Six Months in Finland | Everything I Did
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- Опубліковано 1 чер 2024
- In this video I look back on my first six months living in a hundred-year-old cottage on 2 hectares of land in rural Finland. What was I able to achieve in my first winter, and now that spring has arrived, what is happening next?
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I'm quite sure there isn't single better way to get Finns to respect you than making a huge beautiful stack of firewood, by hand, from your own forest! :D I have never felled a tree in my life but having lived in rural Lapland with 3 lumberjack uncles I have *extensive* experience for stack building! So I know the elation of looking at a finished sweet-smelling firewood stack... such a nice glow of security for survival over yet another winter :) respect for your hard work! I have only used a felling axe for splitting wood. Never got around to getting one of those splitting ones. Splitting is done during winter and the frozen logs split easily so I haven't seen the need. And perhaps birch and pine are quite easy to split anyway? I don't really have experience on other species so can't compare, this is just speculation.
Also that Fiskars axe ❤
If you gotta chop a lot of wood it's the bee's knees.
Paskaa
As someone suggested in the comments already, organise a working bee (talkoot in Finnish). It is a very very common phenomenon to have a job, or multiple, to tackle and friends and neighbours come and join you. Pay by a meal is the norm, and it doesn't need to be fancy. Many urban housing communities hold these every summer to fix fences, whellbarrow some gravel, cut down some growth, whatnot, or with houses to paint, do some reno or build something. Anything you might need help with. I'm sure people are willing to bring equipment too, from rakes to tractors, if needed.
Yes, great idea! As it is a very Finnish way to be surprisingly social. And one can talk about practical things, and therefore you need no small-talk-skills, so Finns will be very talkative and crack a lot of jokes - and if they poke a little fun of you it means you are fully accepted! Serve bread, cheese, mild beer or with low % alcohol, and provide a huge pot of minestrone-like soup, and coffee and "korvapuustit (cinnamon buns) to top it. Freeze the leftovers. You will later be invited to other people's *talkoot* as they occur. That's kind of the idea. Also invite and involve summer-cottage inhabitants if they are interested.
@@DNA350ppm
This sounds like a brilliant idea, and it sounds like it would work well with Daniel being an introvert.
@@marirose19 Thanks, dear, but I just elaborated on Lilanne's idea! 🙂
in my old home, the neughbourhood housing cooperative got together each summer to fix fences, sweep the road, clear all the trash and fix the play area. After all that we used the grill to grill some sausages and such. My dad usually ran the grill
@@SilverGamingFI Kudos to your dad! That's the spirit that makes Finland special! Occasionally we see that cooperation in Sweden, too. It makes a huge difference.
Hello Daniel, fellow wood cutter/splitter here. For those smaller bits of log I’d recommend getting a small one handed axe with thick cheeks - it will take a lot more strain off your back and you’ll be able to work longer and split more wood. Just a tip mate. All the best.
You've survived the winter, so enjoy the summer. It's the country's apology for the winter. The berries are excellent over here btw, because they get so much sunlight during the summer.
A good ecological deed would also be to leave the dead trees standing, because many bird populations that depend on dead trees for nesting are on the decline in Finland because of overly active felling of those trees.
just like people trash in their gardens
dont remove it compost it, atleast this dude gets a little heat
many people drive their compost to the recycling station, wasting energy on it also
One note on dead tree trunks. Leave some pine trunks standing, because they make part of a rich environment, highly appreciated by some birds and insects. Pines have very good roots, so even if an old dead pine stands in an angle, it may still stand that way for a very long time.
This is true. It's also worth noting that some standing dead trees may be there by law - in general there are a number of trees you are required to let live and die naturally in Finland on each hectare of forest you own. These trees cannot be taken down even after death as the certifications state that they must remain in the forest. It's reasonable to not know this but I would check for such trees nonetheless. This is not technically in the forestry law but >90% of Finnish forest is contractually tied to the system. It's worth checking if you're doing forestry in Finland.
Your outdoor log store is a thing of beauty.
This might be something that you already know very well, but just in case: firewood stacks and piles of twigs (when left outside) are good hiding spots for Finland's only venomous snake, a common European viper (kyy in Finnish). They are unlikely to stay around if you make a lot of noise and stomp around the pile often, but if you have been gone a few days or so, and it's a warm day, please remember that one or two might have wandered near your property and could be hiding in between the logs/twigs. This is how Finnish people most commonly encounter snakes: when they haven't touched one of those piles in a while and suddenly start working with them. Of course, I imagine that this is how snakes behave everywhere else too, but just to let you know because this specific viper is very common in rural areas of Finland and it's bite can really be dangerous, especially to small children! Luckily they can't really bite through thick leather gloves or rubber boots.
