Oranges in the sunshine
Friday, 23 August 2013
Sunday, 11 August 2013
Harvesting honey the simple way - Part 2: Harvesting honey from natural comb
The box of honey (still sitting on the bee escape equipment, covered in towels) was left in the dark shed for 2 days - as per the description in Part 1. I then bring it inside for processing.
To process the honey we use the following equipment:
The first step is to remove the towels, take the lid off and see if there are any bees still inside the box. Do this by taking one frame out at a time and inspect it. Use the tweezers to gently pluck the bees off the comb and drop them in the bucket of water. This shouldn't be hard to do as they will be very slow moving. Do this for each frame in the box. When all the bees are in the bucket, take it outside and empty it on the garden. After a little while those bees will dry out and be able to fly away.
Back in the bee-proof room, use your knife to cut the comb off the frame and drop it into the 20 litre plastic bucket. Do this with all frames, putting the empty frames into the styrofoam box. Then get out the potato masher and mash the comb in the bucket. It will end up looking like this:
Here's the processing in action at our house. You might notice that the window is open - we have flyscreens on our windows which makes them bee-proof, otherwise the window would have had to remain closed for the duration of the honey processing. When the strainer is on, unfortunately the lid of the stainless steel honey bucket I have no longer clips on - I just sit the lid on top of the strainer and cover the whole lot with a plastic bag and a big rubber band to keep things nice and clean. The plastic containers hold the mashed comb that has already been strained.
Easy.
To process the honey we use the following equipment:
- A 20 litre food grade plastic bucket with lid (available at Bunnings for around $20)
- A metal sieve/strainer. Mine is a double sieve which I bought from a beekeeping supplies shop. There are cheaper options out there - some people use muslin very successfully.
- A honey bucket with a honey gate. Again, I bought one, but there are instructions on the web for making one at a lower cost using a food grade plastic bucket.
- A knife
- A potato masher
- A styrofoam broccoli box for putting the sticky frames in once they have had the comb cut out (free from your local greengrocer)
- A bucket of water
- tweezers
- A deep spoon or ladle
We have a very small kitchen and an outside laundry, so the best place to do the initial processing steps is in the bathroom (door closed) where drips can be easily cleaned up. The processing room must be bee-proof as bees from outside will be attracted to the honey and will try to get to it.
The first step is to remove the towels, take the lid off and see if there are any bees still inside the box. Do this by taking one frame out at a time and inspect it. Use the tweezers to gently pluck the bees off the comb and drop them in the bucket of water. This shouldn't be hard to do as they will be very slow moving. Do this for each frame in the box. When all the bees are in the bucket, take it outside and empty it on the garden. After a little while those bees will dry out and be able to fly away.
Back in the bee-proof room, use your knife to cut the comb off the frame and drop it into the 20 litre plastic bucket. Do this with all frames, putting the empty frames into the styrofoam box. Then get out the potato masher and mash the comb in the bucket. It will end up looking like this:
Place the strainer on top of the honey bucket (make sure the gate is closed!). Use the ladle to scoop the mashed comb into the sieve. Then let it drip through the strainer. The warmer the weather the faster the honey will drip through the strainer so it's best to process your honey on a warm day.
The comb will look like this when the honey has dripped out:
Once strained, the mashed comb will still be sticky as there is still some honey in it but no longer enough that it will drip through the strainer. Scoop this crushed comb out and store it in a plastic container with a lid. Add more crushed honey comb from the 20 litre plastic bucket to the strainer and repeat the process until the plastic bucket is empty.
Here's the processing in action at our house. You might notice that the window is open - we have flyscreens on our windows which makes them bee-proof, otherwise the window would have had to remain closed for the duration of the honey processing. When the strainer is on, unfortunately the lid of the stainless steel honey bucket I have no longer clips on - I just sit the lid on top of the strainer and cover the whole lot with a plastic bag and a big rubber band to keep things nice and clean. The plastic containers hold the mashed comb that has already been strained.
It looks like this:
More honey can be extracted by heating this strained comb ...but I'll describe that in a later post.
When all of the mashed comb from the plastic bucket has been put through the strainer the honey is ready to bottle. I do this over the kichen sink and use clean, recycled glass jars to store the honey in. Simply open the honey gate on the honey bucket and let the honey flow into each jar. Close the gate, get the next jar ready and repeat the process until all the honey is in the jars.
