Greenghorn here, first season- trying to gain some experience from folks who live in a similar area to mine, which is in SW NM @ 6000 ft. Anyone familiar with this terrain knows that it is dominated by 4 species of trees.
In approximate order of population density (highest to lowest) they are: One seed Juniper, Alligator Juniper, Pinion pine and Scrub Oak.
I am collecting wood for next year and beyond now and was wondering if there is one of these I should be concentrating on- excluding Oak, I'll get all I can of that. So far I have had decent results with the One seed Juniper, it seems to leave a lot of ash and coals but that could be because it's not dry enough. The Alligator Juniper is good also, less ash than the one seed. Aside from the Oak the Pinion seems the best but it may also be the driest. I don't have a moisture meter.
My stove is small (1 cubic ft.) so I'd like to maximize it's efficiency as best I can with what I've got.
Also I was wondering if people living in this region, much of the Southwest and West, have found that their wood dries faster here with the wind, low humidity, and sunshine. It would seem so.
I'm envious of all you midwest and eastern dwellers with your vast variety of hardwoods and tall, straight trees. Most of the stuff here is small and gnarly, full of knots. Makes for difficult and potentially dangerous splitting!
In approximate order of population density (highest to lowest) they are: One seed Juniper, Alligator Juniper, Pinion pine and Scrub Oak.
I am collecting wood for next year and beyond now and was wondering if there is one of these I should be concentrating on- excluding Oak, I'll get all I can of that. So far I have had decent results with the One seed Juniper, it seems to leave a lot of ash and coals but that could be because it's not dry enough. The Alligator Juniper is good also, less ash than the one seed. Aside from the Oak the Pinion seems the best but it may also be the driest. I don't have a moisture meter.
My stove is small (1 cubic ft.) so I'd like to maximize it's efficiency as best I can with what I've got.
Also I was wondering if people living in this region, much of the Southwest and West, have found that their wood dries faster here with the wind, low humidity, and sunshine. It would seem so.
I'm envious of all you midwest and eastern dwellers with your vast variety of hardwoods and tall, straight trees. Most of the stuff here is small and gnarly, full of knots. Makes for difficult and potentially dangerous splitting!