More firewood

Saturday we spent 3 hours splitting the firewood and stacking it.  Paul did the splitting, Leslie did the stacking.  We probably processed 1 cord of wood, most of which is hidden in the back. 

Sunday we took the ATV out into the woods and picked up more logs that we had stacked in the forest last year.  Those logs are now stacked near the splitter awaiting cutting to size and then splitting and stacking.  This should be the last logs that we will be splitting this season, assuming that the winter isn't too harsh this year.

Besides doing the firewood chores this weekend, I dug four 3-ft diameter holes in the meadow along my line of cherry and apple trees and mixed in lots of compost and then covered the holes with more compost.  These will be planting sited for new cherry seedlings next spring.  I order the new seedlings from the local Conservation District and the bare root seedlings always arrive in late April, just about the time the soil is starting to thaw.  I want to get the seedlings in the ground quickly, so having the
holes already dug, mixed with compost, and insulated with a 6 inch layer of compost will ensure we can get the seedlings planted right away.  As is typical for us in the Northeast, each hole yielded a 5 gallon bucket of rocks, so removing the all the big rocks and adding the compost to the soil will give the seedlings a nice kick start.

Reading: Barefoot Sisters: Southbound ***** The Letcher sisters, Lucy and Susan (aka Isis and jackrabbit) hike the Appalachian Trail in a way different from most. First, they are women--sisters; second, they are south-bounders or "Sobos" in trail parlance, meaning that they start in Maine and head to Georgia; third, they manage to hike most of the trail barefoot. Crazy?  Yes, of course, they are vegetarian and wiccans, but excellent writers, each in her own voice.  I'll continue to admire the Trail and those that hike it from afar. 

Wood chips

The Envinity crew has been hard at work on several timber frames (Shaver's Creek and the Central PA Builders' Show) so they had a lot of wood chips at their shop.  Instead of using the standard 20 gallon plastic bags for the chips, I borrowed Jerry's large (40" x 40" x 48") plastic and nylon bag which was used to deliver 1200 pounds of wood pellets to his house for his wood pellet stove.  The guys at the shop filled the large bag with chips on a pallet so they could use the forklift to move it from the shop to my pickup bed.  The bag and pallet just fit between the rear wheel wells in the pickup bed.With the pallet and bag moved all the way forward I could use bungee cords to hold it to the front of the truck and to keep the top of the bag closed.  I drove the side roads on the ride back to the Barony, keeping to a slower speed so I didn't end up showering chips all over the highways. 
We are getting some fruit bushes for the backyard garden that like moist, acidic soil conditions so the wood chip mulch should work with them nicely.  The bushes include Honeyberry, gooseberry, and currant.  These fruit bushes will go in the garden where we have been growing veggies.  Since this area is just in back of the house, most of the year the veggie garden looks pretty ragged.  The bushes will look nicer throughout the year.  I'll be moving the veggies out to the meadow around our asparagus bed where I have installed 3 raised beds for garlic, potatoes, and onions.  I will be putting in a couple more of the raised beds as the weather warms up.