Friday, 2 August 2013
Harvesting honey the simple way - Part 1: Separating the bees from the honey
We run a low-tech beekeeping operation and don't see the need for owning lots of fancy equipment. There are lots of ways of harvesting honey which involve varying amounts of equipment. Our method is a pretty simple one.
Our frames are unwired and start out looking like this:
Instead of using a full sheet of wax on a wired frame, we use a wax starter strip to help orient the bees in their comb building activities. We do this for several reasons.
Firstly, this allows the bees to build comb of whatever cell size they want, rather than dictating it via a wax sheet. We're of the opinion that bees know what they want, and far be it from us to tell them otherwise. Cell size has also been shown to be important for bees in helping them control Varroa without the use of chemicals. This is something that we in Australia have yet to deal with, but the terrible day will no doubt come when the Varroa mite reaches our shores too.
Secondly, using only a small strip of beeswax means we cut down on potential chemical contamination in the hive. Commercially available beeswax has been shown to contain many chemicals, especially in the US where it is contaminated with acaracides. It's not the same in Australia but the wax in the sheets you buy does come from lots of different sources. Bees, during their daily activities, visit sources where pesticides and other chemicals are present and it's possible these chemicals can end up in the wax. So we prefer to have natural comb in our hive which provides much cleaner wax.
Thirdly, it means that when we harvest the honey we don't need an extractor to do it - we can simply cut out the comb from the frame with a knife.....but more on that process later.
Finally, it makes the whole process of constructing frames quicker, easier and cheaper. All of which are good things in a low-tech beekeeping operation.
The first step in harvesting honey is to get the bees to leave the box of honey. This year we trialled a bee escape board design made by the convenor of our Natural Beekeeping group. It's one of several designs he has made and we were the first to trial it. It consisted of a base, covered with plastic (to catch any dripping honey) and a lid that has escape holes for the bees. All of the materials used to make it can be easily purchased at places like Bunnings.
The box of honey is placed on the bee escape base and the lid is put on the top. It's important to place this close to the hive so the bees escaping from the box can find their way home. Then you just leave them to it and over the next few hours the bees leave the box and fly back to the hive. They do this because over time they realise they are no longer part of the hive - the absence of the queen is noted and the box cools down. This prompts them to leave and re-join the hive.
Here's a not-very-good close-up of a couple of bees leaving the box. There's one by the top hole and one at the edge of the flywire to the right of the second hole (look for the little dots on the flywire!). They have crawled out of the box towards the light through the holes in the lid and are moving along the flywire, about to fly away. Unfortunately the photo was taken well after the major exodus of bees from the box - I should have taken more photos to better illustrate this part of the process .........but at the time I was busy doing other things.
After 3 or so hours the vast majority of bees have left the box of their own accord. The whole process is much cleaner and easier than taking individual frames from the hive, trying to brush the bees off each frame before putting the frame in a separate container with a lid (such as a styrofoam broccoli box), and then repeating the process for each frame you plan to harvest. This usually involves a lot of bees flying around who are not so happy with you. It does mean 2 visits to the hive though - not a problem if it's in your backyard!
Once 3 or so hours have passed the honey box complete with lid and base can be taken away from it's spot beside the hive and is ready in most cases for harvesting. The few remaining bees can generally be gently brushed off the frames. However, because the primary beekeeper in the PragSust partnership is sensitive to bee stings, we do an extra step. We place the box in the shed/garage with blankets or towels covering the lid so any remaining bees inside the box can't escape. We leave it like this for a day or two before taking the whole lot, as is, inside for processing. This leaves any bees remaining in the box in a slow and drowsy state and makes it much easier to catch them and release them outside.
We were able to report back that this bee escape lid design worked pretty well, although not quite as well as a different design of his, based on the reports we'd heard of no bees left in the box after 3 hours! Next time we plan to trial a different technique so we'll report on that method once we've given it a go.
Our frames are unwired and start out looking like this:
Instead of using a full sheet of wax on a wired frame, we use a wax starter strip to help orient the bees in their comb building activities. We do this for several reasons.
Firstly, this allows the bees to build comb of whatever cell size they want, rather than dictating it via a wax sheet. We're of the opinion that bees know what they want, and far be it from us to tell them otherwise. Cell size has also been shown to be important for bees in helping them control Varroa without the use of chemicals. This is something that we in Australia have yet to deal with, but the terrible day will no doubt come when the Varroa mite reaches our shores too.
