Early Spring Thaw

The snow banks have been melting as daytime temperatures are well into the thirties. Consequently, we have been scrambling to get our slash piles burned before too much grass is exposed and burn permits are required.

The garage, driveway and now the cabin site are all cleared. Yes, we have slightly altered our master plan. We've decided to build a small 16 X 24 cabin first. Our priority is to get on the land as soon as possible and we believe we can do this most comfortably with a cabin instead of a garage. There will be plenty more on this decision and subject in future posts.

Beyond clearing the site, I have been thinning out all the balsam fir within a hundred feet of the cabin site. This measure, a sound forestry practice, is also wildfire prevention to minimize potential fuel in close proximity to our dwelling.

Needless to say, I've learned a lot about fires during the last couple of weeks. Fire is alive! You've got to breathe life into it and nourish it into maturity. Once an adult, a fire lives it's vibrant hours as it pleases, with the help of a couple of gentle nudges of course. Kind of like me...

I don't know what I would do without birch bark. It has been my designated fire starter in the north woods of Minnesota since my dad let me play with matches. Being a full-fledged adult pyro, I have no problem getting a blaze going. Here's my process: I take a healthy birch bark peel and get it burning with dried fir twigs. (A trick we learned while running dogs where we were forced to master the art of twiggy fires due to lack of firewood.) I pile on the fir twigs until they flame. At that point I build a teepee with dried 1-2 inch birch/aspen. Then I just pile on all the dry wood around me. With a coal base established, I add on a couple of hardwood logs. Then, the fun begins!

As you know, I'm thinning primarily firs. I cut them down into 5-6' lengths. Once I have a good fire going, I throw the firs into the inferno. I'll throw on a couple, let the flames engulf it, and add some more until I feel that the fire needs time and oxygen to burn. This is where the nurturing comes in. Every fire seems to have it's own capacity. Some fires will only take a tree before you have to shake it up with a little oxygen. Other fires, however, can take a dozen trees at a time. Flames roar 20 feet in the air and the monster will need no more attention beyond sating it's voracious appetite!

I've burned 7 piles since the clearing began. I still need to clear a parking area, a 6 foot wide trail from the driveway to cabin (60' long) and finish thinning the 100' perimeter around the cabin site. I must admit that I am looking forward to carpentry work. Chainsaw work is fun but change of pace will be welcomed.

We had a couple of guests on the property recently. Amy's dad, Bill, paid his second visit to the property. His advice has and always will appreciated. We were able to chat about construction methods. At this stage in the game, I am all ears...

Our good friends Nathan, Shannon & 8-month baby Liam were out for a hike the other day. This was Nathan's fourth visit as he has been one of my partners in slash burning crime on a couple of occasions. His help is always appreciated.

Our friend Tristan also paid a visit to the property. The more folks that we have out there, the more the place feels like home.

Wolf Update: The wolves have seemed to have moved on. They left some carcasses of which the coyotes (and Luna) are cleaning up.

So, for now, I will continue thinning firs. However, my thoughts are spinning plans for pouring the sonotube piers that will be the foundation of the cabin...

Driveway Cleared!

With highs in the thirty's and the relatively strong February sun taking charge of the afternoon sky, this past week on the North Shore has been ideal conditions for work.

The week started at sunrise last Saturday. On her way to Duluth for school, Amy dropped me off with my sled and our beloved Adirondack chair at the bottom of the hill. The pink hues of the sun rising over Lake Superior was spectacular! As the morning light forced its way through the sky, I started by hauling the sled up the hill and over to the garage site. I then made my way back down to get the chair. Schlepping the collapsed wooden chair over my back like a #3 Duluth Pack was probably a site to be seen! I can you tell it hurt like hell, but well worth it! It is now set up at the garage site looking down the driveway. I feel like a king on his throne, sipping my tea, and admiring my slow but steady progress of clea

ring the drive.

So began a week of solid driveway clearing. Every afternoon, Luna and I climbed the hill and spent the waning hours of sunlight cutting away. Finally, one week later, I reached the bottom of the driveway! The saw must have known that the task was complete too, within seconds of limbing the last tree, the trusty Stihl choked and ran out of gas. That's fine, it deserves a little love and a new chain anyways.

The driveway is cleared 16-18 feet in width. It gains about 40 feet in elevation over the 420' length. From the top there's a slight dog leg to the left as it weaves through the white spruce. Saving the spruce (versus the fir) always took precedent in negotiating my way through the thick upland boreal forest. I cut in 25' increments. With the general alignment in mind, I assessed the canopy looking for "keepers". From there I'd measure out my width, cut the smaller shrub and pile. Then I went at the big stuff. I'd start by dropping the fir, limb it and stack. Then the hardwoods. After everything had been dropped and limbed, I piled the hardwoods and conifers separately. And so I crept along, 25' at a time with the occasional tea break.

