My Land Tour...The Big Woods

[H20fwler]

Growing up my parents used to heat our house with wood too and it seems we were always cutting wood when I wanted to be out doing other things, funny thing is when I moved out dad stopped heating with wood.

Yep, Dad always used to tell me the old "cutting wood heats you twice" line. I was glad when we actually cut nice trees in the woods instead of all day long fighting nasty brush trimming trees back out of the reach of equipment and cleaning fencerows and ditches up...it took forever with ten times the work to get a good load of wood.
At the time I most definitely would have rather been doing anything else but that on a Saturday morning...I sure look back on it differently now.

 

[H20fwler]

H20 - There's just something pleasing and "home-y" about a big stack of firewood. I like the sense of accomplishment after a nice wall of firewood is cut, split & stacked. As modern and sophisticated as we are in today's society, I think everyone still likes a wood fire. A wood stove feels pretty good in the dead of winter !!

Looks like an oak of some sort ?? It looks good.

I agree, it's almost something primeval about hoarding firewood just in case! These days we have a modern gas fireplace that warms the whole downstairs of our house and gives the wife something to stand in front of this time of year. It's an Osage...it was funny watching the son in law when he went after it with the maul, I told him it was mean hard stuff but he is no quitter...the maul would bounce and he kept swinging and flipping the chunks over until he got them. If you don't split Osage when you cut it, it is hard as crap dry, nothing like splitting walnut or oak. We used to save it for fence posts when I was a kid and almost had to pre-drill holes to get fence staples in it.

One of these days we plan on building a small cabin on the farm...pot bellied stove to heat it will be nice, then I'm really going to pile some wood up!

 

[H20fwler]

I had a friend make me this set of duck and goose calls about fifteen years ago from an old Osage fence post that my Dad said had been on the farm for over a hundred years.

 

[Telemark]

Bought a nice Fisker splitting axe/maul a couple years ago and it is "almost" fun to use.

Same here. Sure is satisfying splitting with that thing. I've used so many axes/mauls, and no other comes close. It will take limbs off a pine or cedar tree with one swipe.

 

[H20fwler]

Same here. Sure is satisfying splitting with that thing. I've used so many axes/mauls, and no other comes close. It will take limbs off a pine or cedar tree with one swipe.

I totally agree, beats the heck out of wearing yourself out with a crazy heavy one to do the same job. Something about the design really helps it from sticking better than a lot of others I’ve used too.

 

[Mortenson]

Lookin' good H2O. Definitely satisfaction in splitting wood. Good that your new son has a solid work ethic. Sure wish I could get out and do some work with the saws, but we're drifted in pretty bad most places around here. I recall my dad saying before they used to put a big ol piece of hedge in the furnace before bed, burned so long. Would love a wood fireplace these days but I doubt I'd go that route. I'd settle for a gas instead of the nothing I have! Neighbor's house next to our gate to the hunting property has a wood burner going all the time. I can't get enough of the smell. I only need to chop a small amount of firewood each year, enough for a few small bondfires. When my dad and grandpa were still running the sawmill, they won the bid a few times to deliver a yearly supply of split firewood to the local Lodge for their great room stone fireplace. It was 150 full cords and that was usually more than enough.

 

[H20fwler]

Lookin' good H2O. Definitely satisfaction in splitting wood. Good that your new son has a solid work ethic. Sure wish I could get out and do some work with the saws, but we're drifted in pretty bad most places around here. I recall my dad saying before they used to put a big ol piece of hedge in the furnace before bed, burned so long. Would love a wood fireplace these days but I doubt I'd go that route. I'd settle for a gas instead of the nothing I have! Neighbor's house next to our gate to the hunting property has a wood burner going all the time. I can't get enough of the smell. I only need to chop a small amount of firewood each year, enough for a few small bondfires. When my dad and grandpa were still running the sawmill, they won the bid a few times to deliver a yearly supply of split firewood to the local Lodge for their great room stone fireplace. It was 150 full cords and that was usually more than enough.

I’m with you, nothing like the smell of a wood fireplace...absolutely love it!
150 cords of wood is impressive, that your Dad and Grandpa cut that much and delivered even with the mill and that the Lodge burned that much.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Osage orange is supposed to be one of the top 2 woods for BTU output. I've never seen one cut open like in your pic. Being that hard & dense - I'd put a hydraulic splitter to work on it. I swung a maul for years to split my wood, but now I'm reformed !! I have access to free wood ( free heat !! ) or very cheap wood - $15 for a full cord. It feels good during this cold spell. It's the one job I never mind doing - out in the fresh air, exercise, lunch on the tailgate, great sleep that night !!

