Hurricane Farm

It all started when we decided it was time to claim the firewood we'd stacked from cutting down some trees last summer.  It was time to haul it up to the front of the yard nearer the house so that my dad has something to do when he visits (He's a professional wood-chopper, in case you didn't know).

We'd hooked up the tractor to our trailer and things were moving along smoothly...at first.

I'd cut about four trees to make access to the wetlands and the brook just after we moved in last summer, so the pile was somewhere between 1-2 cords and it will be perfectly seasoned for heating and cooking.  We'd had a lot of rain, but drainage seemed to be no problem.  Things were relatively dry and we did not overload the trailer so as to avoid getting stuck.  (It did start to mist, hence our hats!)

While Liev and I piled wood, Violet roamed about looking for flowers.

She found quite an assortment.  I think that she ended up feeding them to her brother's steer, Mr. Greenshoes, who was watching on as we worked.

Liev helped load and then took his position at the front of the wagon ready to make the drive up to the house with the wood.  He's tipping his hat to Mommy as she takes some photos.

After loading a few times and being sacked by thousands of tiny black ants, Liev decided a change in job was due...Check out his new green web belt!  My favorite of all belts!

We'd made great progress.  As you can see below, the wood pile was almost gone.  I think it took us about 4 or 5 trips as we did not want to put too much weight into the tired and old, yet rustic trailer.

We'd made a small rut in the mud with all the loads coming and going, but we had not gotten stuck.  In fact, we were mentioning this wonderous fact when...

We had moved all the wood.  I'd removed my cap as the rain ceased.  And we decided that we would take one more "joy ride" around the field.  This time the mud got us!

I think that the problem was that the trailer's axle had dug deep into the mud, but I tried a series of back-and-forths in a vain attempt to unstick the tractor.  No such luck.  I also think that we need to get a better set of tires on the tractor, but that is for another day.  (Check out that nice new exhaust system!)

Luckily, all was not lost.  The kids had a joyous time romping in the muck, even as the trailer sank deeper and deeper.

In the end, it took a substitute driver (Erica) and a whole mess of chains and come-alongs to pull the tractor out.  We have the whole works anchored to the tree on the far left of the photo.  A small cherry tree, in fact.  We almost had one more tree for firewood, but it held in the end and we pulled the tractor to dry land.

A small family victory as nightfall approached!

As it is coming upon March here in New England, we find ourselves looking towards the reserve piles of split firewood that we stacked off to the side so neatly way back in the summer.  With little time to keep up with daily splitting during the sugaring season, these stacks of reserve wood come in handy.  They are nicely stacked--neatly, and in tight rows--as these piles represent the first wood nestled away for the cold season that seemed so far away back in August.  The wood in nicely seasoned and sets ablaze with the mere suggestion of a match.

But, there is something not quite right with this wood.  In fact, it is short.  Very short.  Split too small, and short.  Hmm.  What was I thinking back on those humid summer nights while cutting and splitting this wood? 

Was I so excited to be splitting wood and dreaming of a crackling fire in the wood stove?  Was the sweat that was stinging my eyes allowing the saw to cheat a little?  Did I forget how the larger pieces burn better, longer, and in the end, make for less work?

Whatever the case, I have been thinking deeply on these "Summer pieces" as I haul them in from the stacks each late Winter night.

So, one of the first things we did when we moved into our new farm was change the sign on the truck.  In fact, I ordered the new town label as soon as we found out that the closing was going through. 

We love tooling around in our pickup truck.  This is actually our second one.  We had a 1985 F-150 for several years and must say that it was the perfect truck for us.  It was a "self-oiler" and the only maintainence that we performed for the four years we had it was adding new oil. 

Our new truck (1991 F-150) was a step up environmentally as well as in terms of its relative usefulness.  This "new" one has 4 wheel-drive.  Woo hoo!  I've never had to load up, find out I'm stuck, and then unload an entire truckload of wood since this fine acquisition!  They say that heating with wood warms you several times...the cutting, the splitting, the stacking, etc.  Well, with a 1985 2 wheel-drive truck, you get one or two extra heatings with all the pushing, pulling, digging, and reloading when you're stuck in the mud.

Now that we have two kids, though, we have a hard time fitting into the bench seat of the truck.  Luckily, my wife's friend just gave us a 2000 Ford Ranger.  That's the newest vehicle we have!  With the dump truck purchase impending and the new Ranger, it is time to start thinking about a new logo for the doors.  I hope that I can fine that same font.  I think it's quite fetching.

Since we were moving in and setting up the farm this past summer, I did not have as much time to ready my woodpile as I have in past years.  Installing fencing, building stalls, and the numerous other tasks involved in setting up a new farm consumed my "wood splitting and stacking time."  And normally, as my wife and kids can tell you, I am pretty particular about my stacking.  Parallel rows, uniform heights, etc.

So, to that end, I have piles of split wood, haphazardly covered with tarps, out in the side yard far away from where we actually need it -- in the living room near the stove.  I generally carry it in by hand each night, a few pieces at a time.  But man!  I wish I could do this:

  Maybe I'll practice after the next batch of homebrew is ready to sample.