Science! Psuedo-science! Nature! Art! Nonsense!
November 10, 2025
farm, fire farm, fire, red shed, wood Leave a comment
The reason we don’t burn fires in the kitchen unless it is under 40 is because it takes so much work to move the wood around. First you saw it up. Then you move the bog logs. Then you season it. Then you split it. Then you stack it. Then it moves from the res she to the porch. Finally it ends up in the kitchen on fire.
There are several cords in the red shed in a double stack up to the ceiling. Time for winter.
February 9, 2025
farm fire, maple, stacking wood, tree, wood, wood shed Leave a comment
If you are following along at home, you may recall that we had to take out a massive chunk of our 300+ year old maple this year. We were mostly doing risk management around the 25 year old oak tree we planed here as a stick (which is dwarfed by the magestic maple).
We stacked the logs we didn’t sell up by the wood shed to cure. Come winter, we burned our way through the supply and then split the maple (and some locust too).
January 9, 2023
animals, fire fire, moonshine, moving wood, wood Leave a comment
The thing about having a fire is that you work on wood a bunch well before ever having the fire itself. The kitchen fire is going all winter when it is below 40. Why that cutoff? Because first you have to cut the wood, spilt the wood, move the wood, stack the wood, move the wood again, store some on the porch, move some inside and then finally burn it. See?
Fortunately, I have help most of the time.
In the truck again. Moonshine supervising.
The woodshed stack.
The porch stack with a photo bomb by my finger. Once again, moonshine is supervising.
October 1, 2017
animals, farm, flowers, horse beets, carrots, cayene, garden, gleaning, habañero, jalapeño, Norway, pumpkins, sweet peppers, Virginia, watermelon, wood Leave a comment
The best way to garden in the Fall is apparently to go to Norway. Then when you come back, it is actually Fall and time to move wood and gather in the last of the garden.
Farm Truck
First Load of Wood
The garden is quite the disaster.
But hiding behind all of those brown corn and sunflower stalks is a bunch of good stuff: pumpkins, sweet peppers, cayene, jalapeño, habañero, carrots, beets, and watermelon. More to come too!
Mini pumpkins hide under the grass and weeds.
An entire basket of peppers with more to come.
Hotey admires the flowers while eating corn.
Fin.
Fall bounty.
December 17, 2014
animals, farm, fire dogs, nature, photography, river, shenandoah, shenandoah river, solstice, solstice fire, solstice party, winter solstice, wood Leave a comment
Puck sez “Fire ready to light”
The solstice fire is ready. The weather report is improving (sorry cynthia). Time to turn the sun around!!
Spring-like day on the Shenandoah
Sunlight begets fire light
Before.
2014 fire
April 6, 2014
farm, food, nature, photography mushroom, nature, photography, wood 1 Comment
Acer negundo good for something!
December 27, 2013
farm, fire, nature, party, photography nature, photography, solstice, solstice fire, wood Leave a comment
The log that will not burn.
one. big. dude.
November 29, 2013
farm, fire, party photography, shenandoah, solstice, solstice fire, wood 6 Comments
10 hours of wood piling (2 today), chain sawing, throwing, and general merriment later—welcome to the solstice fire.
Before the day.
A job well done.
Quite the pile.
Done.
Time for a walk by Shenandoah.
April 27, 2013
farm, fire, nature, party firewood, garden, nature, red shed, solstice, solstice fire, summer solstice, tilling, tree architecture, winter, wood, woodpile Leave a comment
Prepare for winter of course. No rest for the pattern bound on this planet.
Firewood in the red shed.
Remember that tree? Well it has been almost completely consolidated.
Spring light on the winter woodpile.
It’s not just winter we get ready for in Spring. We have to get ready for summer too.
Freshly weedeaten and tilled. Way too early to plant though.
Dirt.
And the summer solstice fire is growing. (Thanks to the tree.) Architecture by Allen.
Solstice fire at 2/3rds ready.
February 10, 2013
farm, fire, nature black walnut, chainsaw, destruction, firewood, piles, skeleton, solstice, wood Leave a comment
After around 8 hours of work (times 2.25 people), the distinguished tree is dismantled. Plenty of firewood for next winter and wood for the solstice fire too!
Black walnut dismantled
Wood piles
Almost as tall as Ame.
Several cords (splitter required)
Solstice wood (several piles like this)
Butt log
Base by the ball (over 36 inches)
An interesting joint.
Tree skeleton.
