Visiting a neighor's wood stove
"It's
amazing how much time we spend just dealing with the cold at this time
of year." Our movie star neighbor hit the nail on the head, which
is why our pre-film entertainment revolved
around the wood
stove. We wanted to know all about it --- what kind it was
(Fisher Papa Bear), what he thought of it (good, but not as efficient
as his neighbors' fancy new stoves), and if he'd done anything special
with
it (lots!)
The first thing our neighbor
did when he got his stove was to add a
plate to the top of the fire box, which acts like a baffle and
increases the efficiency. More recently, he tapped
into the house's ductwork to pull hot air downstairs.
Outside, I was
enthralled by his woodshed, with latticework walls to
let air flow through and dry the wood. He likes to split cedar
logs into thin sticks of kindling to start his stove, and he saves the
beautiful, knotty pieces for decoration. Back inside, I'm always
drawn to the well polished river rocks he keeps on top of the stove to
warm your hands.
Reading homesteading
blogs at this time of year, you'll probably notice
that we go on and on about wood heat, and I don't think it's just
because we spend so much time feeding the fire. There is a
surprising amount of art to be found in the winter heat regimen, and
our neighbor's setup epitomizes that utilitarian beauty.
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About us: Anna Hess and Mark Hamilton spent over a decade living self-sufficiently in the mountains of Virginia before moving north to start over from scratch in the foothills of Ohio. They've experimented with permaculture, no-till gardening, trailersteading, home-based microbusinesses and much more, writing about their adventures in both blogs and books.
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