Wood Stacking

The whole point of our Tuscan February get-away was that there wasn't much to do on our farm that time of year. What we didn't know is that there's not much to do on most farms that time of year and going all the way to Italy doesn't necessarily solve that problem. We had a few great days working with the wine and in the vineyards but the bulk of the work was stacking wood. I can't (and don't want to) count the hours per week that we did this but as an illustrator I really really hurt my shoulder from overuse.

The Italians have a very strange way of managing their wood supply. They cut it down in their forests, chop it into lengths a bit more than a meter and then load it onto their tractor. They drive it back to the farm and dump it in huge piles which they leave uncovered and sitting in the mud so it all begins to rot. This said, they need this wood for their furnaces which supply all the heat and hot water for everybody living and staying on the farm.

They have us neatly stack the wood into long rows that are slightly raised. No tarps needed, apparently, despite the drenching rain all winter.

They mostly burn chestnut and mixed in with all this is corbezzolo. This wood is quite valuable as fuel for pizza ovens so we separate it out. First, we make massive piles of it. Then, we take wood from those piles and throw it over a wall.

Then, I imagine, the next round of volunteers (thankfully not us) stack it into yet another pile. Amidst all this, if it's too small they sell it, so we make a pile of that. Then we move that pile into a different pile in a different place.

Needless to say, when I have my own farm someday, I might improve upon this system.