You probably won't see any this summer given how much noise you probably made with your chainsaws and axes, but next year some might pop up.
Anyway, it's so amazing to hear how you have been doing! Seeing your videos makes me really happy every time! ❤ Wish you and your family a great and long summer! You are in for a treat when you see how long the days get in June! ☺️
My hubby and I don't comment very much we just injoy your journey. We are so happy you found a new place with your new family we wish you well. We are in our 70s and have moved about in Australia over the years and tried always to grow our food and respect the land.we thankyou for the inspiration you give to many .
I'm Finnish, and when I watch these scenes in the video, it just makes me think what a wonderful place that will be for your child to play in when she grows a bit older. I never lived in the countryside but I grew up in the outskirts of a city where there was some forest right behind our back yard, and then we also had a summer cottage that had some land. Your place looks precisely the sort of place where, as a kid, I would have imagined that there must be a treasure buried somewhere, I would have drawn treasure maps and maybe hid some treasures of my own... If you have some big rocks there, especially two or more close to each other, then that would be a perfect place for building a hiding place (that the adults don't know about, or at least they pretend that they don't know about it)... so many possibilities there for a child of a certain age.
There around 8:45, when you talk about leaving branches on the ground for biodiversity. If you had kids who are about 10 years old, those branches would VERY soon find a better use as a part of a Pirate Hideout or something. Loose branches are one of the best things that a kid can find in a forest.
Never clicked on a video faster in my life. So excited for your progress!
😂 same!
Ditto 😆
Just some tips from the fellow firewood splitter. 1) I recommend to have a tyre (truck type preferably), fill the tyre with the unsplit logs and start chopping. It's easier to pick the split log pieces from the tyre than to collect those one by one from ground 2) Due to wind, make sure roof of stack of firewood is wider than the stack itself. Otherwise, due to wind, rain may dampen lower part of your stack 3) Remember to remove some bark from a tree when sawing - wood dries quicker, especially tree with a thicker bark layer such as pine. 4) I recommend using a tree lever to push a tree to a desired direction - safer than ropes!
That first long tool is a logging tool, used to organize the logs for transport
Of course! Thank you. :)
@@MossyBottom Could also be for pushing on a tree being felled to guide it in the right direction.
@bashthelegend that was my initial reaction too, it is long so that you'll get leverage enough to have the force to push strongly enough to steer the tree, and it's pointed at the end of the spikes so that it won't slip as it burrows into the bark.
Could be handy tool when pruning trees.
I thought it was an homage to Viking culture...
Peaches for Finland: Frost and Riga. Both are hardy and give great very tasty fruit. My Riga starts to blossom right now and Frost is not there yet, so nicely late blooming (I live about 80 km away from you). Both cultivars are available at most nurserys around here.
Thanks! Good news indeed. I'll be getting some. :)
Wow, never heard you can grow peaches here, thanks for info!
Your 1st curious item is to move or steer logs in water. Called to ’flotta’ (float) in Swedish. Also, I think I spot a device to ’siev’ soil to the right in your throw away pile, called ’såll’ in Swedish
I thought the same.
Yes, that's what I thought as well. Logs used to be transported mainly only by the sea, lakes and rivers. Well they still do it in some places, like in Lake Saimaa.
I thought that too, but, on closer inspection, I think it's an old bed frame with springs. I was also looking at the other bits of wire and wondering why they were going. I'd be using those over bulbs in the ground to stop squirrels from digging them up.
@@ameliagfawkes512 Yes, the springbed seems very useful in a garden, as the things made of chicken-net. Invite your oldest neighbours to tell stories.
Is there a box for smoking fish, too?
4:00 Pro tip: if you have uncut tree bark around even a pretty thin piece of wood, it will take multiple years to fully dry. Cut the bark even a little and it will dry much faster.
Thanks for the updates, for log splitting take an old tire, fill the centre with logs and then split them. Stops logs from falling over and allows you to go around the tire and do multiple cuts with much less bending over.
