It’s actually been cooler for us this year sooner than it has in the last several years down here. It’s been close to freezing a few nights in the past week and we’ve had a fire one of those nights. There have been many years that we didn’t really get any very cold days until the end of November or beginning of December. Our coldest months are January and February by far and sometimes March. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Yes same here, but only 2 nights and only just this last week, then day temps in the upper 50s -60s. A few times last week the house got chilly in the evening, but I was able to warm it back up with just one space heater. This morning my wife was out picking peppers and tomatoes and no frost damage plus we still have a few more we left to ripen on the vine. A couple of days ago I decided to preemptively shut off all my garden hose spigots just in case, but it was probably a week too early. I always leave my 3 hoses under pressure because I like the convenience of picking up a nozzle and firing away, plus I have a porch sink and I don't want to risk the plumbing freezing, but I will miss that the most. So it's interesting how the band of cold weather is behaving this year, and yes the months you mention are also our coldest with March being about equal to December.
I picked up another trunk-load of cherry on the way home last night. There were a couple landscapers asking if I wanted any wood before they dropped it off at my dump. I thanked them but said I was going to take the cherry instead. Now there are two dump trailers full of fresh tulip poplar there if anyone needs some... If I give some of this to my neighbor for a bar-b-q, should I tell him to let it season some first, or could it have a nice flavor while green, maybe with a few splits on a charcoal fire?
I have done a bit of smoking myself and can tell you that I never got great results smoking with fresh green wood. It seems to leave a very deep and acrid smoke flavor, and it was also hard to keep burning along. I'm a sort of hot smoker so need a bit of heat with smoke and with green wood it gets very frustrating only to find the results not worth it. Some say that taste is creosote, but that if you are doing a quick and very hot smoke then it can be ok to use fresh cut. Mine was/ is sort of a long warm smoke technique using a 55 gallon drum elevated with bricks over a fire pit hole in the ground. The meat at the very least is always 2 to 3 feet over the small fire. It's sort of a smoker/earth oven and gives great results when I get it all on point including the brine. My suggestion is at least to partially season the wood, but for best control, flavor, and ease of operation, fully seasoned and you add the moisture needed. It depends on how your neighbor does it also.
I took a drive out to WeldrDave's property this morning, fortunately the rain held off. I loaded up... And brought some rounds up next to the driveway, for an easy grab next time. Just about all the leaves are down, but there is color here and there.
Odds and ends. There's a couple of trunks to cut up. Honestly I don't think I'll get it all before the ground freezes and the drive gets snowed in.
From Dave's, I'd say closing in on two cords. 90% of it is sapling trunks averaging 6" in diameter and 5' long. Getting it cut will be a winter project. Then, most of the rounds will need splitting in half. It's 80% sugar maple, 20% beech. It'll give me some outdoors work on nice days. For the cutting, that marker you linked would sure come in handy!
Nice photos Molly, thanks for the tour! It looks so much more like fall there than down here. The rain held up here also till about 4pm. It was a real bonus and I was able to get some much needed firewood work done. In particular cutting up about 3 days worth of heat in the form of ready to burn small dry branches, but also a good number of logs bucked up and stacked ready for splitting.
I should have clarified when i asked about how much wood you have.....i meant ...all together on hand
Hopefully, any ice from last night, will go away, and next week's "event", will be more wet than white.
This was about 1/4 mile from the house, brand new tractor is still in the shop, next up the 12 year old Subie with a quarter million on the clock.
