When we got a delivery of firewood recently, most of it was well seasoned and we stacked it neatly in the space I’d set aside as a log store. However, we also got a few unseasoned, unsplit logs as a bonus, which I put in an unused wheelie bin. They had been sitting exposed in the back of the tree surgeon’s van for a few weeks, so he was glad to get rid of them, but they had got a bit damp and, when I checked yesterday, I spotted that some of them were developing some furry mould!
We’ve now got a bit more space in our log store, having brought some of the wood inside (and used some of it), so one of my tasks today was to get those fresh logs split and stored in the better ventilated spot, which will speed up their drying and should sort out the mould growth.
It’s the first time I’ve had my splitting maul out since moving from Oxford and it was a pleasure to put it to work. It all seemed to go surprisingly easily – I don’t know if that was because the wood was relatively well proportioned and knot free (a couple of awkward looking pieces did get set on one side) or because I did a bit of sharpening before I set to work. Either way, it was enjoyable and I’ll look forward to getting the tool out again soon to deal with some of the slightly larger bits of seasoned wood too.