We've usually seasoned the split logs outside for one year and after that in the shed if we have space for them, trying to keep that usual rotation. I do remember that you should place the wood you've split with the bark facing the ground so it wont trap moisture under the bark layer
When we started digging up the stumps of felled conifers we found the damp roots had become home to newts. We had no pond nearby but the rotting submerged wood created a safe useful environment for these creatures in our eco system, soaking up rainfall and remaining damp in the hot weather. Really, everything has a purpose or use even when us humans want to tidy it away! Your trees with rotting holes in their trunks are crucial to a while host of insects, nesting birds and wildlife and are part of a healthy eco system - not just the healthy, fruit bearing healthy young or middle aged. 😁 Really great video, thank you 🌿😍
My childhood home is on an island further west from where this Mossy bottom is. My parents can still enjoy plums, apples and small but sweet pears from trees planted by my greatgreatgrandparents over a hundred years years ago. All the trees which my parents have planted have become winter food for the deer and hares 😊
What a stunningly beautiful log pile!
Yes, I have never seen such a beautiful pile of logs! You are a master!
Daniel, you split logs like a BOSS!! 😄
What you have there is an early form of honey bee swarm catcher. There would be a fabric bag that goes over the 'horns' and a string attached to close the bag when the swarm is caught. It would be used where the beekeeper couldn't or didn't want to use a ladder. Find your local beekeeper to confirm this and show you how to use it, or if you don't want to keep bees the keeper may like it, or even a museum.
I've just taken on some land in Wales and am making my way through your early videos and writing down hints and tips for a homestead. Loving the new journey you are on. All the best.
How wonderful you have aquire some land...I wish you well in your new adventures into offgrid life.
Hello from Texas, Sean. I checked out your channel and subscribed---as you feature everything that I love as well. From your cats ♥, to Wales village life. Looking forward to watching all of your videos!
If you look around I think you will find that Finns generally dry their firewood outdoors and move it inside only when dry. Often they leave it outside untill used. Indoors the air tends to no circulate well enough to dry the wood. Keep up the great work! :)
Angela needs to stand further away from a falling tree. Those things can jump quite a distance when they hit a suitable pivot point. Stay safe out there-I love everything you do!
Hi, we always cure the chopped woods outside and bring it inside when it has dried. Curing inside can cause hips of problems with mould and rotting.
And the barn does not look drafty enough for drying wood
He said the opposite to the logs wall is completely open. So it’s not really indoors. I feel like that is just fine.
If the apples are not fine for eating on their own, you can make fantastic jam out of them! Often times these apples grown on old farms are quite different to the ones in supermarkets that come from warmer climates, but you just got to know what to do with them.
My grandmother has a row of apple trees. The apples are quite small, and somewhat bitter, but she makes fantastic jam packed with flavor that is prized in my family for putting on lätty or pannukakku or in porridge. Way better than anything from the store.
For my parents generation born in 50s-70s its always a thing of pride to build straight as possible log piles and rows, I would say its annual talking point during every winter and summer who's piles are the best looking ones.
With more that 70 years under my belt, it is naturally expected that what you share with us is familiar to me. That might also be why your blog is so very enjoyable. I sank deep and deeper into my chair - with a smile on my face watching this. Based upon my earlier decades of life, I'm guessing a root cellar for the basement.
@mortenwellhaven Yes. That was my guess too--a root cellar but seems like an easy clue so not sure.
I was thinking a mushroom growing cellar? Just because he said "growing" not "storing".
Hi. Nice to see you posting new videos again! Here in Finlad when you are seasoning firewood you need to get wood dry before july because usually late june- begining of july weather changes too moist and wood wont dry anymore.
Piling a fresh green firewood indoors, little bit risky because you have only month or two time to get wood dry enough before weather changes. Best practice is dry wood outside in spring weather and immediately when wood is dry enough then move wood inside.
If you have bad luck and april and june has some rainy weather you may have trouble to get wood dry enough before winter because drying slows down or stops after june.
Splitting the *green, frozen* wood is the key.
Surprisingly, many people don't know this.
@12:44 Using a felling axe probably isn't going to shock people here as much as not using a Fiskars axe while living in Finland. :D
Then again, I don't think Fiskars axes used to be quite as ubiquitous as they are now..
@@blechtic True, but they have been the standard for a while now. I've had mine since the late 90s.
I was also expecting to see a Fiskars axe.
standing dead wood is vital habitat for birds and insects. I've even ring cut a few in my woods for this use. they don't just need it on the ground
I have been following you for some years. I must say you are looking 'blooming', so well and happiness is all there for you. Congratulations on your family and your new home. Keep up the work. You have found contentment.