Secondly, using only a small strip of beeswax means we cut down on potential chemical contamination in the hive. Commercially available beeswax has been shown to contain many chemicals, especially in the US where it is contaminated with acaracides. It's not the same in Australia but the wax in the sheets you buy does come from lots of different sources. Bees, during their daily activities, visit sources where pesticides and other chemicals are present and it's possible these chemicals can end up in the wax. So we prefer to have natural comb in our hive which provides much cleaner wax.
Thirdly, it means that when we harvest the honey we don't need an extractor to do it - we can simply cut out the comb from the frame with a knife.....but more on that process later.
Finally, it makes the whole process of constructing frames quicker, easier and cheaper. All of which are good things in a low-tech beekeeping operation.
The first step in harvesting honey is to get the bees to leave the box of honey. This year we trialled a bee escape board design made by the convenor of our Natural Beekeeping group. It's one of several designs he has made and we were the first to trial it. It consisted of a base, covered with plastic (to catch any dripping honey) and a lid that has escape holes for the bees. All of the materials used to make it can be easily purchased at places like Bunnings.
The box of honey is placed on the bee escape base and the lid is put on the top. It's important to place this close to the hive so the bees escaping from the box can find their way home. Then you just leave them to it and over the next few hours the bees leave the box and fly back to the hive. They do this because over time they realise they are no longer part of the hive - the absence of the queen is noted and the box cools down. This prompts them to leave and re-join the hive.
Here's a not-very-good close-up of a couple of bees leaving the box. There's one by the top hole and one at the edge of the flywire to the right of the second hole (look for the little dots on the flywire!). They have crawled out of the box towards the light through the holes in the lid and are moving along the flywire, about to fly away. Unfortunately the photo was taken well after the major exodus of bees from the box - I should have taken more photos to better illustrate this part of the process .........but at the time I was busy doing other things.
After 3 or so hours the vast majority of bees have left the box of their own accord. The whole process is much cleaner and easier than taking individual frames from the hive, trying to brush the bees off each frame before putting the frame in a separate container with a lid (such as a styrofoam broccoli box), and then repeating the process for each frame you plan to harvest. This usually involves a lot of bees flying around who are not so happy with you. It does mean 2 visits to the hive though - not a problem if it's in your backyard!
Once 3 or so hours have passed the honey box complete with lid and base can be taken away from it's spot beside the hive and is ready in most cases for harvesting. The few remaining bees can generally be gently brushed off the frames. However, because the primary beekeeper in the PragSust partnership is sensitive to bee stings, we do an extra step. We place the box in the shed/garage with blankets or towels covering the lid so any remaining bees inside the box can't escape. We leave it like this for a day or two before taking the whole lot, as is, inside for processing. This leaves any bees remaining in the box in a slow and drowsy state and makes it much easier to catch them and release them outside.
We were able to report back that this bee escape lid design worked pretty well, although not quite as well as a different design of his, based on the reports we'd heard of no bees left in the box after 3 hours! Next time we plan to trial a different technique so we'll report on that method once we've given it a go.
Monday, 22 July 2013
Tuesday, 16 July 2013
Edible naturestrips
Looking for some extra space to grow your edibles? Maybe it's time to consider your nature strip. That expanse of grass in front of your home between the footpath and the road could be an ideal place to grow herbs and vegies, if of course, it's permitted by your local council.
While you have to mow your nature strip, technically this land is council property. Not all councils will allow you to plant out your nature strip so you must check with your council before you start. Even if they do permit nature strip plantings, they may have a list of allowed plants and this may not include edibles. The last thing you want is for council to come along and remove your lovely plants if they consider them to be unsuitable.
Our local council requires you to apply for the relevant permit and adhere to strict guidelines to ensure public safety and meet council liability requirements. A council officer also needs to conduct an inspection and give their okay. It's also worth running your plans by your neighbours. Complaints to council may be averted if people understand exactly what you are planning to do. Making it look attractive and keeping it well maintained and weed-free should also help to cut down on complaints.
Moreland council, also in Melbourne, permits edibles to be planted on natures strips. Below is a great example. These photos were taken at Karen Sutherland's inspiring urban food garden, 'Gunyah', in Pascoe Vale South. This fantastic garden was open to the public as part of the Open Gardens Australia program last weekend.
And here's a nature strip of herbs in Hahndorf, spotted on our travels to South Australia:
One well-known and attractive-looking edible nature strip planting is The Verge, featured on Gardening Australia (ABC TV). Viewers of this show will have watched the evolution of this edible streetscape created by Costa Georgiadis and his neighbours on the nature strips in his Sydney street.
