Woods and Heating

Beyond the trees and across the Little Dry Wood Creek, to the west, is the 4,217 acre Bushwacker State Wildlife Preserve, a state conservation area with the 157 acre Bushwacker Lake. Largemouth bass are very abundant. In addition to the fishing lake, Bushwacker contains archery ranges and deer hunting is allowed with bow and arrow, while Turkey and Quail can be hunted with shotguns, in season.

Over seven acres of woodlot provides us with a never-ending supply of fallen logs or gifts of the forest. A good chain saw and a nice fall day will net enough wood for several winters. The interior of the house tends to maintain a constant temperature and there is little heat loss due to the nature of the insulating properties of the Earth berm and roof. The window glass is insulated and the fresh air vent is located under the wood stove. The wood stove heats the entire house to an agreeable temperature during cold winter's overcast and gloomy days. We use it when the sun doesn't shine. Fuel costs are non existent, although we sometimes use the 1500 watt electric heater. Sometimes it can even get too warm and it feels really great to open a patio door in mid winter and breathe in some fresh crisp air. We have been fortunate to avoid colds or flu during those seasons, which we attribute partly to our fresh air system and radiant heat.

There are three creeks on the property. This one, which flows through the woods, is one of two that are small and seasonal. As can be seen, this creek is quite dry at this time of the year. It will flow constantly during the late winter and early spring. Little Dry Wood Creek, is a major area drainage creek that tranverses the western side of the acreage. Little Dry Wood Creek is over 60 feet wide and 10 feet deep, and flows constantly in the bottom land flood plain, though the flow vairies considerably with the amount of precipitaion (see the topicgraphical map on the Location page).

The wood in the woodpile pictured here, will provide enough fuel for two to three years, depending on the weather. It took no more than four hours of cutting, hauling and stacking. All of the wood was obtained from naturally fallen trees from the woodlots.