Wow, that's an impressive woodpile, and what a lot of work! You scared me to death cutting down that tree with a snag hung up against it. Those things are called widowmakers for a reason. But you handled it deftly and got out of the way. Well done! I'm amazed that there are fruit trees in Finland - thought it was cold there! Even here in balmy sub-tropical Toronto we hit -26 most winters, though only briefly. Back home in Northern Ontario it's the norm in winter, and it can drop to -40, though not every year. You've accomplished a very impressive amount of work already. Looking forward to what the summer will bring. Good luck to you and your family. You do a beautiful job on the video production, I enjoy them a lot.
All perks of the Gulf Stream, being able to comfortably live here and grow a proper harvest as well. Apart from our similar very northern latitudes of Canada, we usually don't suffer of lower than around -25 at most (obviously there are some years it happens for a while) here in southern Finland and around the south west coastal areas of Frosty Bottom it's definitely the warmest the country offers. The sea keeps it warm for longer in the autumn, and from what I experienced living in a city on the coast, the winters were more ice than snow (unfortunately!).
I’m here just for the log pile. Pure art!
You CAN grow vegetables in Finland! Even in middle and north parta of the country. Plants are growing day and night because of the light.
Yes, one of my grandfathers worked on rafting logs downriver in Finland in the early 20th century, and I recognised that tool as one he would have used. What dangerous, hard work, yet seen as very ordinary in its day, and necessary.
My grandfather did this too, started at 13 years old in the 1930’s. Teen boys were so light they could run on the logs easier. It was scary and risky job. The Finnish name for the tool is Tukkihaka or Uittohaka.
@@iitasallinen7837 Thanks! Raised in Australia, I wouldn't have known what they were called.
You really should make a felling notch to help with the direction of the fall when cutting down anything over ~20cm in diameter if the direction is important.
When just making a straight cut without the notch you have to push/pull the tree against n over the only part holding the tree up.(it would naturally go/fall anywhere but that direction)
Also when you make the notch, then cut 2 cm above the bottom of the notch, it prevents the butt of the tree jumping backwards (which might injure the sawman).
Cheers, n be safe.
Apple trees really are quite hardy like that. My grandfather's orchard had many that were hollowed out by disease, having lost large branches and with big holes through them, but they clung to life and produced new fruit for decades after his passing. Some of them to this day, some 45 years later.
Really happy to hear about the mushrooms, fungus, insects. Perfect and glad you're protecting. I've just been recommended the book 'Finding the Mother Tree' by Suzanne Simard the botanist. Good luck with your excellent work for the planet 🌏😍🙏🌿💫
Spring in Finland is like spring in Alaska- it happens very quickly.
If you score the tops of your stumps with like a tick tac toe pattern they rot much faster.
It's fun seeing everything you've got going!
Welcome to Finland. You should consider at some point installing geothermal heat pump with horizontal pipe network on the field. For example Nibe S-series 6-12 kw. No need to cut anymore trees for firewood and pipes are hidden underneath the ground so no eye-sore.
Winter 2023-2024 was extraordinary in many ways. In South-West Finland it was around 40 days longer than on average. Researcher Mika Rantanen from the Finnish Meteorological Institute reports that Finland has been the coldest country in the world relative to the long-term average over the past seven months.
must be global boiling
@@bamsemoi9380you beat me to it 😅
@@bamsemoi9380It still is, extremes become more common and extreme
@@bamsemoi9380 Year 2023 was once again globally the warmest year on record. So if you were going for a hilarious "global warming is fake" joke, you failed miserably.
@@UngodlyFreak Yeah people think that global warming means warmer weather in linear scale.
It is not equal temperature rise everywhere it means that weather extremities come more and more common.
So more colder when it is cold air mass and more warmth when the air mass is warm.
12 years back my father bought a 1920's log house similar to that near Turku. apart from one corner it was in suprisingly good shape, just some floors and ceilings collapsed and the surroundings were badly overgrown. after 10 years of *steady* renovation, it is now a decent home.
I just got this vid in my yt recommendations and i have never been so jealous of someone in my life, altough im writing this in our summer cottage island that is located near Vänö (look it up). You are living more finnish lifestyle than i am.
Your tool is a piker. It’s a tool used to roll logs into water to float them down river. Men who did this were known as pikers. I live in the Northeastern United States, in Pennsylvania, and we have a huge canyon full of trees. Logging just about cleaned everything out in the 1920’s. A tool like this was used to skid logs down a mountainside and roll them into a river.
