A distinguished tree is dismantled. Phase one. (before)
Firewood
The buttlog persists
Science! Psuedo-science! Nature! Art! Nonsense!
February 9, 2013
farm, nature destruction, nature, phase one, tree, wood 1 Comment
January 31, 2013
farm, fire, nature apocalypse, destruction, solstice, wood 4 Comments
Good morning walnut tree.
That’s what happens with 40-50MPH winds, soggy ground from 3 inches of rain, and a formidable old tree that had already begun its ultimate lean.
From time to time people wonder where the massive solstice fires come from. Wonder no more!

An ornamental forest pansy redbud is smashed under the crown in the circle—a second victim of the storm.
Adventures in tree removal begin tomorrow. Anybody want to buy the butt log? It has to be worth a few thousand bucks.
November 6, 2011
blog business, nature wood 1 Comment
Life at Apothecary Shed is not always a bed of roses and formaldehyde. After staying up way too late with some visitors at Coal Stove Sink on Friday (4am?), it was up in the morning to split wood. Our fence recombobulation project this summer resulted in a huge pile of large cherry and locust logs too big to burn in the fireplace. So we rented a splitter from True Value (a whopper packing 2 tons of hydraulic pressure). Saturday was spent moving the same log multiple times. Must have split 5 cords (and moved 13).
Sunday involved moving more wood, finishing up the solstice bonfire (save the date: December 17th), and attempting to clean out the pig pen. Our well meaning animal sitter threw about 4 bales of hay at our pigs (Berlusconi and Sarkozy) in June, resulting in a very wet, absolutely disgusting mix of wet hay, pig poop, and mud in just about equal parts. It’s so heavy that shoveling is not an option. We removed a panel from the pen and got the tractor in there this evening. Still pretty much a mess.

Five weeks and six days until the solstice fire is lit. Here it is in all of its idyllic Fall glory.
The weather was absolutely perfect.