Homesteaders

[wyoDreamer]

It is closer to "thrice" or more for us.
Cut down tree, remove limbs, cut to 4' lengths and load on trailer to haul home and unload trailer; cut into 12-16" lengths, split, and then stack to dry; then we haul by the wagon load to the house for the actual warmth of a fire. We keep it stacked a little ways from the house since we have black widow and brown recluse spiders that call this area home and they seem to like woodpiles; it is also safer in case of a wildland fire to have it away from the house.

But the radian heat of a woodstove beats the forced air furnace by far and makes it all worth while.

 

[Raech]

We get a log truck load brought in, I think we had our last truck load 4 years ago, and we are still going through it. We have a little trailer that we pull behind the lawn mower/four-wheeler and fill it up. Then stack it on the deck then it goes under the fire place as we need it. This next year we are going back to the mountains to get our wood, so I'm super excited. I love chopping wood and felling trees. It should be interesting with the two little ones, I think I will just throw them in the trailer so they aren't in the middle of the chainsaws and splitter.

I killed a huge black widow that was in the dinning room at Grandpa's, I looked out the front window and happened to glance down and it was less than an inch from my bare foot, upside down on its web. I grabbed my shoe, smooshed, then flushed it. I really hate spiders, and it seems Grandpa has a lot of spiders. Its really starting to bug me(lol) especially with a dog that likes to eat bugs, and 2 boys that love to play with them, and aren't really leery of spiders.

So how was everybody's Thanksgiving? Mine was nice, just started making a dip for round 2 for my family's dinner on Sunday and sliced open my middle finger. Hollered at hubby to grab a band aid and all he could say is "what shape is it going to be this time and do you need stitches again?" I really love him. Then he starts whacking at the green onions like you do when your splitting wood with an ax with my butcher knife!! So now I'm waiting for the bleeding to stop to see how much of my finger I get to loose, I sliced it kind of sideways at the tip, but on the side; if that makes any sense, so I can finish my crab dip and make my harvest pies. Then I am done cooking till Sunday, minus our meals.

 

[boskelli1571]

Hi Raech - just finished our Thanksgiving. I was working overnights so got to cook & eat today. Waddle, waddle, waddle lol! The dogs & cats also enjoyed their turkey......
I'm a great fan of duck tape when it comes to sliced appendages - works really well as long as you aren't bleeding out or something

anyway, don't forget to let everyone know there might be 'extra protein' in the crab dip, Sue

 

[Raech]

Hi Raech - just finished our Thanksgiving. I was working overnights so got to cook & eat today. Waddle, waddle, waddle lol! The dogs & cats also enjoyed their turkey......
I'm a great fan of duck tape when it comes to sliced appendages - works really well as long as you aren't bleeding out or something

anyway, don't forget to let everyone know there might be 'extra protein' in the crab dip, Sue

Yeah its for my Dad and Grandpa, so they expect me to bleed whenever I cook, or burn it. I'm just that lucky when it comes to the kitchen. My Dad gave me some really sharp knives for my birthday, I am just really happy I wasn't using them when I did it. Finished the dip, and found out that sour cream works way better than my husbands recipe. I buy packaged crab just because I haven't gotten to go to Pikes Market up in Seattle yet, I most definitely will next spring when we go up for our next car show, we "will" be bringing a cooler so I can get fresh crab and shrimp. The hotel we stay at has a full sized kitchen so I can just stuff it in the fridge for the 2 days we are up there.

So here is my crab dip recipe.

1 package crab meat(about a pound)
10 small green onions
1 c(ish) sour cream (a large spoonful scoop)
3 heaping tablespoons minced garlic
ground pepper to taste

Finely chop the green onions into a large bowl. Rough chop the crab, to the size you like, we like it more on the fine side yet still chunky, pour it into the bowl with onions. Add in minced garlic and stir until combined. Add sour cream and minced garlic then stir until its all mixed together, then add pepper to taste. Serve with cracker of your choice, ours is garlic butter ritz.

It is a very mild crab dip, I'm sure you could add some heat too it but we like our crab mild and shrimp burning.

 

[kentuckychicks]

We actually still heat with gas ugh wanting to switch at least partly over to wood. Looking around on the internet for pricing is overwhelming as I'm not a 100% on what any of it actually means! We have a small 1300 square foot home. Does anyone have any advice on a cost effective way to go about converting to a wood burner? I'm a little wary of the stoves that sit out away from the wall inside the house as I do gave two small children. I can remember being a small kid and my parents heating with one of those big rectangle wood heaters (before we moved). Anyways my younger sister around two walked up and put both hands against the side. She had third degree burns on both palm sides of both hands. It was BAD! So as I said I'm leaning more towards putting in a fireplace or one of those that are on the outdoors with the pipes running into the house.

