I've learned a lot lately about the practice of firewood management. Our home in the woods is heated by firewood. You'd think this would be pretty straightforward, but it isn't if you've never lived in the country before. Monday I started a small fire in the house trying to dry out our wet wood. Previously, due to improperly burning wet wood and "green" wood (which is not actually green, just not "seasoned" or aged outside for at least six months), we stained our white ceilings with black sooty patterns that follow the beams of the construction work on our house. Plus we were cold a lot of the time, since wet wood and green wood just don't burn well.
We bought a wood hoop to dry our wood indoors and I developed a rotation and drying system for doing so. First I bring the wood in...er, well, hubbie does. And he stacks in in the round log rack. Then I stack the split pieces in front and alongside the woodstove. The fire on Monday allowed me to discover and correct for a bug in that wood drying system. Now I stick them far enough away from the woodstove so that when they fall over, they won't hit the woodstove and catch fire. Throughout the day I turn the pieces so that they dry, which takes about 1-2 days. In the meantime we burn purchased (manufactured) wood from Safeway. I rotate the pieces so that the ones that come "up" are the dryest ones. I think I've gotten it down now. It is a small success, but one that gives me an amount of satisfaction disproportionate to its size. Now, to train hubbie in that system!
~Picture by Husband Mark
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