Closing out 2023

Another quiet end to a year on Hardwood Hermitage. 

Another big thaw

Here are two pictures taken exactly 24 hours apart: 12:42 p.m. on Sunday and Monday.  Yesterday we had temps of nearly 60 degrees, about 2 inches of rain, and a good deal of wind. The snow didn't have much of a chance. The overnight low only went down to 37 this morning. We are supposed to get some nice sun for days now. The solar panels will like that after being covered with snow for a while.  Also, notice in the distance the nice grove of birches standing tall. The concern about massive spring pole losses due to heavy snow thankfully turned out much better than initially expected.

Forests and chaos theory

A scientist uses chaos theory to describe how seemingly random disorder governs natural processes. A second wet snow storm -- this one way more intense -- followed by colder temps has created much change in the forest. Unfortunately for many young paper birches, that means death. Springpoles never recover their upright character, making them obvious candidates for firewood piles. Much work will occur as a result of the storm, but nature always has a plan. Other trees, hardier and longer-lived than paper birch (especially oaks and sugar maple), will be better off due to the additional sun and less competition for nutrients. But let's hope for no more heavy snow. It's probable that 25 percent of the property's paper birch will be wiped out because of the storm.

Wet snow and wood

A sloppy 3 1/2 inches of snow fell overnight. Birches northwest of the house look great with the extra white.

Earlier this month we finished our autumn wood processing project. Here's one of the completed areas of stacked and covered wood. We needed 23 tanks in the two saws and 117 1/2 hours of work, but we greatly expanded our supply.

Morning harvests

Of the many great aspects of a northern NH autumn, harvests rank near the top. We pulled about six pounds of carrots out of the ground this morning in a row by the house. We also cut and moved wood, our most important crop. Nature giveth!!

Another before/after

An hour of work this morning led to a very notable change to the area of the big triple trunk dropped a month ago. We split and moved wood before snow started falling (no accumulation, but the flakes were huge!). The first picture is a bit blurry due to the low light.

Working around rain

The weekend washout kept us from working on the big firewood project on Saturday and Sunday. But we cut a lot on Friday, then did some splitting and other wood work today.

This morning's before/after

 Before nearly two hours of work today:

After: 

Sawbuck Friday

Summer-like warmth and no precipitation created some great opportunities to process firewood from the big cutting work late last month. This morning, we cut many split, 22" pieces in the sawbuck, then did a lot of stacking. Many days of work ahead, but we're doing just fine. A before/after duo appears below. The stacks of 22" pieces turned into sawdust and a higher pallet pile in an hour and 45 minutes.

Lots of work ahead

Cavanaugh and Son Tree Service, based in Franconia, NH, did a great job at Hardwood Hermitage on Wednesday. They cut 18 trunks down as a means for us to protect power lines, add firewood by removal of some large trees with dieback, and expand solar production by removing some western and southern shade. Felling twisted trees and other difficult work can best be done by professionals! We've been going to work, with cutting and splitting over the last few days, with much work planned this autumn. 

Helping more hardwoods

One of the felling axes went to work this a.m. The main goal: Help a few oaks and birches by clearing away the highly inferior balsam fir. Below is a before/after of the work session. The surviving hardwoods will get more sun now, increasing their chance of survival.

Felling axes

A new implement has been added to the Hardwood Hermitage toolkit. Felling axes borrowed from a neighbor have thinned several trees over the last few days. Most of the dropped trees were balsam fir, with their demise helping oaks, sugar maple, and birches get more sun. The axes make for a great workout! Soft balsam fir can be taken down quite rapidly with a very sharp axe head.

The trial with a neighbor's axes tested different handle lengths and weights. The work sessions have been a lot of fun, with great benefits for the forest.

A soggy three months

A marvelous day closed out August today. June 1 and August 31 this year were both beautiful, with much sunshine. In between, we had many humid, cloudy, and rainy days. Compared to the 92-day period last year, June through August 2023 produced 459 fewer kilowatt/hours of solar energy compared to the three months in 2022. But we still love the sun!!! This picture shows the western sky in the early evening today. The low on the first morning of September will barely top 40 degrees.

Harvesting success

A rainy and cloudy summer can't keep crops from doing great. Here is a picture from this morning, with half of a potato and carrot harvest after the drive up the hill from the neighborhood garden.

Blackberries have looked really good in the last week. These five were quickly nabbed. In total, we've harvested 51 cups of raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries in a month.

Bi-berry dessert

Add some spray whip cream to a nice bowl of raspberries and blueberries for a perfect dessert. The season for both berries is wrapping up, but these beauties started today on the vine. Blackberries, scattered so far, are really starting to come in. Expect pictures of those little wonders soon.

Spicy, sweet, crunchy

The big harvest of garlic (half of which is pictured -- a quarter bushel) adds some spice to life on the hill. Our wonderful three blueberry bushes have yielded nearly 12 cups this year, while raspberries have been tasty, even in lower amounts than usual due to the wet summah. And, with much joy on our part, some great carrots were pulled out of the east garden bed by the house this morning, with the short and stocky example pictured destined for a salad today.

First berries of the season

Fresh berries, the best thing about summah!!!! The first raspberry harvest was small, but they sure were good!

Time for cutting

After another wet weekend, but today started gloomy yet dry, meaning time to cut arrived again! Here are before and after pics of the wood pile. Each saw used three quarters of a tank.

Wildflower month

June is always wildflower month on Hardwood Hermitage.

Working on more wood

A large, spring-poled red maple blocking light from several small oaks seemed like a great candidate for a big firewood project. The downed tree, slightly bigger than the red maple processed last week, will take more time to finish up due to some much-needed rain.

Processing a big red maple

The first big tree job of the season began yesterday with the dropping of a large red maple on the hill above the house. This morning, we split 14 large pieces bucked yesterday after the felling. The coolness bringing frost today (the latest we've ever had), sunshine, and fog coming from the river (the third picture), made for a memorable work session. There's still much work to do, including the cutting of some of the trunk.

Hill-grown supper

A meatloaf from a hill-grown cow and parsnips also from the neighborhood made for a fine meal today!

Moving to shed

An annual ritual has moved along in earnest in recent days. With the snow blower long ago put away, the tractor bucket goes into service to move wood from the big pile the pool cover protects during winter. The first photo shows the diminishing pile, followed by a look at the shed. We think it's all going to fit!

Note the wonderful boxes of kindling on the shelf of the shed. Filled with the necessary fire-starting material, all of which was cut last year, none of it will burn until next season, and perhaps the one after that for some of the boxes!