Gardening: Plants, Flowers, Veggies, Trees and All Things Green

[Wonderer67]

Yesterday, I was splitting firewood. There’s something very relaxing about the productive nature work like this. I try to find beauty in everything around me, esp in nature. Sometimes I’m amazed at the wood grains I see. Here are a few examples.

This was from a maple tree we had taken down that was dying. I’ve never seen maple with so much beautiful wood grain. It looks more like black, walnut, but black Walmart is usually much more solid brown color. Who knows??

https://imgur.com/a/QWY1Xys

https://imgur.com/a/igpwe0z

https://imgur.com/a/b7GJSN2

https://imgur.com/a/rV5FOcx

https://imgur.com/a/pW6Gtt5

 

[ccs29745]

Looks like it was diseased from the dark center abs marks, but it is nice markings. There is a nice Arona on some firewood when splitting it. I use an axe, a lot of people use those splitters.

 

[JustAnotherFlower]

Looks like it was diseased from the dark center abs marks, but it is nice markings. There is a nice Arona on some firewood when splitting it. I use an axe, a lot of people use those splitters.

Having a splitter would save my back...

 

[Wonderer67]

Pretty sure it’s maple. The woodgrain ripples at the top and the bottom, give it away. But what kind of maple??

https://imgur.com/a/StB41uc

https://imgur.com/a/VjjiDSH

https://imgur.com/a/eo4qdIm

https://imgur.com/a/57Zq8Jl

Anyway, thought I’d share some of nature’s beauty with you all.

 

[JustAnotherFlower]

Pretty sure it’s maple. The woodgrain ripples at the top and the bottom, give it away. But what kind of maple??

https://imgur.com/a/StB41uc

https://imgur.com/a/VjjiDSH

https://imgur.com/a/eo4qdIm

https://imgur.com/a/57Zq8Jl

Anyway, thought I’d share some of nature’s beauty with you all.

Wood like that will burn longer than other types.. speaking from experience.

 

[Wonderer67]

I use a little of both. I like splitting with an axe, feels more fulfilling. But i absolutely need the log splitter.

Especially for the knotty pieces.

 

[Wonderer67]

Wood like that will burn longer than other types.. speaking from experience.

Because it’s knotty and thick? Or that’s just the nature of a diseased tree.

 

[JustAnotherFlower]

Because it’s knotty and thick? Or that’s just the nature of a diseased tree.

...yes.
Knots always seem to take longer to burn, and darker wood grains take longer, too. I'm not sure as to why, just speaking from experience.

 

[Wonderer67]

...yes.
Knots always seem to take longer to burn, and darker wood grains take longer, too. I'm not sure as to why, just speaking from experience.

Very interesting!!

 

[ccs29745]

Knots are denser, why they are harder to cut. I like the different grains of the woods. Lot of sugar maples here, red maples can have some streaking.

 

[Wonderer67]

Knots are denser, why they are harder to cut. I like the different grains of the woods. Lot of sugar maples here, red maples can have some streaking.

Red maples have been spectacular this fall!!

 

[ccs29745]

Dark and hardwoods take longer to burn. Maples and other "soft" words burn quicker since the wood is not as dense.

 

[Wonderer67]

Dark and hardwoods take longer to burn. Maples and other "soft" words burn quicker since the wood is not as dense.

We sell firewood at our farm. Our best firewood is black locust, super dense, and burns, hot and long.

But also Ash. Specifically white ash is some of the best firewood you can find. They’ve also succumb to blight, so there is a million dead ones around. Literally, it’s estimated that there are 48 million dead ash trees in New Jersey.

 

[JustAnotherFlower]

Dark and hardwoods take longer to burn. Maples and other "soft" words burn quicker since the wood is not as dense.

The hardwood also take longer to catch, so best not to start with those. I only toss in oak after a decent bed of embers has formed.

Kind of bittersweet I won't need this knowledge once we move.

 

[ccs29745]

Poplar is a good hard word to burn. Cedar can take a while, but it's dulls anything that cuts it. Not too many ash here. I like starting fires with small stuff, then once it's going, add some hardwoods to make fire last longer. Pine on the other should burn sparingly cause of creosote it makes in chimneys or outside in a fire pit since it burns quickly.

 

[ccs29745]

The hardwood also take longer to catch, so best not to start with those. I only toss in oak after a decent bed of embers has formed.

Kind of bittersweet I won't need this knowledge once we move.

Where you moving to?

 

[JustAnotherFlower]

Where you moving to?

Just down the road. Going to buy my grandmother's house once all of her possessions have been sorted.

 

[drobert44]

Poplar is a good hard word to burn. Cedar can take a while, but it's dulls anything that cuts it. Not too many ash here. I like starting fires with small stuff, then once it's going, add some hardwoods to make fire last longer. Pine on the other should burn sparingly cause of creosote it makes in chimneys or outside in a fire pit since it burns quickly.

I saw a few chimney fires in Wisconsin; dangerous stuff!

 

[ccs29745]

I saw a few chimney fires in Wisconsin; dangerous stuff!

We had one once, not fun putting out and cleaning up at all

 

[JustAnotherFlower]

I saw a few chimney fires in Wisconsin; dangerous stuff!

Had one happen here.. we got lucky and tossed a pale of water soaked chips on it. Lost all of the fire bricks to the sudden temp change, but it saved the rest of the house. Damn thing sounded like a jet engine..

 

[drobert44]

Had one happen here.. we got lucky and tossed a pale of water soaked chips on it. Lost all of the fire bricks to the sudden temp change, but it saved the rest of the house. Damn thing sounded like a jet engine..

Up in Wisconsin, these were people who lived in cabins and had very little.

 

[SWR101]

We had to be very careful here, as pine outnumbers hardwoods like 3:1 in density, we’re called the Pine Belt for a reason…

But there was enough hard wood to get it going well enough. Use dense resin soaked pine heart as the starter, softer wood to get it going, then a big dense oak for the overnight fires.

Never had a chimney fire, but we kept it cleaned (and only had to use the fireplace about 4 months out of the year at most) because we knew how much pine we had

 

[ccs29745]

Sawmills down here take a lot of the pine. Didn't realize it takes 30 years to rotate pine fields .

 

[Wonderer67]

I never burn pine in the fireplace. Creosote can def cause chimney fires. You guys who’ve had one are lucky.

They can be extremely dangerous.

We burn and sell ash, maple, oak, black locust (super dense and burns hot.) even some black walnut.

Ash is the best way to go because of the ash blight. Plentiful, burns hot, easy to split.

 

[Wonderer67]

One last black eyed Susan found at our farm while raking leaves today. I think the leaves kept it insulated from the freezing temperature.

One last flower found while raking leaves today.

https://imgur.com/a/0FMIKzX