Nature strip plantings must consider the following points:
Clear access - In general, footpaths must be 1.5 m wide and clear of tripping hazards or overhanging vegetation. People also need to be able to get in and out of cars parked on the adjacent road. For The Verge, Costa created mulched paths long the curb to allow easy access to and from parked cars:
Clear line of sight - Your plantings must not obscure peoples' line of sight and contribute to traffic accidents or other traffic problems. Keeping the plantings to low growing herbs and vegies will assist in this.
You'll also have to be prepared for possible vandalism and the stealth harvesting of your produce by others. When this happens try to remember that sharing the harvest is an important principle of the permaculture movement!
If this idea appeals to you, get the okay from your council and then you can start designing your very own edible nature strip. The Gardening Australia website provides a step by step guide to help you get started.
While you have to mow your nature strip, technically this land is council property. Not all councils will allow you to plant out your nature strip so you must check with your council before you start. Even if they do permit nature strip plantings, they may have a list of allowed plants and this may not include edibles. The last thing you want is for council to come along and remove your lovely plants if they consider them to be unsuitable.
Our local council requires you to apply for the relevant permit and adhere to strict guidelines to ensure public safety and meet council liability requirements. A council officer also needs to conduct an inspection and give their okay. It's also worth running your plans by your neighbours. Complaints to council may be averted if people understand exactly what you are planning to do. Making it look attractive and keeping it well maintained and weed-free should also help to cut down on complaints.
Moreland council, also in Melbourne, permits edibles to be planted on natures strips. Below is a great example. These photos were taken at Karen Sutherland's inspiring urban food garden, 'Gunyah', in Pascoe Vale South. This fantastic garden was open to the public as part of the Open Gardens Australia program last weekend.
And here's a nature strip of herbs in Hahndorf, spotted on our travels to South Australia:
Nature strip plantings must consider the following points:
Clear access - In general, footpaths must be 1.5 m wide and clear of tripping hazards or overhanging vegetation. People also need to be able to get in and out of cars parked on the adjacent road. For The Verge, Costa created mulched paths long the curb to allow easy access to and from parked cars:
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| via |
You'll also have to be prepared for possible vandalism and the stealth harvesting of your produce by others. When this happens try to remember that sharing the harvest is an important principle of the permaculture movement!
If this idea appeals to you, get the okay from your council and then you can start designing your very own edible nature strip. The Gardening Australia website provides a step by step guide to help you get started.
Thursday, 11 July 2013
Wednesday, 10 July 2013
Weeds are useful - honest!
What's a weed? Well one definition of a weed is a plant that's growing in the wrong place. Like the olive trees we saw growing by the sides of the road when we travelling to South Australia. I see them as a bonus (free olives anyone?), others see them as a weed. It's all a matter of perspective. For example, weeds growing in worn out soils are a good sign that the land is regenerating.
Using a lot of mulch in your garden like we do, definitely cuts down on the amount of weeding that's required. Unfortunately it doesn't quite remove the need to weed altogether. Unlike most Melbourne households we don't have a green waste bin. Instead we compost all the lawn clippings, tree prunings, leaves .......and weeds onsite.
So what do we do with our 'weeds'?
The first stop is our pet guinea pigs. These little guys had all been looking for homes when they came to us and we make a point of providing them with a high quality of life. Too many guinea pigs out there are not being cared for properly and have terrible lives, but that's another issue altogether. Anyway, these little guys love to eat a variety of the weeds that grow in a typical suburban garden. And they turn it all into nice little pellets that are great fertiliser for the garden. Plus they're cute. Big tick for those little weed eaters.
For the weeds they don't eat, we turn into a weed tea. We add the weeds to a black plastic garbage bin and top up with water, making sure the weeds are completely submerged (using bricks to weigh them down). The lid goes on and the bin is left to sit in a sunny spot in the garden for a few weeks. The sun heating up the bin and the water both act to kill the weeds. After a few weeks you can fork the dead weeds into the compost bin to break down further. This leaves you with a nutrient rich (and sometimes rather pungent) water solution which you can then dilute 1:10 and add to the garden. This is a great way to recycle nutrients in your garden - nothing is wasted.
Of course some weeds are edible so you may want to think about incorporating them in your meals. Ben Shewry, chef of the Melbourne restaurant Attica, is well known for his love of foraging for edible weeds and their inclusion in his menu. The Worlds 50 Best Restaurants list for 2013 had Attica listed at number 21 which is pretty darn impressive. Looks like interest in foraging for edible weeds could be on the rise! If edible weeds interest you, then there is plenty of information available. The Australian book "Useful Weeds At Our Doorstep" by Pat Cardigan contains clear pictures to aid in plant identification and describes all uses of common Australian weeds, including medicinal. Another one we have at home that that gives us a chuckle is "101 Uses for Stinging Nettles" by Piers Warren. Yep, it really does contain 101 uses for stinging nettles. There are lots more books on the subject out there.
