As of right now we are done chopping corn and have not yet started picking our corn, as it hasn’t dried down sufficiently. So in the meantime, as we have the chance, we make wood.
A couple of years ago I had pushed for an outside wood furnace, promising, promising I’d help make wood.
When the notion hit my head about heating our farmhouse with wood, I felt rather like a pioneer woman, living off the land, sort of earthy and self-sufficient. Utilizing our natural resources in that manner was very appealing.
Well let me tell you, realistically, living off the land like a pioneer woman is very hard work and it takes time. The romantic notion of it gets diluted in short order when your back starts hurting and you’ve only got one truck-full loaded. I’ve heard it said once when you heat with wood you get warmed up twice. Once as you make it and once as you heat your home with it.
In our woods we’ve harvested hickory, maple (my husband’s favorite), elm, some beech and a bit of ironwood. Ironwood is his least favorite as it dulls the chain quickly.
Plus he cannot throw too much in the woodstove at one time because it burns too hot.
It really doesn’t matter what we burn, we use whatever is there.
Working in the woods can be dangerous.
There are stories of people getting seriously hurt as they fell the trees, branches snapping back, not to mention working with equipment such as a wood splitter as it slices through wood with pressurized power.
Working in the woods also requires supplies. We’ve made use of a tractor and chains, power saw, wrench to tighten the saw’s chain, wood splitter, gas, bar oil, a cant hook to roll logs, leather gloves, safety glasses, ear protection and layers of clothing. Plus a cellphone in case of emergencies.
My husband usually skids some big logs down and drags them into a clearing with a tractor as he has time. These are left to be sawed into manageable hunks later on. I don’t like to see him going to work in the woods alone, but many times he does it just to be prepared when he has someone to lend a hand.
When our daughter is free to help, we take full advantage. As he saws the skidded log into smaller chunks, daughter hoists them onto the wood splitter and between us, we throw the split wood onto the truck. Getting a full load, we drive slowly home, chit-chat as we unload and then drive back to the woods, starting all over again.
One day we took a couple of pictures of my daughter next to our hunting shack, taking advantage of this beautiful time of the year. The fall foliage was in full bloom and the woods’ floor was vibrant with color. The trees behind her were deep hues of gold, brown, green and auburn, a cornucopia of color!
Our Molly had joined us that day and we made her sit alongside my daughter, snapping a few photos of them together. When the dog got up, we noticed three or four wood ticks on her coat. Making a thorough search later that day, we discovered the tick/flea repellent we apply monthly had thankfully worked.
Looking out my office window just now, I see the stacked wood, neatly piled. I hear the furnace kick in and basking in the warmth, it gives me a deep sense of contentment that I had a hand in the benefit of a wood-heated farmhouse. Working outside in the fresh, crisp air alongside each other makes it go easier and gives us all a sense of contribution; we each played a role in it. Not to mention the satisfaction it brings by saving money in heating costs.
At this point we only have about a quarter of what is sufficiently needed to last the winter. Looks like this pioneer woman will have to make a couple more trips to the woods.
(“Let us not grow weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” Galatians 6:9)
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