Firewood from Strandja

Our firewood for winter has just arrived. Ten cubic metres of oak from the forests of Strandja. That is a big pile of wood…

Our firewood arrived straight from the forests of Strandja. A big pile of wood that we had to cut, chop, and stack to get ready for Winter

Every year forest workers cut trees in the woodlands around the villages in Strandja. They leave it to dry in the forest for a few months. And in September they distribute it to the villagers. Elderly people on a pension get their firewood free. We of course have to pay.

Sustainable heating

Getting your firewood from woods so close by is a very sustainable way of heating your house. Of course burning wood does release CO2, but it is the same amount as was absorbed while the wood was growing. When the tree falls and decays in the forest, or when you burn it as firewood, the carbon goes back again into the atmosphere. So the release of this CO2 is part of a natural cycle. As long as the same amount of wood re-grows as is cut each year, this cycle can repeat forever without increasing atmospheric carbon.

We received our firewood in lengths of about a metre. You come home and all of a sudden, there is a mountain of wood in front of your house. Soon after, locals with chainsaws turn up and saw your wood in smaller lengths that fit your wood burner. But you are not ready yet. Now you have to split those ten cubic metres of wood and chop them into smaller pieces. Then you have to stack them in a dry place.

We started this job in the third week of September. I hope we will get it finished before spring comes

If you want to know more about heating with wood, see for example the website of the Energy Saving Trust.