Strawberries & Axes

 

Helko Werk Nordic Splitting Axe

Over the last couple of weeks, I've acquired more than one axe, based on new information.

While readers who know about cutting wood may find this a bit dull, like my old fiberglass-handled felling axe from a big box hardware store, if you haven't cut a lot of wood, it may be new to you.

I was scrolling through Instagram and I came across one of the folks I follow, Rowdy Claude, the cross-dressing homesteader who gave a wood splitting 101 class. Aha! This was why my axe continually jams in the wood. The "cheeks" of the axe head are the wrong shape. Great for cutting a tree down. Lousy for splitting. 

This should not have been news to me. My dad used to heat with wood. This is our third year heating with wood at Steepmeadow.

And yet...

So I purchased a really good splitting axe. It turns out that there's a whole world of axes. There is the brand with the big recognition, the Gransfors Bruk. There's Helko Werk from Germany. There's the slightly cheaper Adler from Germany.

Realizing that the Nordic Splitting Axe is quite heavy - great for really big stuff, but not perfect for re-splitting most of our wood around the house, I then purchased an Adler mini splitting axe. It's a fine axe for the smaller bits, and I can definitely see it coming on camping trips. 

And yet...I'm feeling like Goldilocks, because somewhere in between the 5 lb. Nordic Spitting Axe and the 2.5 lb. mini-splitter, I think there's a 4 lb. splitting axe that might be just right. 

These are excellent tools that are going to last a lifetime. This is important. 

After watching the Netflix documentary, Buy Now, detailing the corporate plots that are destroying the planet, Kiki and I have determined to redouble our green efforts, and really watch our consumerism.

Taking advantage of a warm weekend, I put that very last bed - the strawberries - to bed, and covered them in a blanket of aptly named straw. Until next spring.