Here in the early morning quietness and beauty of a blowing snow storm, I am distracted by one thing. The bright blue contractors tarp that I threw over my wood pile that sits between two trees just beyond the grass of my front yard. I only capture glimpses of it as it moves in the wind and as the trees and shrubs blow but it wrecks my perfect view. And it NEEDS to be remedied if I am to fully enjoy the winter garden.

Earlier this summer, I looked into buying some sheet metal with which to fashion a roof for the pile, but found nothing easy enough to come by (I am still shocked by that — seems like something like corrugated metal should be inexpensive and relatively simple to find).   So with that strike-out, I am happily on to and even better idea.  One which I plan to start, even before the winter ends (but after the current snow melts).

I am re-stacking my firewood to create a Holz Miete (that is German for timber rent).  It was only a few weeks ago that my husband and I spent the better part of a day splitting the wood of the giant oak tree that spontaneously split in half and fell down over the course of a a couple rainy days in August.  I am quite sure we have the nearly 6 cords of wood required to make a full sized (10 ft diameter) version, but I think for usability sake I am going to take it down to 7 ft.

The construction seems simple enough — there are english directions here ….and some additional insights can be gleaned here…(with the use of google translate to get from german to whatever language you use).

Some claim that this construction helps, through a chimney airflow effect, to season the wood faster.  I will let you know if that claim turns to be true, but for my sake, I am simply desiring a more attractive way to store wood that doesn’t require the support of two trees that are in a less than desirable winter time access spot.

It is a new years resolution of mine to better photograph and document all the projects that I am constantly doing.  I feel as if I have wasted so many opportunities to perhaps help you out and share and write about some interesting things.  So I will let you know how this project goes….and also create a trial and error tutorial of my own.