Growing food will go swimmingly! Yes, there's lots of adjustments that needs to be made for the climate, but what the doubters fail to account for is how many hours of light you get that far north in the summer.
Looking forward to seeing your food cellar next time! ☺️
So true! Even where I live at about 48 degrees north, the summer days are very long.
Have you considered perhaps getting a few goats , they're great at clearing land . Plus there's always goat milk . They're a pretty hearty animal over the winter , they don't require a lot ,. We had 7 alpine goats and we use to tether them around our property and they cleared the land pretty good . I really enjoy your postings , I'm retired and live on Vancouver Island in Canada .
Or rent summer sheep, another good clearer for the land. I suspect goats will need more entertainment to keep them where you want them, whereas sheep are very easy to keep in their pasture. Are wolves a thing locally, as I know some places in western Finland, including our sheep-farming village they are? Then the fencing needs to be much more robust as well.
@@Lilianne8Just earlier this week there was incident about 15-20 kilometres away of their location where wolves killed seven sheep in relatively populated area. I don't know about the island but in the mainland it seems that it's just getting worse and new packs are forming.
@@vasilip south-west Finland has a peculiar problem with wolves as of late, there's not a lot of them but at the same time they really don't have much room to move outside populated areas either, so sightings and incidents with dead pets and livestock have been increasing. Still not that many incidents though, we're usually quite fast at getting organised hunts if a pack is deemed a safety concern
Delightful to see you back in action again, Daniel. Being Irish myself, I have missed your Irish projects. You were one of the originals as there are currently a number of families seeking simplicity of life and sharing UA-cam videos of Irish farmhouse restorations. Looking forward to all your Finnish projects.
Unbelievable content - keep doing more video content - USA - Albuquerque New
Mexico -
Daniel and Angela, you are such an inspiration. Ireland misses you! I hope you get some volunteers soon. I wish I was young again, I'd be there to lend a hand and enjoy the beautiful scenery. Can't wait to see some more scenes with your new doggie. The barn looks great. Wow, what a fantastic wood supply. I love the bird table. I think I will try to make one. I have some spare timber. I am getting a small greenhouse built 7ft x 7ft from recycled patio doors. It's great to have a new space to transform. I wish all of you the very best and well done Angela on your medical studies. I know you will do really well in your exams. Love from Noreen in Cork Ireland.
The staff with a prong at the end is most likely a tool to push trees from higher point for leverage when felling them in case they don't fall on their own and wedges applied to the back cut isn't sufficient. Or when felling tree and it doesn't come down and leans to another tree.
I had no idea people believed you couldn't grow food here. Maybe not peach trees (wouldn't that be cool) but every old house has a root cellar to store all the veggies and jams for winter. :)
People act like humans haven't settled in these areas for thousands of years.
This comment is for the dear old sceptics out there, and not to contradict the nice comment above.
Here in Finland we know some plants grow up to the 70°, although the varieties are very limited there in the North, however a lot of things grow in Southern Finland.
And we have many cultivated plants that are natives here as well, like black and red currants, rasberries, crap apples, hazel, camelina, chives, northern oregano, wild thyme, chicory and so on. They grow here even without any human help.
Vikings even cultivated food in Greenland several centuries before the short ice age that started around 1300. It is much more about the climate than about the latitude and thanks to Gulf Stream we have pretty decent climate here in Finland as North as we are.
I don't think anybody has said exactly that.
you can grow peaches in southern finland
exactly. people have grown food in Finland since it was settled. it just depends on what you grow, find the right things to grow. good luck!
Thanks for the update, lovely to see you all thriving :)
If you wish to try peach tree, one good variety could be peach called "Maira". My "Maira"-peach tree has now survived two winters here in west coast of Finland in growth zone II(almost at growth zone III). This spring I'm also going to test few nectarines and apricots. We shall see next spring how they can survive.
Firstly greetings (almost) neighbor. About that small cellar. Not sure, but that "small cellar" under the house might be just a ventilation space so that the structures of the house wont get damp. If so it's probably better leave quite empty so the air can flow freely.
Excited to see what his project there is. 😊
Great to hear you and your little family survived your 1st finnish winter!. Poor angela must have been freezing cold! You provide a timely reminder to us all that hard work and dedication to an idea bears fruit, or chopped firewood in your case!. Look forward to seeing your food experiment in the basement - my initial guess, is it some type of fungi?