Lastly, a word of caution - if you aren't foraging with someone experienced, take care to make sure you've correctly identified the plant you intend eating - that way you'll avoid any potential nasty suprises.
So next time you see what you consider to be a weed, try thinking of it more as an opportunity.......
Using a lot of mulch in your garden like we do, definitely cuts down on the amount of weeding that's required. Unfortunately it doesn't quite remove the need to weed altogether. Unlike most Melbourne households we don't have a green waste bin. Instead we compost all the lawn clippings, tree prunings, leaves .......and weeds onsite.
So what do we do with our 'weeds'?
The first stop is our pet guinea pigs. These little guys had all been looking for homes when they came to us and we make a point of providing them with a high quality of life. Too many guinea pigs out there are not being cared for properly and have terrible lives, but that's another issue altogether. Anyway, these little guys love to eat a variety of the weeds that grow in a typical suburban garden. And they turn it all into nice little pellets that are great fertiliser for the garden. Plus they're cute. Big tick for those little weed eaters.
For the weeds they don't eat, we turn into a weed tea. We add the weeds to a black plastic garbage bin and top up with water, making sure the weeds are completely submerged (using bricks to weigh them down). The lid goes on and the bin is left to sit in a sunny spot in the garden for a few weeks. The sun heating up the bin and the water both act to kill the weeds. After a few weeks you can fork the dead weeds into the compost bin to break down further. This leaves you with a nutrient rich (and sometimes rather pungent) water solution which you can then dilute 1:10 and add to the garden. This is a great way to recycle nutrients in your garden - nothing is wasted.
Of course some weeds are edible so you may want to think about incorporating them in your meals. Ben Shewry, chef of the Melbourne restaurant Attica, is well known for his love of foraging for edible weeds and their inclusion in his menu. The Worlds 50 Best Restaurants list for 2013 had Attica listed at number 21 which is pretty darn impressive. Looks like interest in foraging for edible weeds could be on the rise! If edible weeds interest you, then there is plenty of information available. The Australian book "Useful Weeds At Our Doorstep" by Pat Cardigan contains clear pictures to aid in plant identification and describes all uses of common Australian weeds, including medicinal. Another one we have at home that that gives us a chuckle is "101 Uses for Stinging Nettles" by Piers Warren. Yep, it really does contain 101 uses for stinging nettles. There are lots more books on the subject out there.
Lastly, a word of caution - if you aren't foraging with someone experienced, take care to make sure you've correctly identified the plant you intend eating - that way you'll avoid any potential nasty suprises.
So next time you see what you consider to be a weed, try thinking of it more as an opportunity.......
Friday, 28 June 2013
Making art from junk
While driving back and forth between Melbourne and South Australia to do our PDC we passed through the tiny town of Ki Ki. Blink and you'd miss it..........well you would if it wasn't for the huge wire animals perched on the roof of the Recycled Wireworks Gallery. With a facade like that we had to stop and have a look.
Run by David and Maggie Forsyth, the gallery is a showcase for David's creative use of scrap wire, metal and glass. Old fencing wire, spring mattresses, bits of tin and things that are generally considered rubbish by other people, become creative inspiration for David. As well as collecting junk from the side of the road he volunteers to remove the 'rubbish' from people's properties. In David's hands this rubbish becomes unique pieces of art, for sale at the gallery or by commission.
With tattoos covering one side of his face, David is not your average looking artist, but get him talking about recycling waste into art and you see how passionate he is about it. He was kind enough to give us a tour of some of the pieces he had currently in the gallery.
Run by David and Maggie Forsyth, the gallery is a showcase for David's creative use of scrap wire, metal and glass. Old fencing wire, spring mattresses, bits of tin and things that are generally considered rubbish by other people, become creative inspiration for David. As well as collecting junk from the side of the road he volunteers to remove the 'rubbish' from people's properties. In David's hands this rubbish becomes unique pieces of art, for sale at the gallery or by commission.
With tattoos covering one side of his face, David is not your average looking artist, but get him talking about recycling waste into art and you see how passionate he is about it. He was kind enough to give us a tour of some of the pieces he had currently in the gallery.
