It was not too long ago that I proudly, okay, maybe with some hubris, bragged about finally entering the 1% club in the Undercurrent. It is the club that can proudly claim to have their woodshed fully stacked for winter before the rains hit. Well that hubris started to flail as mid-January hit and cracks in my wood storage planning started to form. The shed was starting to look pretty empty and there was snow on the ground. I had several months to go and for us, no wood equals no heat.
I have lived on Bowen for close to 10 years and the process of finding, cutting, splitting, getting the wood to the shed (my motorcycle is not great for this) and storing has become a bit of an art over the years. Getting it right is rewarding but also a necessity. Missing the mark is a lot of extra work, hassle and cold nights. Well, I missed the mark this year and joined the 59% club, the ones who miss the mark and there are a lot of us this year.
It has been cold snow in April and relentless rains. So forget about the tips in that last article, that boat has sailed, here are some learnings from past experiences in the 59% club (the 40% clubbers may need some of this advice if the cold snap reaches into June). Some of these suggestions may seem a bit extreme but that’s what you get when you miss the mark.
1) Not only is wet wood hard to keep going in the stove, it also puts out much less heat. You are going to need to double up on starter wood, bigger pieces are just going to fizzle out. I combine lots of starter wood with the bigger pieces to keep them going.
2) Keep an eye open at construction sites. I have been in a number of bins with my circle saw chopping up 2x4s. Most sites are happy to see the scrap wood get put to some use. Be careful to not bring in treated wood, it is not a pleasant buzz when burned in indoor wood stoves. This is also a great time to chop up that old wood bed frame taking up space in the storage.
3) You are going to now want to stack the wood inside. Not great but you can think of it as an art project. The air is just so damp outside that even under cover it is not likely to dry out enough which again makes it less likely to burn or give off much heat.
4) Keep the stove going all day long, getting the stove up to temperature is just so much work that you want to keep it going once it is on.
5) As you are down on your knees blowing the embers in the stove to keep it alive, remind yourself you will not be put in this position next year, you will do better, you will buck that extra row in the shed, you will rejoin at the very least the 40% club.
So there you have it. Not a pretty situation but you got yourself into it. You will do better next year.
