0122

Unseasonably mild weather - low 30's, cloudy, calm. So I continue as I did yesterday & Monday taking some trees from the south woods and swamp. I've been felling and limbing the trees with the ax, and dragging the pieces back to the yard, keeping in mind the 'interest only' rule (or: 'never touch the principle' principle) learned from a forest management guru recently...

The analogy is of managing a fair amount of wealth in such a way that you never run out. You invest the capital, and only draw on the dividends or interest. The principle is never touched, so you never run out. Just so with a forest or other natural wealth. Take the surplus only, and never strip the principle, and you need never run out.

My woods are fairly young - 50 or 60 years since being logged clear, so most of the trees are 4" to 7" trunk diameter, and are still a good distance from climax growth, growing much too thickly in many places. So I scan the canopy above looking for trees that are too crowded. I take a tree here, a couple trees there. Sometimes I see a tree that's still standing, but is already dead - probably crowded out. If the wood still looks OK for burning, I take that tree. Or a tree that was broken in a recent windstorm. Or one that is leaning so badly, it will probably go down soon. The general idea is to take the surplus trees, but leave the woods intact.

By now there's a nice heap of small logs accumulated in the yard, so I plug the 100' cord in, and use the electric chainsaw to cut firewood lengths. This is my compromise, my arbitrary line - I'll hew the trees with hand tools, but the electric chainsaw seems clean and efficient, so I allow it. Then I start stacking in a new place just north of the garage & chicken shed.

Derek & Justin come up as I'm doing that, and we go down after the early dusk and play a little football within range of their yard light.