Small Scale Forestry for the Homestead

Reader Contribution by Anneli Carter-Sundqvist
Published on March 12, 2013
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Winter lends itself so nicely to be working in the woods, something I consider some of my favorite work around the homestead. It’s great to be outside in the snow with the axe or the chain saw or pruning saw, enjoying the white sparkles and the thoughts on generations after us that’ll also have trees, beauty and wildlife to enjoy. Forestry, or the part of it where we fell trees, is sometimes confused with the commercial logging operations that strip acre after acre bare of everything alive, and I’d like to share some of our thoughts on the topic over a number of blogs.

First of all, forestry on a sustainable scale is often talked about as “low-impact”, while I rather think of it as “positive-impact”. While the grade of impact isn’t without importance, “low” sometimes is mistaken for not touching it at all, while “positive” to me has the meaning of being there, in the woods, managing it, impacting it, working in it, but with a positive outcome, an outcome where the long term health, beauty and functions are all weighed in.

We live on a 16 acre parcel that was pretty much clear cut in the 40’s and grew back as white spruce and balsam fir, neither of which is our first choice for lumber and firewood. Rather, these fast growing but short lived species quickly out competed what for us would be more useful varieties.

Here follows a basic introduction to the forestry around our homestead, a topic I’ll be able to elaborate more on in coming blogs.

1. Our work in the woods starts long before we get the chainsaw and axe out; by being in the woods, observing and contemplating. We’re looking for healthy trees that we can help to thrive and that will be of benefit in the future. We’re cutting trees for lumber to use for our building projects and the parts of the tree not suitable for milling is used for heating and cooking. We’d like to promote the red spruce population we do have, due to its longevity and value as building material, so we’re looking to reduce competition around them. We’d also like to promote oak trees that we can run our pigs under to let them forage the acorns.

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