One of our many aims in our quest to be as self sufficient as we possibly can be, is to successfully manage our woodland to give us enough wood to see us through the colder months of the year. This year with the long damp period and now this sudden, although very welcome cold spell, we have almost used up our supply of our own cut seasoned logs.
Knowing that any wood cut now would be much too wet to burn well and give off any heat we have bitten the bullet and bought in a supply of logs to replenish the log store and see us through these last few weeks of cold weather, and of course what we don't burn now will give us a head start in our gathering together of next Winters wood.
Kindling we have lots of ... as Lovely Hubby has a mammoth chopping spell every month or so and fills up a large builders bag of wood chopped from the many pallets and scrap wood we have gathered. We also have buckets of twigs and smaller bits of wood that I collect when I'm out and about, especially after windy nights. A few days in the log store and these dry out wonderfully and can be used to start the fire each night.
One tick of the list of self-sufficiency .... if you manage your woodland well .... which is what we intend to do now that we are almost at the end of sorting out the house and land around the house and we will finally have more time.
Sue xx
Wood for the log burner is one of our most important commodities too Sue. We have a fairly large plantain full of a variety of trees and also many trees in our bedge backs to the fields. Hawthorns seem to come down easily in windy weather - I suppose they are probably ancient. They make wonderful logs. Like you we gaher bits when we are out. We don't keep the stove in overnight but sometimes there is still a glimmer in the morning when the farmer cleans it out - then is the time to throw ona handful of wood 'bits' and it is going again in no time.
ReplyDeleteA lot of our tress are seriously old, hence us wanting to start to manage the woodland properly. The people that owned the house before us did nothing to it in all the time they lived here, so it has been left to it's own devices for far too long.
DeleteThe only good thing to ancient dried out old trees is that in high winds they do jettison smaller branches that I can then simply pick up and add to the log store.
I love gathering wood for our log store. It is far better than any gym workout and I love it when we are offered a large tree that has come down. Tony cuts it up into big pieces with the big petrol chain saw but I won't use that. I don't mind using the smaller elecric one and am more than happy to spend a morning cutting up logs ready for the store. We still have a good supply as last year we were given quite a few trees that had been downed the previous year. People are grateful to get rid of them and we are grateful that we don't have to buy wood. Did you buy a cord of wood? If yes, was it expensive?
ReplyDeleteWe are very lucky that Thomas, the Welsh farmer that owns the field across the road from us has said we can go in whenever we want to take fallen branches and even tidy up the trees in there. He lives on the other side of the valley and only uses this field for occasional sheep grazing, so it's all ours for the taking.
DeleteWood heating is a must for us. It's how we dry our laundry and it's our sole source of heat. We pay £100 for a ton here with a weigh bridge ticket and by the cubic metre in Brittany. We've bought 5 cubic metres in Brittany for €200/£160 so much cheaper in France. We hope when we're out there to buy green wood, which is virtually free and season it for three years ourselves. You've got me thinking though x
ReplyDeleteWow!! Indeed it is much cheaper in France. We have just paid more than that for the cubic metres we have bought.
DeleteThe trees in your French property if carefully managed would give you a reasonable amount of free wood to supplement this bought in wood for the future, and will ensure your garden never gets too waterlogged. It's always worth saving some trees.
Hi Sue, you always need a heating source that you can cook on as well if need be. One of my earliest memories is of mum lighting the fire of a morning the grate would be sripped out and the ash would go on the compost heap. She showed me how to make the fire lighting stips and balls and the hearth was always one of the first things to be prepared in the morning. My Dad used to get the logs and the axe and taught me how to make the kindling. Then they got a gas fire. I have had a real fire in the house I had when I was married and I miss it dreadfully as it does so much more than keep you warm. We also used to collect the remains from the herbs and the fir cones when walking in the woods to throw on the fire and orange peel always went on too. So you have my admiration for what you have achieved so far and then with managing your own wood well. Its the only way to go. Look forward to your further posts. Pattypan x
ReplyDeleteI agree completely, which is why we bought a large log burner with a cooking plate at the back.
DeleteIt usually has a kettle full of water heating up on it ready to be added to my evening bath or for pot washing, but if we needed to it would heat a pre-cooked casserole or pan of soup and we could toast bread with the log burner door open on my Nana's old toasting fork which hangs by the log burner.
Ooh, the memory of sitting in front of the fire making toast, and getting 'corned beef legs' from the heat!
DeleteI have my Nan's copper kettle which she used to use on the Rayburn and her toasting fork and one or two other items that she had above the fire (when some of the items were retired) and toast and crumpets done on the open fire in the front room. Happy days. She also had a log burner in the dining room in latter years as well However I think we have to do what we can for our families and our own heat and warmth ourselves. I live in rented at the moment has chimney stacks but house over 150 years old. Only gas central heating which I am not happy about. If I owned it I would open up the fireplaces and put wood burners in to keep it snug. However by the way the landlord has maintained the property I think it may be a bit of a moneypit. One day. Take care.
DeleteLike you we just ordered some more wood because it was at a discounted rate, but when it arrived it did not seem so much for the money ! Might have to nip over to France to get some !
ReplyDeleteWould love a log burner but its not financially viable in our current home. Perhaps if we move who knows......i can dream.
ReplyDeleteYou are so lucky, I have been following your blog for some time and would love to do what you are doing, but unfortunatley we won't be able to. I really admire what you have achieved. My OH put a new multifuel (Pevex Newbourne output 4kw) in the lounge in December to replace the open fire, which gobbled up wood and coal. We already have one (Town and Country Little Thurlow 4.5Kw)which has been in for 10 years, in the dining kitchen, which we use almost every day through the autumn and winter. We light the Little Thurlow in the morning and put half a bucket of Exel Blaze smokeless fuel on and once lit it will stay in all day and evening and warm the whole of the house. If I need a boost I will put a log on it. We wish that we had put a back boiler in when we had put it in. With my OH's job (agricultural engineer) he has contacts where we can get wood from various places for free. So this last two years we have not had to buy wood. One thing I will say is that we have, on both fires, a fan and a temperature gauge the first stirs the heat around the room and the second tells us that the fire is working at the optimum heat. Well worth buying and not expensive at all these days from the internet. Sorry for the long post.
ReplyDeleteWe've got a fan on our woodburner as well, and I agree, it does make a huge difference. We haven't got one on our wood fired Rayburn, but probably should.
DeleteBetween the two of them we haven't had to put our heating on at all this year, which is great as we are on oil and watching the level of the tank drop is sobering :)
Fast running out of wood here too. Come Easter we are heading into our woods to cut some trees for next Winter. Cutting, stacking and burning one's own wood gives such a great feeling of accomplishment and pleasure. Pam
ReplyDeleteI'm amazed there's any dry wood anywhere in the country!
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