Why I Oughta...

  A week or so ago, it was warm enough to have our windows opened.  And as is the way these days, I was working from home in my office.  We have construction going on next door to us, so it isn't that weird to have heavy equipment running and noises coming from various forms of trades and construction.  But, what I *thought* heard wasn't construction equipment, but what sounded like chainsaws.   My firewood hoarding antenna shot up.  And I went out to see what was doing.   Sure enough, there was a crew of guys taking a couple of trees down in the yard behind us (and one to the south).  I walked over there and asked them what they were doing with the wood.  And what kind it was.  They said it was a mix of Ash and Pine.  They said that I could have the Ash. So, over the next twenty minutes or so, the guys proceeded to bring the rounds and drop them over our fence into the far part of our backyard.  You can see what I re...

This is the fourth in the series of posts about the Ash trees that were taken down next door that I've been processing with what they call CSS (cutting, splitting and stacking).  And this post brings us full-circle.  From tree to firewood.  Well....I guess, technically, "full-circle" will be when I actually burn this piece.  But...for now, let's call this 'full-circle'. Back in November, I posted a photo of my neighbor's Ash tree with a pattern under the bark .  In that post, I remarked that because they were planning on tearing down the house right next door, I wondered if I could scavenge any of the wood.  After talking to the crew taking down the trees, I ended up with 45-or-so Ash tree rounds.    After a few days of splitting and stacking, I have about 2/3rd of the wood processed and just about a Face Cord of wood put up . And in that post from a few days ago, I mentioned that there were a few pieces that showed off that same pattern we...

This is one of my neighbor's Ash trees.  They have a half-dozen or so that have are dead and still standing.  The photo above is striking for two reasons:  the worm-like pattern that is on the tree is the most noticeable.  But, look closer:  see all the holes?  All over the tree?  That's from the Emerald Ash Borer and why the tree is dead. Here's a closer look at a couple of the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) holes on this tree: There doesn't appear to be any of the Borers hanging around as I presume these trees were killed years ago when the Borer first appeared in Illinois.  The Morton Arboretum suggests that the Emerald Ash Borer is so pervasive that it expects that EVERY Ash Tree in Illinois will be killed .  EVERY. SINGLE. ONE.  What happens when all the Ash trees are gone?  Will the Borers move on?  Fly somewhere else?  Just die off?  Or, will they adapt to the environment and start to attack other specie...