It gets cold very early in this neck of the woods. As I write this post the outside temperature this morning is 48 degrees Fahrenheit. Gathering firewood for the season takes a week or so and with everything else going on here at the farm I realized that I needed to change gears and get busy.
During the year, some trees on the farm succumb to #Mother #Nature's wrath, being brought to the ground by high winds. These are the trees that I process first.
They are usually smaller trees, and the smaller chainsaw will do the job.
I enjoy the physical nature of the entire process and being outdoors is always a plus.
This is my gym and the monthly membership is FREE.
Just when I thought I've seen it all, @farm-mom took me by surprise when she asked me to teach her how to use the chainsaw. The nice thing about the saw we were using is that it only weighs around eight pounds and I knew if she got over her fear of cutting her leg off, she would be able to handle the saw. After some instructions, she had it down and seemed to enjoy herself.
After cutting a few logs she turned off the saw and immediately said, "Now that I can cut wood maybe you can start cooking a little."
Needless to say, I swiped the saw from her grasp and told her, "This is a man's job, it's too dangerous and I wouldn't want to see you get hurt." The last thing I wanted to do was to be responsible for cooking, I've tried that and it usually doesn't end well.
After a day of going around cutting all of the smaller trees that were down, it was time to break out the big saw and drop some trees. To my dismay, the big saw was no place to be found. I only keep it in one place and it was not there. After searching high and low for the saw, I realized that not only was the saw missing, but the Stihl gas-powered blower was also missing.
WE HAD BEEN RIPPED OFF.
This type of shit just doesn't happen around here, but I guess there's a first time for everything. Besides having a $1000.00 of tools stolen, I was furious that some mother f--ker had invaded our space. It was an unsettling feeling, and I knew that things would have to change around here. Habits like leaving doors unlocked and stuff left about would no longer work.
I'm still trying to come to terms with this event.
The saw you see in this picture is the new saw I had to purchase. It's a monster with a 24-inch bar. This purchase set us back $845.97, but without it, game over.
Most of the wood that I collected this year is White Ash. It's a great wood for burning as it can go into the wood-burning stove immediately. All other hardwoods need to be seasoned for a year.
With the Emerald Boring beetle still wreaking havoc on all ash trees, using them for firewood makes sense.
https://www.gettyimages.com/photos/emerald-ash-borer
As with all of the land that we have selectively cleared over the years, new trees will be planted in their place.
We're planning on reforesting this area with a fast-growing Red Cedar which we will purchase from an outfit called Advanced Tree Technology.
This is the same company we have purchased Black Walnut, Figured Popular, and Red Oak saplings from.
With the amount of rain we have had this year, getting the bolts out of the woods was a challenge.
I dropped 10 White Ash trees this year.
These 10 trees should give us the wood we need for this season.
Although it takes a little extra time, I cut the branches as well, wasting nothing in the process.
With five out of the ten trees pulled from the woods,
cutting them into 16" logs took several hours.
Firewood doesn't only provide heat when it's placed in the stove, but rather through the whole process.
After dropping the trees, dragging them out of the woods, cutting them into 16" logs, loading them on the wagon, unloading them by the log splitter, it's time to split them.
We burn four cords of firewood a year. A cord of firewood is a pile 4' x 4' x 8'. The average weight of a cord is around 3,500 lbs.
The average number of pieces in a cord of firewood is 750.
There is no better feeling than knowing that you're ready for OLD MAN WINTER
After moving 14,000 pounds of wood several times, the 7 tons of matter will only have to be dealt with twice more as each piece is carried to the stove and then put into the fire. 😁
There will come a time when this activity will no longer be able to be performed by me, but until that time comes I will continue to enjoy taking advantage of the #natural #resources that our farm provides.