Stocking Up the Woodpile

Living off the grid has a lot of joys. It makes our environmental footprint is less, we live a simple lifestyle, and it challenges us to do things differently. The cold months will soon be here, and our heat is 100% from wood. Our Kozi woodstove does a great job, but it needs lots of wood.

Throughout the summer and fall we gather wood. Most of it comes right up to our cabin begging to be captured. Our first choice is chunks of wood that are already woodstove size. Our second choice is larger pieces that need splitting. Because we see lots of wood pass our cabin on its way down the lake, we can afford to be choosy. We've also received a large load of old 2X8s from Peter who redid his deck.

Our new cedar log float is instrumental in our wood gathering and processing process. We can tow it to a location to pick up wood (like Peter's cabin), let the wood remain on the float until cutting, and it even serves as a cutting platform that can be placed directly across from our wood storage float.

The key component of our wood storage system is our separate wood storage float. Without it, we would have to store our wood on shore and climb the steep hill to reach it. The storage float keeps the weight off our cabin's float and also keeps the wood in a handy location for restocking our small indoor wood storage shelf. Now we need to find two more to saw into lengths to dry. That should fill the float to the brim and keep us Kozi warm for months to come.

Do you like to connect with others living off the grid? I just found a website and forum specifically for that purpose. Check it out. -- Margy

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