I'm Back and Not a Minute too Soon ... felling next year's firewood, cleaning stove, and protecting young trees from browsing deer!

Although we are not as busy this time of year as we are from March through November,
things still need to get accomplished. As the colder weather sets in and a daily dose of lake-effect snow starts to cover the ground, the White-Tailed deer find it harder and harder to find food. As the snow accumulates and inches of that powdery white stuff turns into feet of snow blanketing the ground, the deer will start browsing on young saplings that are yet to be engulfed by the snow. I have mentioned this remedy several times before, but feel it is worth repeating since it works so well. We have many young trees that we protect from hungry deer with this solution.

@farm-mom can be seen here spraying away. Before she is done she will have covered over a mile making her way around the farm being sure to spray all of the saplings. This process only needs to be done every three months. We will do it again in January before heading to warmer weather.

Standing deadwood is always a concern, especially when it is in an area of high traffic. This 60-foot-tall Red Pine tree has seen better days and felling it and cleaning up once it lie on the ground took the better part of a day.

By cutting a notch in the tree with the notch face pointing in the desired direction you want the tree to fall, you can be rest assured it lands where you want. This dead tree is ready to be toppled.

Once the back cut has been made you can see the tree start to lean in the desired direction. At this point, moving away from the tree will ensure your safety. I have experienced many a tree jumping off of the stump in a backward direction as it's in the process of falling. You can never get too far away from a falling tree.

Not only was I surprised that Robin captured this picture, but the clarity of the picture was also a nice surprise.

Yes, that is me gloating. With the tree lying on the ground exactly where I wanted, it felt GREAT to be back in the game.

Limbing the fallen tree is made easier with the branch saw. The branch saw only weighs 8 pounds compared to the 23-pound chainsaw I used to fell the tree.

I used the four-wheeler to pull the top of the tree out of the water.

Being that this tree is a conifer, the logs will not be burned in our wood-burning stove. All conifers/pine trees are filled with sap even after they have been dead for a time. This sap produces a lot of creosote that will build up in the flue pipe very quickly. Creosote is highly flammable.

Wood is such a valuable resource and we try to waste very little!Because of the sap found in all pine trees, it burns very hot. We use it when making maple syrup and for burning in our fire pit.

Being that we heat our home entirely with a wood-burning stove, yearly maintenance is a must.

Even the burning of deciduous/hardwood trees leaves behind creosote. Allowing creosote to build up in the stove and flue pipe can be deadly. Taking the stove and chimney apart once a year for cleaning should be of top priority. Chimney fires are usually not spotted until it is too late.
Flue brushes come in different sizes depending on the size of your flue pipes. Here I use an 8-inch brush which is the size of our flue pipe. It comes with additional handles that screw onto each other so that you can reach even the tallest chimney. Despite cleaning our stove every year, creosote still accumulates. In addition to cleaning the stove, all of the gaskets on the stove doors need to be checked for leaks and replaced if damaged.

The United States Department of Agriculture calls the emerald ash borer “the most destructive invasive forest insect ever to have invaded North America.”
https://www.invasivespeciescentre.ca/invasive-species/meet-the-species/invasive-insects/emerald-ash-borer/

The invasion of the Emerald Ash Borer has been in full swing for the past three years,
here in Upstate NY. Identifying the infested trees is now easy to spot as I've learned what to look for.
The tree's bark will take on a pale look at first and then start to peel off of the tree.

For the past 3 years, Ash has made up about 75% of the wood we burn.
Ash is a great wood to burn indoors as it burns very clean and hot.
Felling these three Ash trees along with four damaged Hard Maples I dropped a few days ago will give us a good start for next year.

Cutting firewood a year in advance ensures that it's seasoned properly. Seasoned firewood burns clean, leaving very little creosote behind.

With this 100-foot Ash tree now lying on the ground it didn't take long to limb the tree, cut it into sections and pull it out of the woods.

I could have left these bolts of firewood where they lie, but just in case I were to run low on firewood for this year, I'll be able to get at these rounds. All firewood is best when it has a year to season, but Ash is the one hardwood that can be burned shortly after felling.

The top of the tree will be left where it is until next year.

I've never been so happy to be able to get outside and hobbitize once again!!!!!!!