Ain’t Life Wild is a blog about the plants and animals of Northwestern Ontario, the environment, climate change and life in the world’s largest ecosystem, the Boreal Forest. We ojibwe bannock recipe just coming out of the coldest stretch of weather this winter.
We had two nights at -32 C which is about 26 below F. It seems like some animals just hunker down under these conditions, especially if they sense it is only temporary. One species that just keeps moving are the ones in this short video, taken on one of my trails. Clear skies, lots of sun, not terribly cold and no wind! I’m pulling my toboggan up this trail. This is good as it gets. I hit the jackpot on firewood today.
The dead balsam fir I cut down had all the hallmarks of a great firewood tree — no needles, cracked bark and boy, was it ever. The tree was surrounded closely by other living balsams so I cut it right where it stood, taking off four feet at a time letting the tree slide down vertically. It made a heaping load in the toboggan — too heaping, actually. I had to unload it and make two trips.
This is what great balsam fir firewood looks like. White wood with no green wood spots. That one tree will last us several days. Incidentally, this is a carbon-neutral fuel. Had this dead tree fallen down and decomposed it would have released the same carbon as our burning it to heat our home. The hour was actually about 6:30 a. Once upon a time it wasn’t unusual to find moose tracks on our 65 acres in Nolalu, Ont.
But for the past 20 years there has been almost nothing but whitetail deer. Now I usually find one set of moose tracks in a year. This cow moose was just passing through couple days ago. She had followed the ridge behind our place until she came upon one of my trails, then followed it right to our house which is just out of sight in this photo. She then retraced her steps a bit and took a new bearing to the north.
I would bet she then turned east again, crossed our road and went into the bush on the other side. This is actually the second moose I captured on a trail camera this fall-winter. The other was a bull who came by in September, also heading east. Does seeing two moose in a single year mean they are coming back? Hard to say but I hope so. I girdled these trees extensively two years ago. They still are not ready to cut down.
I have tried to solve this enigma for decades and still have no explanation. Why are specific dead balsam fir trees pretty good firewood when all the rest are just worthless? I know what the trees look like on the stump: vertical, no needles, bark split or missing in patches. When the trees are cut down the wood inside is white, dry as a bone and light in weight. This wood will ignite easily, makes excellent kindling, and burns about as long as birch.
It does not produce as much heat as birch but it has the advantage of creating little ash. Not every dead balsam passes the grade. If the bark is not split the tree will likely be rotten and wet inside. There can be a good firewood tree standing right next to a poor one.
I have been trying to purposely kill some trees to see if I can get a handle on what is going on. Is it the length of time the tree stands dead? I girdled trees in two different areas in case location had something to do with it. In one place my girdled trees blew over in the wind well before the needles had fallen off. They are still standing in the other spot but even after two years, there are still needles on them. It looks like it will take at least another two years.