Ash Firewood Rounds Update - Processing Started - 2019

A few days ago, I posted a photo showing the newly acquired Ash tree firewood rounds that the tree service left me from the teardown next door.  Today, a quick update on the progress I've made on the pile.  You can see quite a few of the rounds have disappeared.  In that post, I counted 45 or so rounds.  In the photo above, I count 13 Ash rounds and six Mulberry pieces.

Where did they go?

The answer:  To this new processed firewood stack against the fence in the back part of our yard.  You can see the stack in the photo below.  The firewood is bright and light-colored.

I used a combination of a 4# yard axe and a 5# splitting wedge to process these pieces.  Here's a close-up of some of the wood that I split - and you can see few pieces of Mulberry wood (it is the yellowish stuff) in here.  I'll watch and monitor all of this wood for color (and checking) over the next 10 or so months and will post them in here in the garden diary.

I picked this spot against the fence in the back of our yard underneath a large tree that I hope will keep some of the water/rain off of the pile.  It will, however, NOT be full sun, but I'm thinking that's ok. I mean...look at that firewood shed that I've dreamed of here on the blog.   The sun wouldn't get to that wood, either, right?

This is my second time processing firewood - with the first time being back in 2017 when I had a handful of rounds on our property that I took a maul to and split to burn for our first Winter.  This time was quite a bit more work and time.  Also, the wood was (I think) fresher (more fresh?) or green this time around, so splitting it wasn't simple.  I also found some interesting bark-cuts including some of the trees that I posted the 'worm-like' patterns.  I'll post separate photos of those cuts when I find them in the pile.

I started this stack with 2 2x4 (treated) underneath the stack - so this is 8' long and our fence is a little bit taller than 4' tall - so we're getting pretty close to a full Face cord.  I'm also now on the lookout for even more 'free'/harvested firewood.  With the tools (axe and wedge), I'm already thinking about how I could process/store firewood to cut down on my annual (or bi-annual) Best Firewood bill.

As for seasoning of this particular pile of wood, I'm thinking this Ash firewood will be properly seasoned by next burn season - Fall of 2020.  That'll give us almost 11 months of seasoning or dry time on the stack.  You can notably look at the color of this wood - it looks so nice and clean and light-colored.  Compare that to the stack of rounds I split a couple of years ago.  Most articles say that Ash seasons quickly - and the pros season it for just six months to a year - so we'll be in good shape come Fall of 2020 with this stuff.