Monday, April 21, 2008

The Wood Pile




A couple days ago the yearly wood pile arrived in the backyard...  5 -6 cords of hardwood... cut and split... We don't use this much but it feels secure to have extra on hand ...  as we heat almost exclusively with wood... Also its good to have some left over in the spring for bonfires in the firepits.

... wet wood just after cutting is called green... after drying in the summer sun and air, it loses 1/2 its weight and it is ready to be stacked in the woodshed... you can easily tell when it is dry ... when you clunk two pieces together, they make a clear ringing sound... sort of like hitting two baseball bats together...





The Woodshed ...we finally finished last spring... for 2 years it was just a roof with supports and plastic wrapped around for protection ...

...for the previous 5 years the firewood just laid on the ground with tarps covering it... not too convenient when we had to hack through a few feet of snow and ice in freezing weather to get to it...

When we closed in the woodshed, we spaced the boards about 3/4" apart so the air can move through and the wood has plenty of ventilation to keep it dry ....
In late fall, after about 6 months of air drying, we stack the firewood in the woodshed.




 The most plentiful hardwoods to use for heating around this area are ........White Birch ...




........Maple.....



... and Yellow Birch





Oh and these are our helpers... Tabitha, Pirate, and Toby... well, more like supervisors and investigators... pretty intense in their self-appointed tasks of informing us of any surprise visitors who have taken up lodging in the same woodpile... busy noses!

3 comments:

woolydaisy said...

i love your wood shed!!!!! and it's so interesting to see what kind of wood you all burn in your neck of the woods-so different from what folks burn here. your helpers look eager indeed!

Sharon said...

Oh and I love the pups!

Anonymous said...

It's a pile of wood you have there! I wouldn't be able to survive a winter(mentally) without a woodburning fireplace to lounge in front of..
ronell