Firewood
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Every winter the farm house burns wood in its two wood stoves. In the early years there was a combination wood stove and oil burner in the basement as well as a wood stove in the old kitchen. The basement stove rusted out and was replaced with an oil burner which was placed in the basement of the new addition to the farmhouse. The old kitchen became a dining room and that wood stove - although still there is no longer used. Currently there is a wood stove in the kitchen and the living room.
Trees on the farm property provide the logs from which firewood is cut and split. Sometimes the family cut the trees down for firewood. This pile of logs was placed here by loggers after a harvest of trees for lumber.
The logs are then cut to length - 1970s
Every year the family got together in the fall for "Wood Day" to cut, split, & stack the firewood for the upcoming winter season. Generally the turn out was good - with about 10 - 20 family members participating. Once the need for wood decreased (around 2014? - the older folks relied more on oil) then "Wood Day" no longer took place.
Cutting wood to length - Wood Day October 2004
The cut wood lengths are usually too thick in diameter to fit into
a stove so a woodsplitter is used to make the firewood smaller. This
wood splitter was bought in the late 1970s or early 1980s. It is still
running (as of 2020).
Once the logs are cut to length and split they are placed into a big pile for seasoning. The wood eventually are moved to the wood stack near the farmhouse.
Several cords of wood cut, split, and stacked ready for the coming winter. The last few years wood has been bought - usually two cords a year.
Firewood a few steps away from the wood stove. Orginially there were three wood stoves in the farmhouse. A combination oil / wood burner in the old basement, one in the living room, and one in the kitchen. Once the new addition (two bedrooms, two baths, and kitchen) was added in the late 1970s a new wood stove in was installed in the new kitchen. The old kitchen was converted into a dining room. The wood stove in the dining room is no longer used. The wood / oil burner in the old part of the basement has been removed and a new oil burner installed in the new basement.