Winter Supplies pt 1

Wood

My world is now covered in a crisp layer of snow. It’s something that I’ve been dreading, but now that it’s here I’m excited.

It has begun!

Usually, I get snowed-in in December and I can’t drive out until May. If I get snowed in now - it could be 6 months before I drive out again. It’s time to get serious about winter supplies.

Firewood

Dry and not ‘punky’ are the main criteria. Naturally, wet wood doesn’t burn. ‘Punky’ is when the tree has started to rot and mushroom mycelium have taken over. When I was first told about punky wood I didn’t believe that it could be that bad. Now, I’m a full believer. It makes the wood corky and almost dusty. Splitting it is unpleasant and it burns way too fast.

It doesn’t take much to heat such a small house. We only keep a half cord on hand, which lasts about a month. Instead of stockpiling for the whole winter, we get dead trees as needed. Cutting them down in the snow and pulling them home with the snowmobiles. It makes for fun days!

It’s going to be a toasty winter!

Different types of trees have different qualities both for building and burning. Douglas Fir, Spruce and Tamarack burn longer and more evenly, making them preferred for colder days. However, Tamarack has such good rot resistance that I rarely use it for burning. I prefer to build with it, adding to the longevity of the thing that I’ve built.

Milling Wood

The pieces that we mill are too big to pull with the snowmobiles. To keep building through the winter we’ll need to stock up. I want to take trees from the north side of the property, meaning that we’ll need to cut in some of the old roads. Then we’ll take ‘standing dead’ trees and pull them to the yard. The mill can manage over 16-foot lengths, which is AWESOME.

Standing dead is as it sounds, they’re easy to identify when they’ve dropped their needles. If they have a deep crack down the trunk, even better. That means they’ve begun to dry. Tamarack (also known as Larch) drop their needles every winter.

Different types have better strengths and look different as a finished product, making identifying them important. Spruce is a more white-looking wood, and Douglas fir is very pink. Knowing what type they are without needles is more tricky. Then it comes down to the bark.

Milling and building will hopefully produce lots of scraps, or ‘offcuts’ to burn and keep us warm. Now the main focus is storing food and water for 6 months. Meat, fruits, veggies and carbs. Everything needs to be accounted for. Anything forgotten will have to come up on snowmobiles. Stay tuned for pt 2 - Food and Water