Don Dufresne

Rick Valley wrote:It interests me how many riparian species coppice well (Riparia is the Roman Goddess of rivers) Could it be that beavers selected for species that regrow? Anyway, my favorite alder is Italian- they do fine on dryland sites or on a river bank and they coppice well, and tolerate urban soils which often have abundant lime (from concrete) Maples that are great for coppice include Vine Maple and Big Leaf Maple. Osage Orange is in the Mulberry Family and is horribly spiny, but one badass tough drought tolerant coppice tree with mega-hard wood, that powered Comanche military dominance because it makes awesome bows, good for hunting buffalo or invading Spaniards, which originated the mongrel common name "Bodark" from from French "Bois D'Arc" or "bow wood" in "Merakin" Now I'ma have to see if there's a You Tube of the song "Choctaw Bingo"... with the line "Like an Ol' Bodark Fence Post You Could Hang A Pipe Rail Gate From" If you've never heard it, it is my Favorite Country song. It has been proposed that the Osage Orange fruit was a dispersal mechanism which appealed to the tastes of some now-extinct mega fauna.
So ANYTHING cellulosic can burn, but woods that have elite properties can really make you some bank ($) and the scrap can be firewood, is how I feel about it. When I am living with wood heat, I get paid to cut my firewood: How's that work you say? When I lived in Portland I heated my place with trimmings off of Cherry Laurel hedges, very good Hardwood, and in pieces that don't need splitting.

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I can relate to your James McMurtry/"Choctaw Bingo" reference.  Didn't make the connection until i read your comment.  Had to boot it up on YouTube while I typed this out.  It's a favorite as well.  
https://youtu.be/Nggqe-L9ZQ8?si=_J209ryBInhllmY9

Love it!  

I add it occasionally to compost cages as an additional layer.   I use the pond water to make compost tea.  Of course,  returning the tadpoles back.  I use a pool net to gather the muck and they get caught in every scoop.  It's a rich, under utilized resource.  Never enough hours in the day.

I use a Google Maps overlay.  There's probably a "file" on us.

Great topic and lots of new things to try.
We use wood ashes to make nixtamal.
Worth a look.

"Dr. Mary's Monkey" regarding the explosion of soft tissue cancers.

We inherited 7 Chinese Chestnut trees when we purchased our property 12 years ago. I'm guessing these and others were planted in the 50's or early 60's to help supplement the previous owners income. Once you recognize the tree, I see the occasional one or two around the area here or there.
They seem to like plenty if distance from other Chestnut trees.
With organics, the blight of two different weevils is an ongoing losing battle so far, although I haven't been able to really focus from year to year on the problem.
Harvesting before the hull opens works, but you lose that slight sweetness. If you find a Chestnut in the winter that has avoided the occasional squirrel, chipmunk or groundhog, you experience the sweet flavor this fruit is known for.
We've made flour several times and it's a true gourmet treat.
Soaking the bare Chestnuts in organic liquors has been a great way if preserving them.
Keeping poultry underneath the trees has proved beneficial in increasing the size if the Chestnuts.

Thanks, Paul.  That's always been a question for me.  Pretty amazing.

paul wheaton wrote:

Don Dufresne wrote:  I'm curious as to how a RMH works with poplar.  Is there a build up of creosote?

Rocket mass heaters don't have creosote.  A rocket mass heater tries to create a "chimney fire" every burn.  The chimney (or "heat riser") looks spotlessly clean every inspection.

My experience with poplar in a conventional wood cookstove with a masonry chimney, is an enormous amount of creosote, even after a year of uncovered seasoning outdoors, so I avoid it completely.  I'm curious as to how a RMH works with poplar.  Is there a build up of creosote?

S. G. Botsford wrote:
I don't see a half cord as being impossible.  I'm in Alberta near Edmonton.  We have a similar climate to the plains area of Montana -- what Montana gains by being south of us, they lose due to higher elevation.  We run a heating season of about 10,000 degree F days per year.

We have a 2500 square foot house that is mostly heated with a moderate efficiency (80%) airtight steel stove, and a low efficiency century old cast iron wood/coal range.  (we do not burn coal in it.)  We burn about 3 cords a year.  


Paul is gaining a factor of 2 in efficiency by using a rocket mass heater. Montana isn't as dark as Alberta in the winter.  Longer winter days give him another, what 20-30%.

Wood energy is directly proportional to dry weight.  Hardwoods tend to be denser than softwoods, but larch or tamarack is more dense than poplar.  Spruce and poplar is about the same.

Drying time is important.  I now have covered storage for 16 cords.  I figure 4 cords a year, but usually don't burn that much unless it is a bitter winter.  

I burn mostly poplar.  Not a lot of heat per cord, compared to other hardwoods, but it's fast to cut and fast to split.

Touring our local organic, raw milk dairy several weeks ago, just after releasing the chickens for the day. Sorry , "Files with the extension .mp4 are not allowed as attachment in the message."

One average wind in my area would destroy that one, unfortunately.