 

[Butterflyhigh]

We actually still heat with gas

ugh wanting to switch at least partly over to wood. Looking around on the internet for pricing is overwhelming as I'm not a 100% on what any of it actually means! We have a small 1300 square foot home. Does anyone have any advice on a cost effective way to go about converting to a wood burner? I'm a little wary of the stoves that sit out away from the wall inside the house as I do gave two small children. I can remember being a small kid and my parents heating with one of those big rectangle wood heaters (before we moved). Anyways my younger sister around two walked up and put both hands against the side. She had third degree burns on both palm sides of both hands. It was BAD! So as I said I'm leaning more towards putting in a fireplace or one of those that are on the outdoors with the pipes running into the house.

Hi kentuckychicks

I was overwhelmed too when I first started researching wood burning stoves. But really, it's not too bad. There are wood burning stoves, wood inserts, wood furnaces, and then there are the pellet stoves/furnaces of which I have no experience with.

If you already have a fireplace opening then look at a wood insert for the existing opening. If there is no existing opening you would have to have a fireplace built and the insert installed. That would get pretty pricy.

The wood burning furnace is the large unit outside that you fill with wood every 12 hours. It can connect to your existing heating ducts, but if you want to keep your gas heat as a backup I don't think you can use the same ducts.

Really...the best option IMO is the wood stoves like the one you had a very bad experience with. They make them now where they can sit pretty darn close to the interior walls. In a corner is a good place to have one. And if your place is apx. 1300 sq.ft. you can get the small size which can fit very nicely and not be as expensive as an insert or furnace. Kid's can be taught to stay away from them.

There are a lot of challenges of heating with wood. I chose wood because I have an endless supply of it on my property. Many people around my area have pellet or corn burning stoves. I just visited a neighbor who has a pellet outdoor furnace which burns corn. The house, to me, smells like burnt popcorn...he thinks it smells like carmel corn. It may smell different to different people.

Come to think of it.....probably the absolute cheapest way to heat with wood, and one of the hottest too, is with a barrel stove. You'll have to look it up, but my father used to hook one up to the chimney flue inside the fireplace. During the really cold months we would use that instead of the fireplace. It looked like a big black oil drum resting on it's side (on a platform of bricks). The lid area was a door which would swing open. You could put a ridiculous amount of wood inside. It's the same principal as a nice wood stove, but ugly and cheap. Worked really good though.

 

[rancher hicks]

My mother had a pot belly stove and she had two fires. Burned her house down. But one thing I learned is that with proper maintenance and care they can be safe.

I know my mother was not careful nor did she have her stove inspected to make sure it was safe. I've quite certain she burned things perhaps she shouldn't have. She was quite stubborn and independent so there was little we kids could do.

Just like with Chimney fires. Wood stoves need to be inspected yearly and cleaned. Pipes need to be inspected to make sure they are still safe. Creosote builds up and must be cleaned out. Not all types of woods are the same. Some burn longer and are better than others.

Unfortunately folks don't realize there is a problem until there is a fire. It's funny but I've not heard of chimney sweeps advertising nor heard of anyone talking about having used one.

So I would say a properly installed and yearly inspected wood stove should be safe.

 

[Butterflyhigh]

You are absolutely right. Proper maintenance is important. I am really lucky because the small family company that I purchased my wood insert from also does the annual cleaning. However, the owner showed me how to do it myself. It's really not too hard, just need the right size chimney sweeper tool thingy and an ability to get up on the roof. To have them give it it's annual one-over it cost around $85. Not too much to pay for safety and peace of mind.

As a side note...when my grandfather purchased this old farmhouse 50 years ago he burned one or two fires in the original fireplace. He walked outside and could see fire through the cracks of the brick chimney. He capped it and never used it again. When I moved here I had the above mentioned company come out and install a metal sleeve that runs the length of the chimney and then installed the insert. Works beautifully now.

When I was removing a wall in an upstairs bedroom I exposed the original chimney that was buried behind plaster for 75 years. The old hand hewn wood beans right against the brick chimney were scorched black and had obviously been WAY too hot at some point in history. It's a wonder this home had not caught on fire.

Wood stoves are really cool, but do follow property safety guidelines.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

Quadrafire wood stoves- we have one and we love it.

We hire a chimney sweep and feel much better afterward. Peace of mind.

I personally wouldn't go with an outdoor boiler. The underground water pipes can freeze if you leave home. They burn a lot of wood from what I read. Do your research if you are going that route since after reading about them I didn't want one.

 

[rancher hicks]

Our old house had a chimney and the chinking or cement between the blocks was crumbling and there was a hole in the attic part. We had a new furnace installed and vented out the side of the house so the chimney was not necessary.

Now the house we are in now? When we bought it the guy had vented the water heater through the side of the house, BUT it was the wrong kind of water heater and he had to move it and vent it through the chimney.

So this is why I say a wood stove properly installed should be safe. Of course if you are buying a house you should have it inspected AND don't forget the septic. We didn't and ours is too small for the size house we have.