Sustainable Firewood

There is a chill in the air this morning that makes me start dreaming of autumn walks and winter fires in our wood stove.

Living in the city in a 100x50 ft. lot doesn't allow for a place to grow our own firewood, so we have been on a quest to find someone who harvests firewood sustainably. Last year, the firewood was not harvested sustainably, and it was dumped in the driveway, covered with dirt and had to be stacked.  If we were working a larger piece of land full time, I wouldn't care about needing to stack wood, it would just be part of our normal work day. However, with both of us working full time, any time saver is helpful at this point.

We were able to find someone this year and had 3 cords of wood delivered from Broad Arrow Firewood. It is a mix of several different woods,  stacked on twelve pallets and is ready and waiting to be burned. It needs a bit more seasoning - so we will use the wood we have gathered and what has been given to us that is currently stored in the shed.

Each pallet is wrapped in a netted bag

Spring is in the Front Yard

One of the most important principles of Permaculture is observation. When I read about trees and plants changing the ecosystem of a yard, it's hard to visualize, so physical observation is really necessary. I can see where the sun hits at different times of the year, and what structures heat up even in the winter temperatures. In winter how the wind blows is more evident by the higher snow piles and drifts that were at least a foot deeper than the front of the house, and with the melting - how water moves across the yard, and is mostly captured to stay and be absorbed in the places we will need it. As the fruit trees, vines and perennial plants grow - the garden will continue to change. Every year it will be different, and where we plant annuals may change. This year, we still have a bit of foundational work to do, building up beds and installing trees and plants. And every year there will be the vegetable garden. The bulk of what we will have eventually will be perennial and only the beds will be planted. But all of this takes time...and spring is in the front yard.

The back garden looked like this on Sunday

Spring was in the front yard...trying anyway



Here is a good comparison of the size of the fruit trees when we bought them last year. We replaced the Meyer Lemon and it is on the windowsill - the potted fruit trees are only a year old and have been repotted twice. They love this sunny window!

Two new blueberries waiting for the ground to thaw

We also have a Paw-paw Tree to plant as the last of the higher story of the garden and we are waiting for several new grape vines, a couple Concord and three new varieties.

There are rumors that the next few days will be in the 50's and I hope it's true. 

There is so much to do and I can't wait to get outside and begin!

A useful practice...

I stepped out the door this morning and was assaulted by the noise. The blissful quiet after Blizzard Nemo was wonderful, but it has passed us by. With no one on the road and barely anyone moving anywhere over the weekend, it was so quiet, and now all I can hear is the scraping of plows, the noise of the train yard and the hum of the highway, which on a winter day, with no leaves on the trees, combine and sound like an airplane.

It’s the trade off. I enjoy living in the city. We can do most anything we need to in our small house and yard. I not-so-patiently await the growth of our fruit trees to absorb the sound a bit more in summer, but this winter is noisy.  For a few days I forgot about it, snuggled in the house, with the new windows we had installed, oblivious to the world around us. Once in awhile, our dog will bark because he hears a noise outside, and if we are really quiet, we can hear a neighbors’ dog or people walking by. Otherwise, it is a quiet refuge.

Sometimes I do think of living in a more rural area, with more land, but I am not satisfied that I have given this a sufficient try. It’s only our 2^nd year with a wood stove, garden beds, energy efficient windows, etc. and I would like to see where it leads. I want to continue on and see how far we can take this. We lessen our requirements (spending and possessions), recycle, create a refuge in the city, and work toward living sustainably. I hope someday to learn enough to help others do the same.  For now I will be grateful for what the city offers: living close to work and having a short commute, everything we need within walking distance, family nearby, utilities that rarely shut off, and a beautiful city to live in.

In my mind I retreat to the woods and seek that quiet place inside. With the right practice and meditation, I can sometimes counter the abrasive part of the city around me and find the peace within myself that enjoys being present today and doesn't wish for tomorrow. A useful practice for February and the near-end of winter when most of the days have been gray and cold.

Just about this time, the ordering of seeds, trees and new plants starts and so the dreams of spring begin. If you are feeling like I am, a little restless and needing some long hours of light, hold onto spring in snows of February, but don't forget to live the winter too. Soon there will be flowers again, and we will turn our faces toward the sky, put our hands in the soil, and rejoice with the first seeds that sprout. We will walk in warm spring rains, shedding the dark layers of winter clothing and we will stop mourning the sun who day by day returns to us.

It is how this circle works. Just when we get to the point where we think we cannot stand another day of winter, the first Robin appears and just like that, spring is here. And by the end of summer we will start dreaming again of cold winter nights with fresh bread and stews and sitting by the fire. 

This is New England and why I live where I live and why I love it so much. On days like today, it just takes a little more to focus on what really matters and a little more effort to remember that we are in a constant state of change and what seems like an end is usually a new beginning...

Butterfly Museum 

Warm Hearth in Winter

With the end of Summer we found ourselves ready to purchase two cords of wood for the Elmira Cooktop and there wasn't room in the driveway to have it delivered or stack it, so we worked for a couple of weekends - Rob cleared the larger logs and moved them down to where they would be split, and I worked on the pile of branches and leaves and prepared the kindling. We filled two Rubbermaid buckets with kindling to dry out, and have several more buckets worth of sticks stacked and waiting.

Piles of sticks/leaves and wood gathered during the past few months

When we were all finished with the work, there was much more room for the cords to be delivered. The buckets are filled with kindling and the rest of the wood is sorted by when it was gathered - the shed also has some wood that has been seasoning since last October's crazy storm.

sticks sorted and barrels of kindling ready / leaves in compost pile

miscellaneous piles of wood sorted

2 cords delivered and ready to be stacked

When I see this pile of wood, I find myself dreaming of sitting in the kitchen near the fire and baking for the holidays. I also feel safe and secure that we will have a warm place to be this Winter. I know that everyone does not have this security and I feel very grateful.

Grateful for our small home that is easy to heat, for the ability to purchase the wood we need, and grateful for the comfort of knowing that with a little work, we will be ready for whatever Winter has in store. I feel a little like the chipmunks and squirrels in our yard - busily gathering and preparing for the cold...

The heart of our home