I have never tried Alder I usually use apple, maple, oak and cherry out of the wood I have and then I buy chips off Amazon for woods I do not have access to. I am going to grab a small bag of Alder to give it a try.
The only bark I use is from shagbark hickory. It has a sweet smell and imparts a different flavor profile in the meat. Otherwise I tend to take off the bark also.
Well I got skunked today, but still no worries. Let me remind you all that I mentioned a few weeks back about some huge roadside clearing with good wood. Its about 15 minutes from my house and unfortunately not on my way anywhere, so being I've been busy I didn't get to it. It's also off a busy road where people drive about 45 - 50 mph and the road winds at the area of this wood so you can't get a long view of the traffic going both ways. Being that I needed to cross the street to bring the wood to my parked car was also not encouraging me to rush or go out of my way. I assumed my procrastination meant the wood was either hauled away by now or other wood scroungers were picking away at it, but a few nights back I took the family out to get ice-cream and there was the wood in all it's glory. I was actually surprised it was still all there untouched and so I felt it must be waiting for me and that I would get some of it next chance I got. Well this morning was that time for me and when I got there it was all gone of course...Drats! Not to waist the trip I decided to go further down the road to a spot I hit periodically that has a lot of dead ash down and it's starting to decay. It's not the beautiful cherry and Maple I would have got from the road clearing wood, but Ash is still respectable! This wood has fallen naturally so I guess road clearing crews are not responsible to dispose of it. As you can see in the first picture I have visited this fallen trunk a year before and pruned off the upper smaller limbs with my smaller Ryobe saw. Now with the bigger saw I could get the whole trunk easily. I cut it into 36 inch lengths to get out of there quick and will cut those in half again in my yard when I get around to it. I also took some smaller dry branches that I can burn right away if I need, but if I don't it will most likely wind up in the chimenea this time of year.
That is a worthy score, I'd much rather have the ash, over the cherry and maple, even taking into account the punky bits! Things have been slow for me, just been working on what I have in the yard. Just bits and pieces at the dump. My husband has a friend who has 2 leaning chestnuts that Asplundh is going to cut, plus a lot of other stuff already down. I might get a carload if it comes together.
Believe me Molly, that's another reason I procrastinated on the wood. I am very backed up with yard work and firewood processing. The wood has really piled up in my little yard and now gardening season is approaching. I've gotten a little garden prep done pulling up the old plants and readying for new, but it looks pretty sad right now. Notice I haven't posted any yard pictures like you do? I would probably be kicked off the FHC site if people saw the squalor and the log jam.... I'm already sleeping on the couch haha! On a good note the pizza oven project is underway with the materials all scrounged and ready. The base is level and being built up!
Yeah, I used to work at a Summer Arts program for many years, but I take my summers of now that I can afford to.
My turn . Went to my sil's this morning. Took down the butt ends of a couple whire birch I had topped for her, back in the fall . Also, took down a maple that was overhanging her driveway. No pics pre-cut, but that's not the name of this thread. That's mostly two rows deep. 16". Birch across the bottom, maple on top. All unloaded at the top of my driveway. I'll split it there and move to my racks, as time allows. All trees were dripping with sap as I cut into them. I used my rope puller with the maple, as the wind and a back lean were a concern. No living things were injured during the process.
I don't use much kindling. My evening fires coal overnight nicely to relight with a couple of splits. A bucket of small sticks gets it done. Easily refillable. I'll split both the birch and maple, and stack it together for a couple of years. Maybe hand off a few split white birch to friends to see pretty wood through the glass fronts during summer. I figure it'll almost fill one of my 8 foot racks. I have some ash to top off the rack.
Not sure Midwinter , but according to those prices, I may be able to retire earlier that first thought! Haha...I think that's designer wood, meant for show in defunct fireplaces and interior design.
My scavenged birch looks a lot nicer than that stuff. No big scores at the dump, and my friend Marcel is Johnny on the spot, he's hungry for wood.
It's a bit of a hit or miss game with the dump and you're just missing lately is all. There's also the "feast or famine" rule and soon a feast will appear that's so big you won't be able to take it all. You know how it goes... just keep at it and stay vigilant. As far as Marcel, It'd be a shame if he was to wake up one morning to find 4 flats
