeships and co-ops now working to support young workers into a skilled and satisfying craft. Listen here to Sam and Emily on their work and life and ideas....

In this episode we meet Patricia Wiklund from Finland - recorded over TEAMS. Regular Tree Amble listeners will know we spent some time on Aland in 2025, Patricia was behind our journey there. Patricia's company, known as Invenire, has the ambition to create rural landscapes that are regenerative and thriving. It was set up to help farmers and companies design and deliver better, more equal, human-centric and regenerative systems products and services. Check out Invenire.fi - we hope you enjoy this episode.

In this episode of Tree Amble we meet Chris Clark of Nethergill Associates. Chris and his colleagues now work from a North Devon base, though we first came across him on farm in Cumbria. Nethergill Business Management Consultancy has developed a unique approach to farm management which seeks to find a sweet spot where the farm is most profitable which they call the maximum sustainable output (MSO).

To date Chris's team have analysed over 370 farm accounts from all types of farming enterprises, across the UK and overseas, and calculated the MSO for each one. Tree Amble is interested in Chris's work because there is a direct nature feedback. The Nethergill view is that by working in balance with nature and farming in a more regenerative way which maximises free energy (e.g. of sunlight) at MSO we are able to ensure that farm businesses plan for maximum profitability. Conversely money spent on bringing in energy to the farm from outside sources rarely sees itself being repaid.

To delve deeper into this matter have a look at their book "the Profitable Farm" by Chris Clark and Brian Scanlon, or check out their website.

I hope you enjoy our chat with Chris!