Washingtonians

[Kaneke]

Quote:
another thing you can do, put those wet logs on TOP of the stove

adds moisture to the dry air when it's cold

adds a pleasant scent to the house too

then after they are somewhat dried out, you can put them back in the woodshed to finish drying out over the summer

 

[Ogress]

I'm always amazed at the people who choose to build at the base of Mt. Si out here in North Bend - always in the shade from the shadows of the mountains, often flooded or at least cut-off by the Snoqaulmie, and there are huge, house-sized rocks and boulders scattered all over ON TOP OF the soil - all those big rocks have fallen from the mountain recently! Yeah, that is right where I want to build my dream home; right at the base of a 4,000 foot high mountain on the picturesque jagged rocky side where the trees cant's grow because it is too steep and unstable.

Maybe they will be future Darwin Award recipients.

 

[hallerlake]

Quote:
Yes they do but it is not easy to describe. It is mostly in the bark and the shade of grey the wood is.


Lets start with CLEAN the flue. Then yes a good hot fire daily wll help. Also to reduce build up make sure that you only burn well seasoned wood. Seasoned wood by WA law is wood that has been cut AND split for a min of 90 days. It really needs longer to be real good. Also try to maintain an internal flue temp of 300-500*F. I am really curious about the size of your stove and the settings, based on the burn time you report.
Hope this is a little help. feel free to ask any more questions. I don't know all the answers but am willing to share what little I do know.

Love the help. Thank you!
I had my flue professionally cleaned and they said they were very clean and if I kept burning the way I do (hot) that I could wait 2 even 3 years between cleanings.
I only burn wood that's 12 months or older.
I have a thermometer on the outside of the stove. When it's up and running it usually reads 350 - 400. (But I noticed with maple it was 400 - 500.)
The website (link below) claims "up to 8 hour burn" which makes me wonder if I just don't put in enough wood.
I usually just add a couple pieces- maybe 1/3 full - because I don't want the wood to fall forward and rest on the glass.
One thing that may be different about my set up but I don't know if it would make a difference: the woodstove's flue is on the north side of the house which is on the north side of a hill. The air can swoop down the flue something fierce. Also, the pipes have two angles going up (it's not just a straight shot up and out the roof.)
Any ideas? Thanks for your help!
http://www.jotul.com/en-US/wwwjotulus/Main-menu/Products/Wood/Wood-stoves/Jotul-F-400-Castine/

get a chimney cap similar to this one:

http://www.luxurymetals.com/wind_directional_caps.html?gclid=CLP71ungzawCFekaQgodIjCwrg

they are all over the Oregon Coast, look like Spanish Conquistador helmets ...

make a HUGE difference

My parents got one of those to keep the wind from blowing down the chimney. It works.

 

[herbandteas]

Quote:
wow learn new things from you guys!

 

[Ogress]

I have an itty-bitty turkey and a great big bowl of stuffing. Since there is no way this stuffing will fit in the bird, how do I cook it?

I have been sampling it since I browned the sausage (from Scott at Patriot) and onion, then cooked it with fresh herbs and celery before mixing it in with a chopped up loaf of sourdough and some whole wheat bread, a couple of apples, parsley and dried cranberries. It's yum! but needs more cooking as the texture is wrong - too chunky.

 

[Kaneke]

Quote:
put it in a covered casserole dish and bake it -- add some of the turkey juices partway through to moisten it and give it that good flavor

 

[4cats3kids1hubby2many]

Quote:
put it in a covered casserole dish and bake it -- add some of the turkey juices partway through to moisten it and give it that good flavor

what she said. We always stuff the bird and a dish...just because my mother always makes so much.

 

[KMHunter]

Hi all! Have been lurking the last few days. Trying to keep up with you all is daunting. Want to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving!

Love you all!

Kim

 

[Stumpfarmer]

Quote:
It's murder to fertilize it, a sin to cut it down, and a worse sin to burn it when the hardwood people are paying pure gold for anything over 4" diameter 6 feet long: furniture wood, floor wood, and the best possible native xeroscaping tree. It burns about the same as Doug fir only without the pitch.

Pretty much just wanted the last sentence but why would anyone bother to fertilize a tree like that? Reminds me when we first moved here I was admiring all the trees and I remember a landscaper commenting how trees are weeds in WA. I love all the trees but have kept that in mind. I think madronas are nice to look at with their pretty bark and all but really hate that they are constantly dropping dead leaves and pretty much look dead most of the time. If it's in our way we cut it down, if it's not we leave it. No tears shed. You can send those hardwood people my way. I can sell them my 6' Madrona pieces and use the Gold to buy even more Madrona firewood. In my experience it takes a lot longer to burn than the Fir. When we stock the stove with Madrona at night there are still lots of nice coals in the morning.
Not so with fir.

People who buy a lot because it's got a mature madrona on it (and is there anything more beautiful?) and then want a nice bright-green lawn right up to the base of it- and poison it. I've finally got a Madrona the birds gave me- they are hard trees to chose a place to plant unless you're t the TOP of one of those unconsolodated glacial till cliffs (Dana has a nice patch to look at coming over Chambers Creek up the hill from the University Place Fred Meyers).

They look dead? Not if they're well-sited, and I'm immune to dropped leaves since I moved next to two acres of oak trees.

"Trees are weeds" is overly broad. Alders are green-manure, Cottonwoods are evidence that God wants us to pay attention, nobody needs Doug Fir in their yards what with God, the Forest Service and Weyerhaeuser planting them everywhere, and Oaks, Madrona, and Cascara are bird habitat.

(much much later)

I got distracted and left this behind, just came in from getting the Wyandotte coop to the point of moving the chickens in, callooo-callay, or would a moment of silence be more appropriate?

As soon as my emergency snack kicks in, the larger (and rebeared, Deirdre, I should have taken more photos!) offspring and I are going to go grab Ian and Sylvia, give them their Emprinex, and stick them in their new, clean, dry, windproof home, so YAY, right?


Any words of wisdom would be much appreciated.

 

[Stumpfarmer]

Quote:
Much like the people in Laurel Canyon, in LA, building a new house right next to a one-storey basement foundation full of mud slide debris.