Keep on being you mate,your a credit to your family with all the hard work you do and the respect you have for the ground you walk on, and your thoroughly sunny disposition is always great to observe!👍
You should look into getting wood slitting rack (halkaisuteline). We have one on our summer cottage and it's very efficient at splitting wood. Basically it's a rack with (somewhat dull) blade pointing upwards. You just put the wood resting on the blade and bonk the end with mallet and it splits. Much lighter work than swinging axe around. Also it's better at making kindling.
we have a old now days summer house but used to be a mostly self siffient home for my now gone grand grandma and pa. We still grow Quite a good amount of potatoes carrots and other herbs. For me it is super nice that you are also going to just grow food for use of your own.
3:07 that reminds me of a luberjacking tool "keksi" or "uittohaka" used to manipulate tree logs in the river
Looks more like a heinähanko (hayfork?) for moving hay, but I'm not sure.
@@Suomalia2100 ah! true
@@Suomalia2100 Both the shaft and the metal part in this tool seem to be unnecessarily heavy duty for a hayfork. A hayfork normally has two slim and long curved spikes. I would guess this is a tool used with wood, but it's not one of the commonly known ones. What we nowadays know as uittohaka has a spike and a hook, but there are couple of pictures of uittohaka on museo sites that look very much like this tool.
Your stack of wood looks like a work of art. I think I'd have to create another just so I wouldn't have to destroy one! As for the axe you use to get it done: why should it matter if it suits you better. The job got done in wonderful fashion.
Love the outdoor wood storage! 😍 And another lovely video, thanks!
If I see your log pile I think you're integrating fast in Finland, good work. greetings from Orsa Sweden
I really enjoy your videos and ambitions. I too am a foreigner in Finland and lived my first year and a half up east. I got some very valuable advice from an old Finnish farmer. When stacking the cut wood, always stack with the bark on the bottom side. Your wood will dry faster and you'll get less rot.
So glad you are back! Love your new mossy bottom vlog from Finland! Your wood shed is mighty impressive! Very happy for you!
You could probably reuse some of that scrap metal in your future projects. Metal net around young fruit trees. Strenghtening Iron bars inside the new concrete floor of the barn etc.
Finns respect a good wood splitter. You fit right in.
It’s a bit bizarre someone would say you can’t grow food here. People have been doing that for hundreds of years. Sure it’s been tough life but it’s possible and you have access to modern tools and methods. Only thing is weather has become very unpredictable as you have noticed. Let’s hope for no drought this summer.
theres plenty of different plants to cultivate (i think you're living in the kasvuvyöhyke 1a = "growing zone 1a" and theres 12 in finland) so if you're thinking to plant specific plants: i would recommend checking out first different seed/sappling sellers and their descriptions on which growing zones theyre succesful to avoid bad harvests and headaches. Also loved the wood stacks, on another note: i would really recommend doing humboldt undercut or the conventional felling notch to make tree felling easier and more predictable (=safer). Enjoying the videos! keep them coming!
After that epic description of very hard work, I think I need cup of tea and a lie down
You can shop for an old tractor with a front loader on machinio, get a disc harrow/subsoiler edger/planter/and cultivator for the rear 3 point hitch and bam! You're a small farmer...If that's too expensive you can just get small gas powered snow blower and garden tiller to break up the soil for planting. You could also do the ATV rear hitch thing with smaller implements designed for ATVs, but you'll likely have to add a lot of weight/ballast to the implement for it to be effective
I agree, this would be the way to go. Old tractors are very much like that apple tree our man showed us: they will cling on to life for decades while seemingly dead, and parts can be found for old machines still. An old wee Nuffield/Valmet/Ford/Massey with a rear snow plow and some old farming implements can be had for a few thousand euro, and would be very useful at Mossy Bottom. Heck, it's basically a small homestead that these tractors were originally targeted for - minus the fields of course.
I would also like to congratulate on the perfect stack of firewood. Any Finn (especially the older folk) approaching the yard will instantly know that these people mean business, and instinctively correct their posture.
I'm so happy for your little family and the beautiful life you are creating. So now we know why you were so quiet! Amazing progress and that property, wow, you have a gem there!
That tool at 3:00 is a lever to rotate leaning and clinging trees to make them fall. What it comes to axes, have you tried Fiskars splitting axes? They come out in many sizes and listening to your preferences, forget the largest one but second or third largest would be good for you.