At this point I've been burning the slash separate from clearing. We've had three burn sessions. The first two occasions climaxed with 10-12 foot flames! I must admit, I had a great time singing "O' Christmas Tree" as I tossed entire balsam fir trees into the inferno.

I've been contemplating how to manage our white spruce forest. Luckily, I know some foresters. Being a "rock-licking" geologist, I don't know the first thing about forest management. But, like all of this homesteading business, I'll make it up as I go! My plan is to thin out all the fir I can. They grow like weeds, carry disease, have a short life span and compete for nutrients with the spruce. This spring I hope to plant white spruce, red oak and red pine.

Driveway cleared, now onto planning structures...

Finding a clearing routine...

I've been spending my evenings on the property clearing, surveying, and planning. The first half of the week has been beautiful! Highs in the low 20's and snow.

Sunday started with a couple inches of dry lake-effect snow and continued throughout the day. It was the kind of snow that skiers dash to the Wasatch Range of Utah for. Instead of skiing, I was sawing away at the firs and poplars; clearing the garage pad. I rather enjoy being out in foul weather. It helps me appreciate the fair days. I guess it's the Norwegian in me. "There's no such thing as bad weather just bad clothes." Right? Hence the wool outfit that I wear religiously. Ever since my time in Alaska working in the bush: wool is the only way to go. It keeps you warm when wet, enough said. Fleece is for sleeping in a tent or the city.

On Monday I decided to take a break from the chain saw and enjoy the white powder. After work I made my way over the hill and skied 10 km of absolutely perfect trails through the red pines of Maple Hill.

On Tuesday I went back out to the land with a GPS unit and surveyed-in the corner pins, as well as the locations of the house, garage, shed, driveway and septic sites. I have been mapping my progress by hand and thought the time was right to get everything surveyed and flagged accordingly. Now I have the property on my own map with my own data and within a meter of accuracy. It's about time considering that we've owned the property for a whole month now!

Wednesday brought me back at the clearing. Here's my routine: I drop a few trees. Limb the straight spruce that I want to keep for structures and basic lashing practice. Drag the limbed poles to their storage by the future shed. Gather the burn brush and hardwoods that aren't firewood worthy. Haul the brush to the burn pile of choice. Drag the wood-stove destined birch to the "bucking log" and repeat at the top.

The big news is that I have now cleared the garage site of all vegetation with the exception of one 10" diameter white spruce that Amy has grown particularly fond of. I will drop this one with her present, so she can say her goodbyes or whatever she's got to do.

So tomorrow I will cut this nice spruce and start burning the slash piles. I'm planning on using kerosene to get the piles going. Kerosene is less volatile than straight octane. As much I love seeing things go boom, I'll play it safe this time. To answer what is on the back of everybody's mind: everything is very green, so yes, the "boy scout juice" is necessary.

There is a huge black wolf roaming the woods. Luna (our mutt who weighs pert-near 70 pounds) stepped in one of its tracks. Her print was less than one half the size of his! I'll keep the camera handy with the hope of sneaking a shot of this one. As I was making my way to the truck I could hear the pack howling in the distance. Apart from the howls, they were making strange hyena-like sounds. In reality, they probably weren't so distant. The critters sounded like they were within a 7 iron shot away!

Hearing that pack at the end of the day has become part of the routine. Cut, limb, drag, pile & howl. Another day done gone...

Wood Chips A-Flyin'!

Finally got back out to the property today for a warm day of clearing the garage site! Sunny, clear skies in the morning that clouded up in the afternoon. Highs in mid 20's.

When the weekend rolled around it was time to get out and do some work! The air today felt like spring. I know, I've lived in Northern Minnesota long enough to know that this is just the mid-winter thaw. However, it felt great to know that the sun is getting high enough in the sky to promote some of that good ol' spring melting. Plus, the melting and refreezing at night is helping us to see how and where the water flows on the property. This will help us figure out culvert locations for the driveway, make decisions about structure orientation, etc. So far no surprises. We had a couple of storm events in the fall that gave us an idea of the drainage patterns. At this point I don't anticipate any major driveway alignments or structure placement changes due to drainage issues. The big test will be this spring when everything melts!

Today was the third day of clearing the garage site. At this point we are about half way to having the garage pad and turnaround cleared. It took us most of the morning bucking the birch that I had felled the last time we worked. From there Amy started stacking the 16 inch lengths to cure for next year.

This picture shows the garage site looking down the driveway on the left. The area that we have cleared to the right is about half of the space that we will need. Unfortunately, the trees in the middle of the shot will be coming down next.

By the time the sun was getting low the felled birches were bucked, the fir were piled and ready to be burned and the cut wood stacked and curing.

The word is that a storm front might be coming through tomorrow. Nonetheless, we hope to be working away some more. It feels so good to be "carving out our niche" in the great north woods...