![Wink ;)](./images/smilies/icon_e_wink.gif)
Sitka spruce sounds like Ponderosa pine. The pine is soft and fibrous and has an inherent twist that defies a clean split. Wood has such individuality.
We like to burn locust, but it's nearly impossible to split. We use a wedge and sledge hammer. Good for rattling your brains. As far as I understand, tamarack and larch two names for the same species. Tamarack/larch is the best all-around firewood imho: easy to split, burns cleanly, the logs are nice and uniform, and lots of times the bark will fall off when the wood dries. This makes for less mess in the house.Farm_or wrote:Ponderosa pine, white fir, Douglas fir, lodgepole, tamarack, and cotton wood are in supply in these parts. Thought I'd hit the jackpot discovering locust about five years ago.
So of course I had to look this up on Wikipedia, which says 'He apparently fell into a pit trap and was possibly crushed by a bull that fell into the same trap.' Talk about bad luck! I would much prefer to fall on top of the bull.Farm_or wrote:Funny story about Douglas fir: named after a biologist who trailed with Hudson bay trappers. He had to be rescued from a native American pit somewhere by Rogue River? Then he fell in a similar pit years later somewhere in Polynesia. He didn't survive the second time.
Faster growing firewood crop, one that self-replaces easily.halfmoon wrote:Are you thinking that the small trunk dimension will eliminate splitting, or are you just looking for a faster-growing firewood crop?
George the original one wrote: P.S. Give him time. He'll think of how to make it work for him and then put you on the duty of collecting the cuttings.
So very true. Memories derive from intense experiences, and I don't mean playing Grand Theft Auto or sitting on the porch. DH and I talk about certain things to this day; some of them aren't "good" memories, but they evoke a time and place that can't be recreated. A few random and trivial examples:Riggerjack wrote:Yeah, while experiencing dirt, sweat, and pain, it's hard to imagine looking back fondly. But most of my best memories feature at least one of those.
That, by the way, sounds amazing—which brings me to once again praising your writing: reading the above gave me a warm feeling; it was rather pleasant.halfmoon wrote:We’d chosen a large, gently sloped shelf on the mountainside with a view of another mountain across the narrow valley.