By Roy L Hales
Firewood is a vital source of heat energy on Cortes Island. Some think of it as our secret sin. There may be more environmentally conscious people here than any other part of British Columbia, per capita, yet we use a more carbon producing energy source than coal. This is the season when we cut and stack it for the coming winter. It’s also time to have fun with firewood.
Fun with Firewood
Someone who was born on this island told me it is better to leave your firewood out for the summer, so the wind and sun can get to it. He puts them in the woodshed during the fall and piles firewood like this in the interim.
As we live in a rainforest, I thought it would be better to put the barky pieces on top as a kind of shelter against the elements. I started out like this…
… and ended up reinventing the wood shed.
Modern Art
My wife thought the little wood piles looked cute and asked if she could add to them. I call this modern art – But will our firewood be any drier next winter?
Back To The Woodshed
So, a month later I enlarged the old woodshed and put the new firewood in it.
We stack our wood loosely, alternating the direction with every layer. This takes up 40% to 50% more space, but allows the air to circulate through the stack.
To the right you see my yet to be used stack of pre-cut kindling from last year.
One thought on “Fun with Firewood”
Comments are closed.