Keeping the Heat On

As the cool fresh air of winter bites, chill winds find all those gaps in your clothing and frost greets us nearly every morning, well it’s a great reminder of the importance of the wood fired heater in making life a lot more pleasant! To keep a wood fired heater operating we need firewood to burn. To have wood to burn we need to cut down trees or logs left on the ground after trees have fallen. This could and often does lead to a net loss of forest and habitat, but it need not be that way, we can grow, cut and store our own firewood to help complete the cycle and keep the fire burning sustainably. Cutting and collecting of dead wood from the forest can seem like a good idea; after all it’s dead and has no use to the forest any longer? This answer would be right if not for the fact that dead trees, logs, branches and even twigs are crucial habitat for much of our ground dwelling fauna and important nutrient recyclers. Some harvest is possible, but keep in mind that removal of woody material from the forest floor will reduce habitat. Growing trees for firewood yourself (or for sale $$$!) is a truly sustainable source of firewood and can be integrated into your land management practices. Harvestable windbreaks in paddocks, Firewood Lots, timber plantings are all great ways of getting trees back in the landscape and providing multiple resources and benefits. Trees we have planted for firewood include Eucalypt species (Gum Trees), Acacia species (Wattle Trees) and Casuarina species (She Oaks). Some of these trees grow so fast that harvest can commence in as little as a few years with small rounds from the thinning. Some Acacia’s grow a bit too fast on the fertile soils of the range and can snap readily during strong winds, but the benefits they provide in soil improvement and rapid cover can often outweigh this down side. Eucalypts are of course fast and tough and if planted in groups can form a nice straight trunk for harvesting firewood. Casuarinas are great for multiple uses such as windbreaks, cattle fodder and of course firewood! We were also lucky enough to have a fair bit of Broad Leaf Privet (a weed that we are staging the removal of) on our property that is great firewood that is easy to split. If this inspires you to think of growing your own firewood, contact the Brush Turkey Nursery www.brushturkey.com.au for trees, guards and friendly service. The added benefit of planting your own firewood is you get warm planting it, cutting it and of course burning it!