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Started by Joan Denoo. Last reply by Randall Smith Dec 13, 2017. 2 Replies 2 Likes
Three to four cups of coffee a day linked to longer lifeOh! Yes! I knew that fourth cup of…Continue
Tags: bias, confirmation, life, coffee
Started by tom sarbeck. Last reply by Plinius Dec 9, 2017. 5 Replies 1 Like
In the Navy in 1950 my “buddies” told me to drink it or skip the coffee break.Naive, I believed them but needed four teaspoons of sugar to make it drinkable.Several months ago read of cold-brew in…Continue
Started by Patricia. Last reply by tom sarbeck Dec 8, 2017. 4 Replies 0 Likes
New poll shows British Columbia largely non-religiousIn April 2013, the…Continue
Started by Steph S.. Last reply by Randall Smith Nov 18, 2015. 1 Reply 2 Likes
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Randall, the list is complete for us in New England! It's in Yankee, after all.
I never saw an osage orange tree till I happened to be visiting a friend in Missouri. Hackberry grows in Vermont but not abundantly and only in the river valleys and bottomland. It's not found in upland forests of in the colder regions, so it's not much in use as fuel.
Here, silver maple is known as soft maple or swamp maple. It's fairly soft, like red maple, and so it's rarely harvested for stove wood, although it is taken for lumber because it's clean-grained and easy to work with.
Thanks Don, for the article. The list of trees was incomplete, however--no hackberry, silver maple, osage orange, etc. Hackberry is very common here. Still, I know it's a good burning (and splitting) wood.
The BTU comparisons to oil was interesting, although a little over my head. I often wonder if I'm really saving money. You've seen the articles citing costs of burning wood: truck, chain saw (and all that goes with it), splitter, and especially time involved. But, for me, it's not about saving money. It's the doing. I just hope I never harm myself--always a possibility.
In New England, those who heat with wood typically stay away from poplar and all the softwoods (fir, spruce, pine, larch). Apple, black birch, ironwood, and hickory deliver the most BTUs, apparently, but those varieties are not especially abundant anywhere. In southern New England, oak, ash, and sugar maple are the most common, and in the north, where oak and black birch do not predominate, the most common fuel woods are sugar maple, beech, ash, birch, and cherry. Here is a rundown in Yankee magazine.
I worked a bit at the poem, made some footnotes and now I can use it as teaching material. Thanks!
Good poem, Don.
Right now, I'm burning a lot of catalpa and willow. It's almost like burning paper, it's so soft. But, I had those 2 trees cut down 20 months ago and hated to just throw the wood away. I have a list of the best to worst wood to burn. Ash is a little above the middle. I like it for its "splitability".
Thanks, Don! I like mythology like this. We have Sambucus Nigra here, and it would not be easy to hang yourself from it; it branches out at ground level and hardly ever makes a strong trunk.
Don, thanks for the information on Elder trees and the Irish mythology! Here are a few more tales of the Elder tree and its mischief making qualities.
Some varieties of elder may give off a poisonous smoke. Mexican elder, found in the American South, contains a natural form of cyanide. Breathing the smoke can cause cyanide poisoning.
As the poem suggests, there is a old folk belief that someone in the household will die if elder is burned. It has also been said that every elder is witch. In Christian mythology, Judas was hanged on an elder tree--another association with death.
Thank you for the information, Don. I will share it with Larry.
I'm glad you have a lawn tractor, a necessary item with acrage and gathering wood for the winter.
Nice poem, Don! Does anyone understand the warning against elder tree? It's not poisonous, so it must be a myth.
Spud, we must just keep on dreaming of our earthships, and in the meantime go on with the projects that fit our possibilities. There's enough work!
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