Farm Life · September 13, 2026

The first of many loads of winter firewood

A close-up view into a wooden firewood bin filled with split firewood stacked behind a green wire-mesh railing inside a shed

The first of many loads of winter firewood is stacked and drying by the barn, which is a satisfying thing to see this time of year.

It came out of an excellent trade. There was an excavator sitting here that I couldn't use, and a good friend who could — and who had firewood to spare. So we swapped, and it turns out the better end of that deal keeps on giving: unlimited firewood, delivered a load at a time through the season.

There is something good about heating the studio with wood that came out of a handshake trade between friends rather than a store. The barn smells like split cedar and dry fir on the days we work, and the pile only has to last until the next load arrives.

Good friends. Good trade. And a warm studio all winter because of it.

People and a German Shepherd unloading split firewood from the back of a white pickup truck in a grassy yard surrounded by trees — Unloading the first load from the truck.

A woman with long curly blonde hair and blue work gloves stacking split firewood on the straw-covered floor of a wooden shed — Stacking it in to dry.

A man and a young girl moving armfuls of split firewood from a garden cart into a storage shed — Everyone lends a hand.

A vertical section of a firewood storage structure filled with split logs behind silver-grey wire mesh and wooden planks — The bin filling up for winter.

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The first of many loads of winter firewood

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