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| A palm tree made from fencing wire and glass |
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| large bird |
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| bee made from wire and glass |
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| birds |
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| giraffes |
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| David with one of his creations |
Inside the gallery building itself are plenty of smaller pieces. We couldn't resist buying this set of 3 penguins:
David will also do an on the spot portrait in wire for $15. Watching him deftly bend and shape the old wire was a treat. And the portrait of me with my round glasses was surprisingly accurate :)
So if you happen to be driving along the Dukes Hwy in South Australia and pass the town of Ki Ki, it's definitely worth making a stop at the Recycled Wireworks Gallery. Turning rubbish into art - what's not to like about that?
Thursday, 27 June 2013
Sunday, 16 June 2013
Have you heard of the Urban Bush Carpenters?
We like to see things saved from land fill and given a new life, so when a friend pointed us to the website for the Urban Bush Carpenters, we were keen to go along to one of their workshops.
These guys find discarded timber around town (mainly pallets) and teach people to turn them into useful items like planter boxes, cube shaped stools and other items. They're all about reducing waste, encouraging urban food production and increasing community reliance by teaching people basic woodworking skills. That's permaculture in action!
The workshops are held at Ceres community environment park and are free, however a $5 donation is required from each particpant to help cover the cost of things such as drills, saws, nails and other materials. There's no need to register - just turn up on the day.
Don't worry if you don't have much in the way of handyperson skills. These guys are great teachers and very friendly. You'll get hands-on experience using different tools and get to build up your experience and your confidence, plus have some fun in the process.
At the end of workshop, should you want to take home what has been built, this is possible for an additional donation decided on the day.
We went to a couple of workshops and made:
A planter box, that we use for holding firewood kindling
A cube-shaped stool ...or box, depending on which way is up. Ours finds use mainly as an outside table/workbench but also provides an extra seat if needed.
We even took along some rounds of wood for everyone to have a go at making roof shingles using a froe. Using the froe certainly gave us all a new respect for those who are skilled at making shingles by hand.
Check out the UBC website to see what workshops are coming up. It's also a good excuse to visit Ceres if you haven't made it there yet.
These guys find discarded timber around town (mainly pallets) and teach people to turn them into useful items like planter boxes, cube shaped stools and other items. They're all about reducing waste, encouraging urban food production and increasing community reliance by teaching people basic woodworking skills. That's permaculture in action!
The workshops are held at Ceres community environment park and are free, however a $5 donation is required from each particpant to help cover the cost of things such as drills, saws, nails and other materials. There's no need to register - just turn up on the day.
Don't worry if you don't have much in the way of handyperson skills. These guys are great teachers and very friendly. You'll get hands-on experience using different tools and get to build up your experience and your confidence, plus have some fun in the process.
At the end of workshop, should you want to take home what has been built, this is possible for an additional donation decided on the day.
We went to a couple of workshops and made:
A planter box, that we use for holding firewood kindling
A cube-shaped stool ...or box, depending on which way is up. Ours finds use mainly as an outside table/workbench but also provides an extra seat if needed.
We even took along some rounds of wood for everyone to have a go at making roof shingles using a froe. Using the froe certainly gave us all a new respect for those who are skilled at making shingles by hand.
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| Photo source |
Tuesday, 4 June 2013
Backyard Inspiration
We heat our home with wood, so cutting and stacking the firewood is an ongoing job.
Believe it or not, firewood stacking can be a thing of beauty...
Wood 'art' aside, the example below is very practical, yet still pleasing to the eye:
Apart from neatly holding the wood, the corrugated iron keeps it nice and dry. Which would come in handy for those wet winter days.
Our wood is stacked along the north side of our house under the eaves. Here the wood is reasonably sheltered from the rain but still gets good sun to dry it out.
Once winter arrives it seems like you can never have too much wood, so having some extra wood storage space would be nice. Discarded corrugated iron suddenly has new appeal...
Photo sources: 1, 2, 3
Believe it or not, firewood stacking can be a thing of beauty...
Wood 'art' aside, the example below is very practical, yet still pleasing to the eye:
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| Food Forest woodpile |
Apart from neatly holding the wood, the corrugated iron keeps it nice and dry. Which would come in handy for those wet winter days.
Our wood is stacked along the north side of our house under the eaves. Here the wood is reasonably sheltered from the rain but still gets good sun to dry it out.
Once winter arrives it seems like you can never have too much wood, so having some extra wood storage space would be nice. Discarded corrugated iron suddenly has new appeal...
Photo sources: 1, 2, 3
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