Junk wood season

October is what I call junk wood season. It’s a transition month from warmer to cooler weather. Actually, here in the North Country, some days are quite cold. Last year we got our first snow in October and it didn’t melt until late spring.

This is the season when people really don’t want to spend money heating their house. Those of us with woodstoves hate to burn our quality wood so early in the season. The house tends to overheat. We also run the risk of running out of quality firewood before winter is over.

This is a good time to burn lower quality stuff. For example, right now I’m burning aspen and some softwood. Lesser grade woods don’t put out the BTUs and they don’t last as long. That’s fine when you only really need a fire in the evening and again in the morning.

The aspen came from my daughter’s place. The trees were growing into the power lines and had to come down. My softwood came from a friend who was cutting down trees for garden space. The wood, while not the highest quality, was free. My son-in-law even delivered the aspen, so you can’t beat that.

I’m also taking down a deck that has too much rot to repair. The wood was never pressure treated so it’s not toxic. The deck boards, once chopped up, will make good kindling.

We are closing the house for the winter in about three weeks. The junk wood should keep us warm enough until then.

-Sixbears