Wood for Winter

One of the rural tasks we have here is to collect enough wood to run our two stoves during the admittedly mild winters that we normally have here. This year, there have been several large trees that had to come down because they were either dying (Pine Bark Beetle) or because they were shading the developing garden area. I think I've taken down 7 large trees over the past 2 months. Plus they had to be chainsawed up into chunks and split so they can dry. Catherine does the wedge and maul splitting and I finish up with the axe. We now have several piles of partially split wood down below the house. It's one reason why we have 2 chain saws and why I seem to be always mixing oil and gas to run them, plus sharpening them...and so on. That said, it's kind of fun, good exercise and results in the satisfaction of not having to use any additional heat (electrical around here) for months at a time.

Last winter we had to protect our wood by covering it with unsightly tarps and plastic. This spring I've been building woodsheds. Here's one example, just waiting to be filled with wood to dry over the summer.

I'm still wondering if this is a net environmental gain or not. However, we're not using any fossil fuels to heat the house, so I suppose that's a plus.