Hi, all.
I'm expecting a delivery of eight cords of birch that I expect to use in 12-13, 13-14, 14-15, so planning for long-term storage. The spot I selected apparently appealed to PO for same purpose, as I pulled a couple of truckloads of wood out of there yesterday that was stacked many years ago and left to rot. I could see that the wood had been placed on cross-pieces about 6" in diameter, long since pressed into forest floor. Ground there is deep moss, dampish. I know that a lot of the insect colonies that inhabited the rotted wood went off to the dumpster with their home, but I'm sure there are plenty of bugs still in the ground there. Mostly saw small black ants, no carpenter ants. Doesn't mean they weren't there--we worked fast so as to minimize their relocation before they were in the truck.
Raked over the ground to level it out, as some of those logs were completely buried--in other words, there's still some rotting wood in that spot. I'm leaving it open to the sun and wind for awhile to try to encourage the critters to relocate.
It's a good location in terms of access to firewood, and I don't have a lot of choices for long-term storage. This is on a slope, and I was planning on stair-stepping pallets for stacking them. It will get some wind there, some sun. Not ideal, but not terrible. Wondering about the wisdom of putting something down under the pallets to block moisture and insect travel. I have some scrap corregated metal roofing that I considered for this purpose, and some old tarps. Normally I wouldn't use tarps, but this is at enough of an angle to where there would be general drainage (probably some puddling on it, though. I'm afraid that if I just put down pallets, they will go the way of those cross-pieces and rot out.
Another thought I had was sprinkling down some ant poison on that spot, but I'm not really much of a fan of spreading toxic chemicals around the homestead. I've heard of boric acid as an option--recommendations? Also, where do you find boric acid, and what brand names is it sold under? Is this a less-toxic choice? Safe around pets?
The wood I'm storing there will be split before stacking, but it's quite green and summer-cut, so lots of moisture in it. Ideas, suggestions appreciated.
I'm expecting a delivery of eight cords of birch that I expect to use in 12-13, 13-14, 14-15, so planning for long-term storage. The spot I selected apparently appealed to PO for same purpose, as I pulled a couple of truckloads of wood out of there yesterday that was stacked many years ago and left to rot. I could see that the wood had been placed on cross-pieces about 6" in diameter, long since pressed into forest floor. Ground there is deep moss, dampish. I know that a lot of the insect colonies that inhabited the rotted wood went off to the dumpster with their home, but I'm sure there are plenty of bugs still in the ground there. Mostly saw small black ants, no carpenter ants. Doesn't mean they weren't there--we worked fast so as to minimize their relocation before they were in the truck.
Raked over the ground to level it out, as some of those logs were completely buried--in other words, there's still some rotting wood in that spot. I'm leaving it open to the sun and wind for awhile to try to encourage the critters to relocate.
It's a good location in terms of access to firewood, and I don't have a lot of choices for long-term storage. This is on a slope, and I was planning on stair-stepping pallets for stacking them. It will get some wind there, some sun. Not ideal, but not terrible. Wondering about the wisdom of putting something down under the pallets to block moisture and insect travel. I have some scrap corregated metal roofing that I considered for this purpose, and some old tarps. Normally I wouldn't use tarps, but this is at enough of an angle to where there would be general drainage (probably some puddling on it, though. I'm afraid that if I just put down pallets, they will go the way of those cross-pieces and rot out.
Another thought I had was sprinkling down some ant poison on that spot, but I'm not really much of a fan of spreading toxic chemicals around the homestead. I've heard of boric acid as an option--recommendations? Also, where do you find boric acid, and what brand names is it sold under? Is this a less-toxic choice? Safe around pets?
The wood I'm storing there will be split before stacking, but it's quite green and summer-cut, so lots of moisture in it. Ideas, suggestions appreciated.