I just discovered envy...of the most unlikely thing! Your amazingly beautiful log stores. I don't even have a fire but would so love to simply have that to look at. Well done!
Apple trees really do cling on to life. One (1 year old apple tree) on my mothers yard was destroyed by a rabbit. It chewd it in a way that the trunk cut from the middle. I told her to leave it be, see what happens. And sure enough next spring it began producing new branches from the little bit of the trunk that was left!
Nice, but you will have to talk about your sauna too, and you must take up fishing and skiing too. Chopping wood was what most Finns my age had to do as kids and very early on too. It is indeed amazing how much easier it is when the wood is frozen.
One memory I have with my cousine from kids when we heard somebody chopping wood behind the house and it wasn't us. And there she was, grandmother +80 years of age, and we said sorry and she said it's allright, you carry on from here.
That house had 12 fireplaces where the main one took 1m logs.
I know a thing or two of fruit and nut trees in Finland: for cobnuts we are trialling both old varieties from UK/Central Europe and local Finnish ones. Overall cultivars from UK and central europe flower in wrong time compared to our native Corylus avellana - and pollination seems to be a real issue then. Vakka- Taimi nursery has the best local selections that will make nuts, albeit smaller ones. They also have hardy chestnuts, walnuts and heartnuts that I was personally collecting in Baltics, so I can vouch that they have pretty decent chances to survive. As for pears and cherries, there you have more options :) . Bush cherry, sweet cherry, sour cherry... all good in southwestern Finland. Pears: will you want winter varities or summer ones? 'Vasarine sviestine' is a great pear!
From the looks of it, it's going to be the warmest recorded may ever after the coldest winter as far as I can remember. Weather has gone crazy 🤷♂
Totally agree on the splitting logs with an axe; cheaper, faster and a great alternative rural aerobic workout 👍🏻
A task that let's you witness the fruits of your labor in real time + whenever someone looks at you, you can make a dramatic brow swipe to really sell how hard you are working to your spouse.
The only way a mechanized splitter is actually faster is if you use one that has an attached circular saw to also cut the logs before the splitting. If you're cutting the logs to splittable pieces with a chainsaw beforehand then just grabbing an axe is better
Good luck with storing wood indoors. I've done the same and it gathered fungus against the wall and at the bottom of the pile. I don't even try anymore to make "nice piles of wood". I now store on pallets outdoors.With a cover over the top to act as a roof. Raised above the wood. I agree with you on the splitting. But at 70y/o I find the mechanical splitter helps sometimes. (Particularly with fat logs. )
Depends on the climate and type of the wood, but brick buildings are generally not ideal for storing firewood. I use an old stable and the wood dries quite well when I place pallets on floors and walls to improve air circulation. I also keep the doors and windows open during summertime. I never stack the food but just throw there in piles. A simple shed with plank walls is much better for storing and drying firewood.
Then you stacked WET firewood indoors.
ALWAYS dry it outside for 1 summer and then take it inside before end of summer.
Then let it dry inside for 1 year before burning it.
@@jone8626 That was my point exactly. It remains to be seen whether Mossy Bottom has the same experience. It appeared that he stored fresh cut wood indoors.
I can definitely say that those round birch logs with unbroken bark wont be dry until next winter, if ever, when stored indoors. Although they are small, the bark of a birch tree is watertight and the drying happens only from the ends, which is a very small surface. Also the big pile outside, the middle of the pile won't dry nearly as quickly as the outsides.
@@Tilley-oy7gx My experience also. My wife used to laugh at me for being so "neat". I used to be a bricklayer and stacked the wood like bricks. The fresh wood lives. The outer layers have a good chance of falling over time. I now set up a loose frame with chicken wire around and throw the wood into the space.
Being of Finnish descent I've always wanted to travel there and it looks like a magical country during spring and summer. I think I'd fall in love until winter. I love in Michigan and I can get through the cold, it's just the grey and darkness that gets me.
Depending on where you go in Finland it's either grey for most of the winter or only a few weeks in the autumn. Although, the less grey the longer the darkness, but with a snow cover the darkness doesn't feel nearly as dark as without it.
I dont have a homestead but I do a lot of wild camping and there's something very satisfying about taking the top section of a dead standing tree, processing it, splitting it by hand and then cooking dinner with it. The whole process is food for the soul
Freshly cut wood need to dry first summer in outside. You dont neet to protect them from rain. End of summer bring firewood inside. Its good if there is five days when it dont rain and then bring those inside.