2 of my neighbors also burn wood in winter, so it smells like a smokehouse outside in our neighborhood. Love that smell. ( and we actually smoke meat, too !! )

 

[Telemark]

Nearly everyone in my neighborhood burns wood in the winter. I was actually surprised that Europeans would be so into burning stuff, but here in Norway they burn a lot of stuff. They freak out about diesel and gasoline, but they constantly burn wood for heat, and they burn branches, leaves, and paper trash just to get rid of it.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Telemark ^^^^ - Apology to H20 for this one hi-jack !!

I read an extensive article by an eco-scientist - can't remember his name - and he pointed out that if a tree rots in the forest, it releases "X" amount of carbon into the atmosphere. If you burn that same tree in a wood stove or fireplace, it releases exactly the same "X" amount of carbon into the atmosphere. But fossil fuels, which are under the ground & can't "leak" or "release" carbon unless we dig them up or extract them, then burn them - are brand "new" sources of carbon that otherwise would be trapped underground. Only humans can release those types of carbon, as opposed to plants, trees, and animals dying and recycling carbon naturally.

I suppose that's why Europeans don't freak over wood burning, and do over oil, coal, and gasoline burning. ( I'm only stating what that article said ). FWIW. Hi-jack over.

 

[H20fwler]

Nearly everyone in my neighborhood burns wood in the winter. I was actually surprised that Europeans would be so into burning stuff, but here in Norway they burn a lot of stuff. They freak out about diesel and gasoline, but they constantly burn wood for heat, and they burn branches, leaves, and paper trash just to get rid of it.

Telemark ^^^^ - Apology to H20 for this one hi-jack !!

I read an extensive article by an eco-scientist - can't remember his name - and he pointed out that if a tree rots in the forest, it releases "X" amount of carbon into the atmosphere. If you burn that same tree in a wood stove or fireplace, it releases exactly the same "X" amount of carbon into the atmosphere. But fossil fuels, which are under the ground & can't "leak" or "release" carbon unless we dig them up or extract them, then burn them - are brand "new" sources of carbon that otherwise would be trapped underground. Only humans can release those types of carbon, as opposed to plants, trees, and animals dying and recycling carbon naturally.

I suppose that's why Europeans don't freak over wood burning, and do over oil, coal, and gasoline burning. ( I'm only stating what that article said ). FWIW. Hi-jack over.

On this same line;
The Chemical company I work for is owned and run by the Dutch, AKZO Nobel. Right next to one of their bigger plants in the Netherlands where they deep well the liquid waste is an elementary school with playground. Doesn't even raise an eyebrow there having a school right next to chemical plant with HCN, Amines and all kinds of nasties being mixed and in huge tanks along with shooting awful stuff deep into the ground. It's all a perspective thing I guess.
One thing I do know is the Dutch I work with are crazy educated, they graduate school young with more schooling than the average college grad here has and then finish their "University" training at about 21 years old or younger and are down right impressive with their reasoning and book smarts...sometimes the common sense stuff is funny or maybe its just the culture differences. On the oil/gas burning thing most of the people I know there only have one vehicle per household, they use public transportation and ride bikes a lot.

 

[H20fwler]

Yesterday I had the morning off so I headed out to the farm to split some more wood in the balmy -4 temps. Worked over a stacked pile of cut stuff from last winter walnut/locust it split like a dream...my ears did get a little cold, the pup had a good time worrying the mice that were nested in the wood pile as I dug through it. I've got one more stack of wood mostly hard maple to split and haul out that is in the woods.

The new son in law is wanting to build a coffee table out of walnut for his living room now after admiring some of the stuff he split Sunday, so the next weekend I have off we will find him a nice medium size tree to get a good log out of for him to work with. Said he would like to build his own rather than buy a cheaply made one from a store...I like that idea, especially with wood from the farm.

 

[Telemark]

On the oil/gas burning thing most of the people I know there only have one vehicle per household, they use public transportation and ride bikes a lot.

That's all well and good in places like Holland, but here there are mountains, fjords, lakes, etc. preventing us from such solutions. That's not even taking the weather into account. The pinkos in the government here have taken to taxing fuel and banning diesel cars in the city center, which is a bummer because my car is a diesel.

 

[cavey]

I have not had much time to get out and cut lately and I miss it - there is something primevally satisfying about cutting and splitting wood, just smelling fresh cut or split wood is enticing for me. Being out on the land, the quiet once you shut down the saw... and the satisfaction of looking at a ranked up pile of split wood is like magic for the soul. The healthiest old guys I know are those that walk the woods everyday - they live to cut firewood and cutting firewood keeps them alive and young. Stuff like that keeps you grounded and balanced in a crazy world. In a not so whacked way basic rudimentary physical labor keeps a person humble and appreciative of what a gift life actually is and what it really cost to be alive. As I looked at H2Ofwler's pic I realized just how fat I am right now and how I need to be out there doing what they just did... love the dog being with you out there too - miss having a pup!

 

[Bowsnbucks]

^^^^^ X-2 !!

