It Takes A LOT of Wood

I've written about the advantages of heating with a wood burning stove, and I really wouldn't want to heat any other way.  But I tell you, it takes a LOT of wood!

In order to help with the cutting, Johny built a primitive long saw buck.  It's a pretty simple tool...a long log with legs and pegs...it holds a log relatively still on top as you cut it (he was using that stump you see in the left of the picture, but the log would roll around as he was trying to saw it). 

It's a good thing he's got something to help with the creation of chopped wood...

...because as you can see our stocks are getting quite low (these were full in the fall!!!).  There is another holding unit on the back side of the cabin that you can't see, but it's all freshly cut wood, and not full yet.  I know we will be using wood until at least early May...we did last year anyway.  Not as much as we do right now, but usually at that time of year we would have a fire in the morning to get the chill out of the air.  As you can tell, we still have lots of wood to collect and chop!

If you ask me, which you haven't but I'll share the information anyway, in order to run a wood burning stove for 24 hours, it takes 1/16 of a cord, which is 4'x4'x8', so 2'x2'x2' (if my math is correct and it very well may not be) of wood, which should include some wood that is twigs and small pieces for kindling.  It also depends on what type of wood you are burning; oak and locust burn long and hemlock and other sappy woods burn fast (but you don't want much sappy wood in your stove or fireplace)...of course there are lots of other wood types that have different burn rates as well. 

I suppose it's a good thing we are heading back to our river house for a bit (it's like wood conservation)...we have a family reunion (yeah), a few other tasks to attend to (eww) and some friends to see (yeah).  We are looking forward to seeing family and friends, and enjoying some time on the river, kind of like vacation, but different.

When we come back, besides chopping more wood, we will be busy with the garden and welcoming spring.  I'm looking forward to that!  We've already been getting our seeds together and planning how the garden should be laid out...there will be lot's to share about those activities!

Thanks for reading my blog, you are the best f/f/r/s/f's, see you tomorrow,
Lise