Pressing On: Firewood

We had our wood stove installed in September. To be able to use it this winter, we needed wood...lots of it.

I had to separate out the orders since it is so expensive to get dry wood. Next year we hope to get a permit and cut our own wood in the spring to save some money.

For now, we had 2 cords delivered in September and we stacked that. These pictures are for the 4 additional cords. 3 cords are dry and the other 1 is green, so we mixed it in with the dry in a section we won't touch until spring.

(2 cords are stacked in the background. Isaac is standing on 3 of the cords and the last one still hadn't arrived when this was taken)

I grew up stacking tons of wood and doing a lot of work, but my kids' life is a lot cushier. That said, they really enjoyed working on this project and it didn't take more than 10 hours with all of us working at different times to get it all stacked and ready for winter.

This wood was cured in logs for 3 years and then split. The nice thing about that method is that it left TONS of kindling for starting the fires. I love this stuff.
We gathered it all up and keep it in plastic tubs next to the firewood.

Our setup is looking a little redneck. Maybe we'll get our woodshed built next year, but for now, this is working well.

Up on the deck, we keep a bucket with kindling and a box with the stack of backup wood. Between this and the inside box, it's enough for one full day. When it's -40 outside, you don't want to spend a lot of time gathering wood.

Inside, I have 2 lovely brass toned metal bins to hold wood and the necessary tools to keep the fire going.

This bin holds about 3/4 of the days wood. Not only is it functional, it is really sturdy and beautiful to look at. I love the rope handles.

Beyond the wood at the wood pile, we also did a small stack right next to the house in case the weather gets really extreme and being outside for any extended period of time is unthinkable (in cases of a storm or temperatures of -50 to -80, which does happen).

It's snowy now and the shovels are getting well used, but we are loving the security of wood heat. It's cozy and warm and doesn't rely on any electricity.