Posted 1/10/23 5:12 AM CST
Last week the mule team logger who selective thins the buffer thickets around my property in the fall to keep the woodland healthy for the younger trees to grow to maintain the health of the woods paid me my cut of what he got for the logs he trucked out. He also hooked me up with one of his friends who is cleaning up the tops and trimmings for fireplace sized log cord wood loads he sells to big house customers instead of my having to to get someone needing firewood to take what they wanted and then figure out how to cut it up myself or wait for my logger to have time to help.
Best part is while he was gleaning trimmings and tops for firewood to sell during the Arctic cold snap and I invited him in for lunches and to warm up , he saw my small wood stove and when I told him I usually use my pruning saw to kindling cut small limbs that fall or the tree surgeon trims from the trees around the house, he started leaving some of the kindling sized pieces by the house as he leaves in his pick up truck and trailer.
Since I have plenty of seasoned hardwood kindling for my stove already, I will split some of the small 3 to 4 inch diameter pieces for my stack and take some of the small pieces to my GF's house for small fires when we cook steaks on the grill grate in her fireplace if it's raining.
I also plan to burn some of my stored wood in the fire pit outside for ash lye to bucket tote into the buffer thickets to help break down the 5 to 6 inch stumps the logger left when he harvested the timber he thinned out .
A little pocket money, better sun for the young trees , wood for the stove and ash to break down the dead stumps before the logger comes back in a few years because he knows I won't clear cut my timber privacy buffers all add up to a good start to 2023.
