Quite a few Norway Spruce in my area. I have two great big ones in my front yard. Those big monster cones dropping some years probably adds up to a cord of “wood” between the two of them! You want to stay clear when I’m mowing out front, they’re always dropping off, and I’ve noticed cone chunks on my porch roof😄!
There are over 200 sorts of spruce, l have seen at least 5 native for our place (central Europe)
As for pine/spruce/fir diyng, looks like its a global thing. Happens here a lot too.
Althugh the biggest enemy of all is a bug that grows under the bark, eating the cambio layr thus makeing the tree to dye. Its an epidemic here.
When it comes to trees with needles, l only saw you guys talk about pine, spruce and fir. What about larch (larix)?
This is considered premium outside wood, with lots of tannin to make it rotproof. It has a red collored wood, similar to nahagony.
As far as l know, its allso the only needle tree that looses its needles in the winter.
I have one in my yard, but we call it “Tamarack” here. It normally grows in low lands and I was told it would not grow in my yard — it is now about 20 feet tall. TomC
Lots of tamarack/larch around here only problem is it hits about 20 or 30 yrs and is infected with a beetle that kills it. We have lots on our 10 acres they make great firewood and as you said are very Rot resistant. They are prone to twisting as lumber though.
I love larch / tamarack. Probably the best wood in the north for fence post and rails. Almost always perfectly straight, small branches that self prune in dense stands. The smell and colour of the wood are quite attractive. The corkscrew grain can be an issue, but I’ve observed that some populations can be fairly straight, one tree I saw had spiral grain like a Damascus welded gun barrel. European larch (Siberian larch) is better suited for dry land and warmer conditions and was introduced here to good effect by a government agency for shelter belt planting.
Regarding the many comments of members about observing conifer die off around the world, I fear that the underlying cause is climate change. Tree populations are stressed, probably due to many factors, too high summer temperatures, too inconsistent winter temperatures, problems with drought or excessive rain, the appearance of non native disease agents and insects. Lodgepole pine has experienced widespread die off in the Canadian Rockies. The official story has been to blame the mountain pine beetle, but the beetles only attack trees in trouble, so in a healthy forest they maintain health by removing sick trees. Now entire forests are sick. The future isn’t looking good, I fear that optimal forest zones are experiencing drastic climatic dislocation. If a new stability can be achieved it will take active stewardship and a forest generation of regrowth.
Regards,
Something new? And dangerous?
https://www.facebook.com/RocketStoveScience/videos/1039398979505864/
It is new to me. It is neat idea! probably dangerous because if you trip and fall towards the bar it is going to accelerate.
I would much rather have one of the old cord wood saws where you tip the table and the wood passes into the blade. I have used those a few times and they work great
We had a 8" snowfall which probably does not sound like much to some of the Northern folks but is paralyzingly in the Seattle area.
Last time we had more than 2" was 5 years ago.
Beautiful but one of my yard trees could not take the 8" of snow followed by 1/2" of freezing rain.
So more firewood and limbs to convert to wood chunks.
`Be safe cleaning up that mess. Trees with all that weight on them can do unexpected things as they shake and the weight comes off. We had about 6 inches of snow and ended in ice here in NH stopped raining late morning. I just finished cleaning out everything myself. And we have another storm just like it comming tomorrow. I hate it when a storm ends in freezing rain that is the most dangerous stuff you can have.
About 10 years ago we had a rare freezing rain that put 3/4" of clear ice on everything
It sounded like the 4th of July due to the tree tops and limbs breaking.
Unfortunately all of those lovely limbs went into large bonfires!
Wow Michael, that is alot of snow for your area. We have been getting the same , but it just keeps coming day after day, if it keeps it up, we are going to have record breaking total snow fall on the ground for the East Wenatchee area. It makes it impossible to drive on wood with my two wheel drive, which really means one wheel turning to make the truck go down the road. If the truck was a 4×4 there would be no problem. The snow is just to deep around my place now.
Hope you can shovel out soon.
Bob
I saw where your area has had a couple of feet over the last week
Have you had to chain up to go up those hills to the main road?
Must be frustrating, finally got exhaust, brakes, and front suspension fixed and now snowbound
Well guys down here in the Columbia River Gorge “mouth of the beast” the traveling nursie wife has been having to every 2-3 days swap back and forth from her older 2007 Hyundai Tucson with the all studded tires, to her newer 2014 AWD Ford Edge.
The Tucson is snow/ice great as having an command electric clutched switched YOU WILL HAVE ALL FOUR WHEELS DRIVING system.
It weakeness though is road standing water. Between engine and fire wall it’s V6 has a very low mounted alternator. Any road water past 2 inches and the splash up floats the all accessories drive belt. No PS. No charging. Engine unreasonably dies.
So wet, melting, flooding roads she must drive the Ford all-wheel drive. No forced lock-in on that one, so primary two wheels must spin a bit until the other two start getting power transfer. Two wheel spinning puts you sideways on black ice.
I tell her she might have just as well gone back to a 2WD mini-van. Earns me a shuddup swat.
J-I-C Steve Unruh
Due to a good neighbor, I only need 4WD about two or three times a year. Consequently, I own 2WD’s with a locking differential. That diff acts like Steve said about his AWD; in snow the one tire spins a couple of turns before the locker takes affect. In the couple of turns the rear of the truck shifts a foot to the left taking the rear tires out of the track of the front tires. Now all four tires have to push a path through the snow. Need a manual locker. TomC
Hybrid poplar in Oregon converting to cows and potatoes.
Carl this was always bare upper grass plains land. Columbia River pumped wheat and alfalfa hay large circle irrigated growing after the dams built. Needed the hydroelectricty to do all of the up-hill, distance, pressure delivery irrigation watering.
Was astounding to drive by and see this converted to large machine cultured hybrid popular plantations. Hydro-power irrigated.
The hybrid poplar Agribusinesses were to feed paper pulp chips into the paper mills. World wide chip pulp markets depressed with offshore to the US imports able to be river barge brought in cheaper.
Plus . . . poplar, willow “white” chips turn black quick due to air exposure and moistures.
Imported pine chips had trasportabilty and storeabilty then not requiring a “re-whitening” process/step for the higher value white paper stocks.
Hey. I like cheese’s and potatoes. Foods are important.
Highest land value in these parts of adjacent OR and WA is wine vineyards. Search that up and see.
Number 2 is wind farms contracts. Number 3 as the solid waste disposal site for all for the OR, WA states urban dense wet-sides. Westside urban-yuppie NIMBY’s made out-of-sight-out-of-mind happy then. Search up garbage barging on the Columbia River.
J-I-C Steve Unruh
Good info Steve, thanks. Does cows and potatoes = methane and vodka?? Might produce more “power” than poplar.
Yes , the snow just keeps coming, we have had continues snow on the ground since the begining of December. It rain yesterday and that has helped a lot. With more above freezing coming this week. This should clear off the roads of snow and slush and dry them out. But around my house the snow is heavy and deep with a sheet of ice on top of it right now. Just need more solar days and some warmer air temperatures at night. The good news is I can only make fuel and not burn it up as fast as I was making it. LOL
Bob
