Heating with wood: Apple
I usually purchase a few cords of firewood a year, as I don't have the equipment to move large amounts of wood from my forest, and I am not fond of taking healthy trees down. I harvest what dies naturally in the areas I can reach easily. This week I found a great deal on apple firewood on craigslist. Apple is a great wood that packs more BTUS than even white oak. I haven't had the pleasure of burning it; normally it's very hard to find because it's valuable for furniture and smoking. Being the firewood geek I am I was ecstatic, I ordered a cord and it was delivered this last Wednesday. Today I stacked it all up with my wife. It turned out to be a properly measured cord cut to consistent lengths. I'm a perfectionist when it comes to my firewood, a properly cut, seasoned and stacked cord of wood is a piece of art. Unlike so many other people I've purchased firewood from, this gentlemen knew what he was doing: cut to 16" lengths, seasoned for 2 years, a full 8' x 4' x 4' cord. He also drove an hour in a snow storm to make sure we got our wood in time. There doesn't seem to be too many people of character these days, he definitely impressed me. I wish the best for him, and thankful that there are still honest and true guys like him in this world.
As I was stacking the wood in the quiet of the snow covered forest, my thoughts circled around the trees where this wood was cut from. There are so many old apple orchards in my area. The new farmers taking over don't like the hassle of harvesting apples from tall, strong, beautiful trees. So instead of revitalizing them, they cut them down and pull them out to plant new dwarf varieties. While the heritage apple trees grew 20-30' tall and wide and put down massive root systems, these dwarf apples won't reach much taller than 8' and need staking to keep themselves from breaking under their own weight. Their root systems are small and weak and require more water and inputs, but I guess the farmers don't mind since it's much easier to smother the fruit in toxic chemicals and to machine harvest the apples.
It's a sad situation, especially since these older trees are still producing bounties of hideously delicious apples which are great for sauce, cider and hard cider. We harvested about 100 pounds from one of these old orchards 4 years ago, and just recently finished the last jar of applesauce we made from them. I wish there were more young farmers that appreciated the value of these old stately trees. It pains me to know that era is literally being cut down and torn out. But I'm thankful for the farmers that planted the old orchards, they fed thousands of people, and now they are heating my home. I'm thankful for the trees; they spent their years absorbing and storing the sun's energy that they now will release to keep my family warm and comfortable through the coldest of nights.
In our country we need not wood stove because it is always hot as Sri Lanka is located near the equator.
Oh man!!! That's the goal! to slow down and rerlax in front of a wood burning stove fueled by wood taken from my own property!
Indeed! A lot of people in my area use outdoor wood boilers. But I would always recommend an indoor wood stove. There's nothing like the radiant warm heat heating the walls, floors, furniture and your body. Makes these long, cold, northern winters bearable.
correct me if i am wrong... Ive heard that wood heat is actually good for you...the circadian rhythm and all!
I am so jealous of that fine supply of wood!!! So I have this idea that apple is quite an aromatic wood when it is burnt, is it true?
Yep, apple is extremely aromatic, one of the best woods for smoking meats and cheeses. Very little smoke, but a lot of aroma. I won't have to burn any scented candles this holiday season!
Oh no, my jealousy has just multiplicated x100!!! lol
Old apple trees are awesome. I'm surprised you found a good deal on the wood though. Usually I'd assume it would be more expensive. Stay warm
It usually is, but they are cutting down so many around here there's an overflow of it available, which brought down the prices to that of good quality oak and maple.
What a great find! I have not had the pleasure of burning apple wood, yet. Back in Ohio, it was mostly oak and maple. Here in our area of Missouri, pretty much just white oak. Not that I am complaining, though! White oak is an awesome wood and a great resource. Provides food, too!
White oak is the best! I mostly burn red/black oak which grows on my land. It isn't quite as incredible as white oak, but not too shabby itself.
I have been restorative pruning on an old apple orchard and have gathered a decent amount of wood from that.
I hadn't realised it was such a good firewood.
Yeah, it's a pretty amazing wood! The limb wood is actually the best for burning too. It's more dense then than trunk wood. But you can get a lot of money chipping it up and selling it for smoking food. That's why you rarely hear of people using it as firewood.
I am a transplant homesteader from Canada to tropical Nicaragua. I would give anything for apple wood. It makes awesome coals to cook meats not to mention use in the smoke house. You are very fortunate to have found some.
What a great post about Apple trees. Resteemed. Again. 🐓🐓
Having just finished reading Norwegian Wood: Chopping, Stacking, and Drying Wood the Scandinavian Way by Lars Mytting, this post and its images has so much more meaning to me now!
I haven't had the pleasure of reading the book yet, but it is on my wishlist 👍🏼 This is the first year I really have a handle on stacking the wood. I've tried some convoluted methods but this was the best setup thus far. I usually use stakes at the ends to support the stack, but the alternating stacks of 3s on either end create nice stable pillars for the wood. I'll be cutting and splitting quite a bit this march as I'll be doing some thinning for some more garden space and possibly some orchards.