Do you remember the tree I felled back in October? (see 30/30″.) All winter we’ve been whittling away at it, cutting the log and hauling it down the hill, usually directly into the cabin, sometimes straight into the wood stove.
I’ve always been enchanted by the European style of housekeeping, visiting the local market each and every day for the ingredients of that day’s meals. While that may a great way to feed a family, it’s a lousy way to heat a home!
All that’s left of the tree at this point (Photo: Mark A. Zeiger).
I’ve cut wood from the tree almost every day throughout the winter. I try to cut enough wood to fill the wood box twice. That, in general, gives us two days of heat, a little more if it’s a warm period, or if some of the knot sections come down the hill. Those sections, rings of deep, dense, resinous branch roots, burn slowly. When we started using them, around Christmas, we referred to them as “Yule logs,” because they burned all day, through the night, and often into the next day.
Mark and Aly work on the tree in early November (Photo: Michelle L. Zeiger).
The trade off came in preparing them for burning. They’re awfully hard to chop, being knotty. I generally have to trim them down small enough that I can set them in the wood stove. Generally, I do that by inserting it on a morning when there’s been no fire overnight, so I can open the front door of the stove, maybe even remove the andirons, to ease the chunk into the space. I have to lay the fire beneath it carefully, so that the fuel doesn’t take up too much space and prevent me from placing the chunk. Often, I fail, and have to put the wood outside for further whittling to make it fit. It can be frustrating, but when it works, and the section burns long, it’s a relief!
“Ride ’em, Cowgirl!!” Aly limbs the tree in early November. Look at all those “Yule logs” in waiting! (Photo: Michelle L. Zeiger.)
The constant cutting didn’t come easily. Sometimes, I had to do it in bitter weather. We still have some wood left over from previous years, and I use that as a thin buffer. As a rule, I go to the tree first, then use wood from the shed if I can’t get enough fuel in that day’s cutting job.
Conversely, once I get into the rhythm, I find it hard to stop. Often, I work until past dark, then come home to find all the other tasks I’d set for the day undone. Firewood became Job One, often the day’s only job.
Now, the tree’s just about gone. I have a big section of log, about 1½ rounds worth, and the stump left. Current conditions lead me to estimate it’ll see us through most of the remaining heating season, but not all, particularly if it extends to May. I will not have any of it left to start next winter’s supply.
This has been an eye opening experience. I now know that we can make it through a winter without a pre-cut wood supply. That’s a nice fall back position, one I hope to never rely on again. I aspire to return to the old method of filling the wood shed before autumn comes.
Wish me luck!