Recent harvesting

 

Picture from South Peak

Where do people go for a getaway from the woods of northern New Hampshire? Where else but the woods of northern Maine? We decided on a difficult hike up South Peak, Aroostook State Park. This was a chore, for sure, but the weather was great (almost as far north as Quebec City). Here's the view from the top!

Berry nice morning

After a wave of heat and humidity, this morning dawned clear and very pleasant. The early summer was quite dry, which cut back on raspberry production. Each one shines like a red gem, though. Blackberries must like dry conditions, because they are coming in early. Overall this year, the forest has yielded 6 1/2 cups of raspberries, with 2 cups of blackberries. This picture shows the five cups of berries picked this a.m.

Pool Cover Wood again

An annual ritual was completed this morning. Shortly before being topped with a pool cover, two-and-a-half cords of wood soaked up some sun. This wood will stay here until April, when the big shed, which currently holds three-and-a-half cords, is empty. There is some excellent kindling in this year's Pool Cover Wood, like usual.

The eastern third of the pile (left of the photo) includes the two birches and some crown branches recently spilt, with the last part cut to length and stacked this a.m. None of this wood will burn for about 15 months, with much of it waiting for the stove until 2024.

The demise of birch cousins

In Star Trek 2, Captain Kirk declares, "How we deal with death is just as important as how we deal with life." Two dying birches on the south hill were taken down recently, with both saws burning a tank for the cutting. The splitting work began this morning, perhaps continuing tomorrow if expected rain is late. Losing two really pretty trees is tough, but both will burn beautifully. Thankfully, neither species is anywhere close to extinction here.

 

Holiday weekend work

Here are two pics from some work this morning. The wood won't amount to a lot, but it was a relatively easy job.  The pieces will move up to the house (about 200 feet away) in a splendid bit of pleasant weather early tomorrow.

Work and reward

Less than two hours after the start of summer, a chainsaw roared.  Both saws did excellent work to expand what's known as the "pool cover wood.".  The lighter colored pieces were cut today, just about half of what's there now. All of this wood gets cut, then protected by a pool cover  before moving into the big, enclosed shed the following spring. This beautiful biomass won't burn for about 20 months.  There's some nice kindling along with a lot of big wood, mainly red maple.

The reward after this morning's effort? Double Chocolate Malt Whole Wheat waffles. The raspberries had been frozen since last summer.