H20 - post #152 …….I've built some heavy, slabby, chunky tables from oak, maple, and walnut. For spectacular color and grain "pop" - walnut is tough to beat. I go the clear, natural route when finishing walnut. I like to see the natural colors & grain come out. Waterlox Original is my go-to for clear finish. Soft cotton rag inside a piece of old panty hose will give super results on the finish. It keeps the lint off from the rag. I squeeze out the excess before wiping it on.

 

[H20fwler]

Was out at the farm a couple days ago in the warm break in weather to TreeKote a couple crab apples and a few of the cranberries that the mice had girdled some and to evict any mice that were living close by in the bluebird boxes, so I went ahead and cleaned those out too. The dog was a tremendous help with the mice, she killed seven I was able to step on two...she is much faster than I am. We had a bout a 50/50 permanent removal rate and I was happy with that. Hopefully those dirty little bastards will stop hurting my trees.

While walking in the shrub strips I notice some of the little Hazelnuts I planted last spring as 2' whips are making catkins. My older bigger hazelnuts along the woods were loaded with catkins and the birds ate most of them off.

Lots of partridge pea still has seeds on them which is good but I guess I'd like to see something eating them up, I'm planting a bunch more of it this spring mostly for the bee's but hopefully some local wildlife will develop more of a taste for it.

I went ahead and switched the cards out too while I was back there and had a few decent pics.
This guy should be nice next year

Nice bachelor group of gobblers was around for a couple days, turkeys are neat for me to have on the place they were just reintroduced in my county fifteen years ago and have taken off pretty well in certain spots. I do enjoy seeing and hunting them.

This guy had a rope of a beard

And we have a pair of fox at this woods too, I like that they are there. I don't spite them the few rabbits they eat because they are such good mousers in the pasture and that is good for what I plant.

 

[H20fwler]

We added around 200 more trees/shrubs to the shrub strips this past Saturday, only took a few hours of steady planting. Everything put in we already had in the strips just wanted more to replace anything lost to voles or winterkill and to thicken up...we did ad American plums they are new to us and I am excited to see how they do.
Best thing about the whole day for me was spending quality father son time with both the boys on the farm. My oldest son brought his young GSP along to help Darcy dig mice&voles out and after we were done we did some shooting to get her some exposure to gunfire..started out with the boys shooting the little Henry 22 we won at our Pheasants Forever banquette a couple months ago and then shot a 12 ga over her, she didn't mind any of it.

The boys wanted a white pine bedding clump in the middle of pasture so I let them do their thing...I will cage those trees next week or there is no way the deer will leave them alone.

Almost overnight the fruit trees have budded and are on the cusp of breaking bud;
A Golden Russet

A Keiffer

I also broadcast some Durana while we were there. The pasture is just starting to green up a little after being knocked flat by the winter snows, lots of these tiny little daisies for the bees to start on.

Both the pups were wore out after their romp at the farm.

 

[Bill]

The American Plum will start slow but you’ll love it in a few years! Wish i was close enough to my place to get my son there more often. College then a summer job has him stretched pretty thin.

 

[H20fwler]

With it finally being such a gorgeous day yesterday the wife and I had to take a drive out to the farm after the AWESOME Easter meal she prepared and the kids had left. All the fruit trees are leafing out and the bee's in the new NUC hive were busy and doing well.
I went ahead and swapped out the card on camera to see what has been going on.

Had pics of this little guy laying in front of camera, sometimes I like the close up detail of wildlife the camera gets.

The deer are still bunched up had lots of herd pics.

And being stuck at work today with it being our opener...of course there was lots of turkey sign.

Hopefully they will stick around and I can get loose from work one morning this week.

 

[H20fwler]

Had Sunday off so the wife and I took an afternoon stroll out at the farm to check things out and plant some native wildflower seed in the pasture.
A few of the spruce along the road are pushing some new growth

And a couple are loaded with little pinecones

The new NUC hive we put in last month from splitting an older hive seems to be doing well

The woods is alive with spring peepers and tree frogs sounding off, here are a couple pics of the vernal pool that runs down the middle of the woods 4-5 months off and on during the year. It is around 50 yards wide and a few hundred yards long, it is from a few inches deep to over the tops of my Muck boots.

What I think might be swamp violet in the woods? Good for the bee's anyway and there is lots of it around.

A few shrooms on the higher ground

I fertilized the fruit trees also, couldn't get any triple 10 so I used triple 15
They are leafing out good and just starting to flower. The ground cover chicory is really coming up and the clover is just popping through

a little Enterprise getting its blossom on

Little Mamma enjoying her Sunday afternoon on the old glider under the mulberry tree after our walk

On a side note my 2019 grafting attempts look promising so far, some are starting to break bud. I built a nursery box at the house and if all goes well I'll move some this fall to the bigger orchard with the bulk going to the little woods the following spring...and some to friends.