Stacking Firewood

The Wood to be stacked

When I lived in Questa with my late husband. I participated more completely in the gathering of wood to heat the house. We would initially venture up the Cabresto Canyon to an area dead and down trees could be harvested. Marc manned the chainsaw and I fetched and carried back to the trailer. Then home to unload. 

After three or four days of gathering it was time to split the wood and stack. The local myth was the more cords split and stacked the more secure the marriage; the more stable your residency.

On the day I moved out and over the mountain there was five cords of wood by the garage. I had totally participated in every single piece of that. But on December 10th the day after I moved in to my house in Black Lake I had to begin looking for wood to burn. I hadn't a clue how to get the precious commodity if I didn't have a pickup, a flat bed trailer, a chain saw, and a log splitter. I discovered the full pickups of wood in the parking lots in Angel Fire with signs declaring price.  I was shocked at the prices. That winter I had three pickup loads of firewood delivered. No sooner was one dumped than it snowed and thawed and froze. I would order another. It was dumped in another place. It snowed, it thawed, it froze. I ordered a third. None of the wood was used until after the spring thaw when I could pry it from its icy tomb with a digging bar.

The second year here I learned about hunting season (something I forgot this year) and that wood had to be bought before hunting season. And the wisdom of planning ahead.

There are a few western rules it pays to remember. Never cut a fence. Never dam a river, and never steal a horse or water or firewood. Tourists know none of these things. I found my firewood seemed to disappear when the vacation home across the street was occupied. And so ultimately I built the woodshed which can be locked. My use of firewood went from 4 cords a winter to 2 or 3 if the winter was particularly hard. And the wood stayed dry and accessible.

Woodshed partially filled

The winter of 2006 taught me firewood and a full pantry were necessities. And it is always wise to stack your own wood. It is how you know what is there and that it will not collapse on you when you use it through the winter.

And it is also smart to keep some wood on the porch just in case the drifts get too high to get through easily. The fire department and insurance companies want the major part of your wood to be at least 30 feet from the house. Some still stack it against their wood sided houses.

Wood on the porch

This week I will get my two cords of wood stacked and then I can work on stocking up on emergency supplies in the pantry. Then winter can arrive. Not that it ever needs my permission.