Keeping Warm in Winter

The leaves change and and people are out raking lawns and filling garbage bags with the trees’ once beautiful foliage. It is getting colder and the heat is on. However, not everyone uses central heat – especially people like us who live in rural areas. Instead, we burn wood.

Yes, we have our heat delivered in semi truck loads to the back field. Only our heat comes in the form of 600lb Pine logs. A giant stack of them.

We can’t simply push a button to stay warm through 5 months of snow. No, we have to cut and split wood for at least three full days. The logs are cut into 18 inch pieces using the Husquavarna chainsaw and a measuring tape. Then the pieces are split into halves and quarters using the splitting maul. The wood is loaded into a flatbed trailer then hauled up to our covered basement porch and stacked in neat rows. The whole family helps with this part of the project.  This process is repeated until 5 “cords” (a 4’X4’X8′ stack) is stored. We typically only burn 4 cords but we like to have extra in case of a long winter.

Matt wields the maul

Everyone helps load the trailer!

Fire wood must be seasoned – meaning it has sat and dried out long enough to burn easily with little smoke. It also must be the right size. Too big and it won’t fit in the stove. Too small and it will burn quickly, requiring more attention.

Although our way of heating requires work and maintenance, we can weather any Winter no matter how harsh, and stay warm during the longest power outages. Are you ready for Winter?