These chilly overnight temperatures mean our log-burner continues to work hard at the centre of our old homestead, keeping the main living areas warm and welcoming.
While September is just around the corner, here in rural Ohaupo we remain firmly in the depths of winter. The days are often glorious with blue skies and sunshine, but the nights are bitterly cold, and many frosts are still ahead.
Our primary heat source is wood. Firewood collection, drying, and storing is an essential part of our annual homesteading cycle. It takes time, at least a few solid weeks of work every year, but it’s deeply satisfying. This is part of the DIY lifestyle we’ve chosen, where keeping warm doesn’t come from simply flicking a switch.
For me, the process is part of the deep sense of appreciation that a little hard work goes a long way. Every log that burns in our fire has been handled, multiple times. There’s cutting, splitting, carrying, stacking, more carrying…and so it goes. When I light the fire on a dark winter afternoon, there is a quiet pride in knowing the warmth filling the room came from our own effort and preparation.
It’s a feeling that’s closely mirrored in the kitchen. A homegrown meal, made from vegetables sown from seed, picked and washed and cooked with care, carries that same sense of satisfaction. Whether it’s food or fire, homesteading is all about investing time and energy into the essentials of daily life.
A Tiki Tour of Our Wood Storage Setup
Firewood might seem like a basic necessity, but for those of us living a homesteading lifestyle, it represents far more than heat. It’s a compulsory practice of preparation, patience, and self-sufficiency too! I thought I’d take you on a little tiki tour of how we manage our firewood throughout the seasons.
1. The Main Woodshed
This is where we store the bulk of our firewood for the current winter. It’s a large, open-sided shed with good airflow to keep the wood dry. The woodshed was one of the first projects Jel made when we moved rural nearly 10 years ago…an essential shed!
Each week, we top up a smaller wood store which is like a cubby-hole-come-shelf, located just outside the kitchen. We created this many years ago for a magazine and it’s become such a blessing on those cold, stormy nights when you don’t want to be wandering around in the dark, hauling logs in the wind and rain.
2. The “Coffin” — Starter Wood
Next up is what we affectionately call the “coffin.” It’s a long wooden box that, yes, looks a bit ominous, but it’s a key part of our fire-starting process. Another project that Jel whipped up one weekend, it stores our ‘starter wood,’ which is slightly thicker than kindling and helps bridge the gap between the fine twigs and the heavy logs.
We collect kindling from fallen debris under the treeline, and this middle-sized wood helps get the fire established quickly and reliably.
3. Next Winter’s Wood
Lastly, there’s the temporary pile for next winter. We’ve already split what needed to be handled while wet, and once the current woodshed is emptied, we’ll transfer this pile into it. Under cover, with good airflow, the wood can dry out fully over the months ahead.
This year’s rather heavy winter pruning gave us a helpful head start, along with the cutting down of a few large trees along the driveway. There’s no need to buy in wood next season!
There’s pride in a well-stocked woodshed, just as there is in jars of home-preserved fruit or a basket of garden-grown produce. These small seasonal tasks form the foundation of our DIY approach to living…making do, preparing ahead, and embracing the work that keeps us grounded.
So as we brace for more frosts and keep stacking for the year ahead, I’m reminded that each log, like each seed, is part of the bigger picture. Homesteading is work, yes, but it’s good work, honest work, and the kind that fills both the home and the heart.