If you stag them inside right away theres not enought wentilation and your fire wood gets mold.
Remember to leave some of the old trees standing, very important for the forests health 😊
Birds like hömötiainen suffer in Finland from old trees getting cut down
And to leave some trees just to rotten on the ground is also important.
@@paivimarinela2695 I believe he did that in this video!
awesome stuff man! will be nice to see what grows on your plot of land. Mushroom season is pretty big here in Finland.
Ye have done an Amazing amount of work over the winter , looking forward to seeing the basement project you’ve been working on! As well as all the other projects in the works , Finland is agreeing with you ! How is it that as we age you are looking younger !! lol fabulous video as always 😊
I love splitting logs too and your log pile looks very tidy. :)
Your videos always make me happy! Thank you!
I love your lifestyle! At our summer cottage it's hard to get firewood and make any big changes as it has been officially recognised as a 'natura'-area
Very nicely stacked firewood, good job! 👌 The four-metre-long mystery tool might be so-called "fire hook" that used to be mandatory in every house (an absolutely useless tool). But maybe you can use it for assisting at putting down the trees?
I highly recommend not to grow anything inside the house foundation under the base floor. An increased level of humidity level under the floor might lead to growth of unwanted fungi in the floor structure, leading to a total catastrophe.
Unless it's mushrooms 🤔
@@-jz5mm : If the level of moisture in wood exceeds 20%, it starts to rot. Once infected with serpula, rescuing the house will require quick salvage actions. But if the space under the house is kept dry and well ventilated, this kind of floor structure is virtually eternal.
You were one of the main inspirations for me to start my small holding/cottage renovations in the west of Ireland, so it’s SO lovely to see all the things you’re doing now that you’re in Finland!
It's quite exciting seeing your new place Daniel.I am in Connaught not far from your Irish home. My friend and I have pruned our apple trees. They are espalier and very old. I love the bird table.Juno will enjoy that. You have a large amount of land to manage. Onions grow everywhere don't they.Are you having berries? Good luck from sunny (for today at least) Ireland.
The wood heap made me nostalgic for another time. I moved into a conservation area, in Victoria, Australia, where we had a permit to collect wood from an easement around a large reservoir. So my husband and dad would set off with a trailer and return and cut the wood and split it. There is nothing like the fire you make when you have taken part in most steps. Sadly open fires or wood burning heating are frowned upon as supposed to pollute the atmosphere these days. As the community decision was no more collecting wood from our land (due to conservation of environment for ground dwelling birds, marsupials, and indigenous plants) or anywhere local. Meant we bought in Redgum, a Eucalypt (the best for burning). It was very expensive. The hard work of a rural property is now beyond me, my grandchildren so much want the life again but alas the property had to be sold. I now live in the inner city in a retirement community near a lovely creek. Following your journey gives me pleasure.
Cant believe AUS doesnt allow wood burning, craziness!!! Wokeness to the max!
Also a Victorian - I've been lucky to rent a few houses with wood heaters, and I think the smoke problem is due to most people not burning the fire hot enough, perhaps to save on wood. Also not using properly dried wood. Low temperature burning also creates more of the oily residue that lines chimneys and presents a fire risk eventually. But good luck convincing councils it can be done better with education. There is truly nothing like a well-burning hearth to warm the heart and soul and bring family and friends together, I hate living without one. Candles are just not enough. I yearn to live further out in a rural cottage, not unlike this one, with my fire and proper Finnish sauna.
Moi! This all reminds me of my childhood living next to nature during summers at our mökki south of Finland, having our garden, forest, the sea nourish us. Very soothing to watch.
Do you have or will you be building a sauna in the future?
Job well done, sir. Felling trees and splitting wood are metaphorical processes for me. I believe it may be for you too. You expended a ton of energy over the Finnish winter. I would think that required a quite a rich diet to sustain. Perhaps a video on that would be interesting?
It's been one hot May this year, I hope you have been fine, and Have a happy midsummer =)
WOW I absolutely loved your vlog. I’m so impressed by your work ethic and just look at the result ✅✅✅✅✅👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
Hearing about all your projects has left me exhausted. Blessings to you and Angela for taking on and sticking with such a massive transformation. I enjoyed hearing about what you've done and what lies ahead.
Collecting, cutting and splitting firewood is such a fulfillment. I started doing that as a teenager and I'm still doing it.