Wood stove season is upon us. I’ve been waiting for this all summer long. Back in April/May, I cut some trees, split some logs, and stacked some firewood. Now it’s time to burn. “Burn what?” you ask. Right now, mostly balsam fir and white pine. “But that’s softwood – pine,” you say. Yes, I know it is. And it’s wonderful.
When I was a kid, the unwritten law of the land said that it was taboo to burn any sort of pine. Everyone who was anyone said that the sap in the softwood would cause creosote, a sticky tar-like substance – and that creosote would clutter up the chimney. While, yes, wet pine that’s full of sap would certainly make a mess of things inside the chimney and add a nice layer of black gook to the walls, dry pine doesn’t do much damage at all. As a matter of fact, after years of testing, I’ve discovered that hardwood that isn’t dried out enough actually creates more creosote overall than does softwood.
Maine’s state tree is the Eastern white pine, for good reason. There are a whole heck of a lot of them here. On my property alone, we’ve got hundreds. And as far as balsam firs go, we’ve got thousands. The white pines are huge and while the balsam firs aren’t nearly as big, they both die off while still standing. They both also suffer lots of storm damage, usually during the winter, leaving them scattered across the forest floor. Each spring, I cut both the standing dead trees as well as the ones that have fallen and I load their carcasses into my trailer to be split and stacked up near the house. I’ve found that if I cut and stack enough and let the wood dry out long enough, I can burn this “free wood” well into December. This year, I think I might actually make it into January. I’ve got a lot this year and that makes me feel good. Every time I burn a piece of maple or oak, I feel like I’m throwing money away. Every time I burn a piece of pine, I feel like I’m somehow winning the game. I’ve got a lot of pine back there in the woods and it’s a wonderful resource to use to heat our home.
I titled this post Shoulder Season Firewood. If you aren’t familiar with what the shoulder season is, think about it this way: There’s summer. We don’t burn firewood during the summer. There are also the coldest days of the year in January and February. During those peak times, we burn hardwood because we want the most heat possible and because we need those logs to leave behind some glowing coals every morning. Coals help keep the fire going the next day. During the months of October, November, December, March, April, and May, we don’t need a tremendous amount of heat and because of that, we wouldn’t want to burn our good hardwood. These off-months are considered the shoulder season. Of course, every year is different and some months may need some adjustments, but that’s the general idea.
If you search around the internet to see what people burn during the shoulder season, I think you’ll find that folks burn what’s considered junk wood. Wood that can be obtained for free or for very little money. Wood that wouldn’t necessarily be burned on Thanksgiving or Christmas day, but that would be perfect to get a nice fire crackling with in the morning and to let burn out during the afternoon, when the sun’s shining and the walls of the house heat up. Pine is perfect for this and in my case, since I’ve got so much of it, everything seems to be working out rather well.
