And what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
Was waiting at the Doctor's last autumn and sitting across from an older woman. She asked me if I knew anyone with a chainsaw so she could have a tree removed. Her husband had passed long ago, and the tree had "taken over the back yard." All of the companies had quoted huge numbers which she could never afford, so I told her I would go over to take a look. It was a massive apple tree! I called a friend who does a ton of smoked meats. He came over with his boys, cut everything down and cleaned it all up for free - he kept the wood for curing and smoking. The tree was over a foot and a half across at the butt (measured three feet off the ground,) and was perfectly sound. He has apple wood for his smoker and for his wood shop. Everyone wins.
A typical weight for an average tree (12" trunk), is 1000 lbs. An 18" trunk will be more than double that. At 8 bucks for 4 lbs, he got around $4000 worth of wood (round numbers, ignoring a lot of obvious variables). And that's for chips, never mind boards. Even Home Depot isn't charging that much - although at today's prices, they're close!
That took a different direction than I thought it would. Whenever some healthcare professional asks if my wife or I smoke I always enthusiastically reply, "Oh, heck yeah. We love to smoke. We smoke as much as we can." I let that sit for a second or so and then add, "We smoke hams, sausages, vegetables, hamburgers, bacons, and my favorite is lake trout with a garlic and real pure maple syrup wash." Somehow they never find it as humorous as I do...weird folks them sawbones.
Around here we get all sorts of woods, especially since markets provoke change in what is planted. So, an old apple orchard can be ripped out for hops. An old vineyard for walnuts, or vice versa. Lots of grape vines, which can be many inches thick, and produce a sweet smoke, come available every year. Maybe I should look into harvesting some of that stuff and selling it...
Was waiting at the Doctor's last autumn and sitting across from an older woman. She asked me if I knew anyone with a chainsaw so she could have a tree removed. Her husband had passed long ago, and the tree had "taken over the back yard." All of the companies had quoted huge numbers which she could never afford, so I told her I would go over to take a look.
ReplyDeleteIt was a massive apple tree!
I called a friend who does a ton of smoked meats. He came over with his boys, cut everything down and cleaned it all up for free - he kept the wood for curing and smoking. The tree was over a foot and a half across at the butt (measured three feet off the ground,) and was perfectly sound. He has apple wood for his smoker and for his wood shop.
Everyone wins.
A typical weight for an average tree (12" trunk), is 1000 lbs. An 18" trunk will be more than double that. At 8 bucks for 4 lbs, he got around $4000 worth of wood (round numbers, ignoring a lot of obvious variables). And that's for chips, never mind boards. Even Home Depot isn't charging that much - although at today's prices, they're close!
DeleteThat took a different direction than I thought it would.
DeleteWhenever some healthcare professional asks if my wife or I smoke I always enthusiastically reply, "Oh, heck yeah. We love to smoke. We smoke as much as we can." I let that sit for a second or so and then add, "We smoke hams, sausages, vegetables, hamburgers, bacons, and my favorite is lake trout with a garlic and real pure maple syrup wash."
Somehow they never find it as humorous as I do...weird folks them sawbones.
Around here we get all sorts of woods, especially since markets provoke change in what is planted. So, an old apple orchard can be ripped out for hops. An old vineyard for walnuts, or vice versa. Lots of grape vines, which can be many inches thick, and produce a sweet smoke, come available every year. Maybe I should look into harvesting some of that stuff and selling it...
ReplyDeleteMan, at a glance I thought that was a bag of tripe. Wife made some menudo this weekend, it was a tad too spicy but the tripe and hominy were good !
ReplyDeletewhat is done to the wood to market it as "apple firespice"? -Milton
ReplyDelete