
A neighbour once said, “A delivery of firewood is thrice enjoyed: Once, when the wood is delivered, next, when the wood is stacked and put away, and finally, when it is burned.
To this, I would add a fourth: chopping. As required. I shall explain.
There is no natural gas on Pender Island, and few people bother with propane, except to run their stoves. So no central heating systems warm our homes. Wood stoves do. Firewood is a big part of our lives, here.
This adds a layer of work – and pleasure – into heating the house. You stack a cord of wood, or two or three, then maintain a supply near the house to save yourself a trek up the driveway in the cold or rain, to bring wood in when needed.

More Wood, More Work
When firewood is delivered, it is generally ready for the fireplace or wood stove, chopped to size. If you want kindling to help start the fire, well, that’s extra work.
Starting the fire in the most efficient way is in the realm of opinion or tradition … or superstition. This past year, I’ve been using the top down method: I place a layer of logs in the bottom of a cold stove, then a layer of kindling. Lastly, I layer a small amount of newspaper or pine cones on top of all that. The top tinder is ignited and the fire starts modestly, but soon begins to eat its way down. Gas is given off as the logs heat up, but there is already flame on the top to ignite it. Before long you have a great fire going with a minimum of smoke.
When Mildrith came into our lives, it meant more wood and more work. More stacking, more chopping and more transporting wood to the oven shelter.
Chopped to Size
The prevailing wisdom among wood-fired oven users is that logs are not the most efficient size to use. The fuel needs to be smaller. I chop firewood to the diameter of a human wrist. The wood burns brighter, hotter, faster, bumping up the surface temperature of the hearth and walls. Lots of this wood thrown on the fire builds a reservoir of heat that will bake three to four loads of bread on one firing. Equals a happy baker!
So firewood destined for Mildrith needs to be chopped first. It’s repetitive. If I’m not in the right frame of mind, it can be boring. But it’s amazing how the time flies by, setting a log on the chopping block, finding the right place to split it, bringing the axe down. The wood cracks, the chips fly and soon enough you might step back and realize you’ve chopped a hell of a lot of wood..
There is the scent of wood. The pungence of fir sap. It’s sharp at first, because you’re so close to it, but it fills the air around you as the wood splits open and you bend over to pick up the next piece. There are fir trees everywhere on Pender, and you realize you smell it every day when you step outside. You’re closer to wood, the more you chop.
Lo and Behold! A Stack of Wood!
I’m the sanguine type, who forgets my worldly concerns when I’m working with the axe. I focus on the task at hand. Trance-like, I carry logs from the stack, chop, pick up the pieces, repeat. Before long, there is enough firewood for two or three wheelbarrows that can be taken down to Mildrith and stacked neatly beside her. Mildrith is provided for. The fruits of my labour lay before me. I can take off my gloves. My back is a little stiff, there are splinters in my fingers, but there is a deep satisfaction when I behold enough wood for many firings of the oven.
A recent favourite book, Norwegian Wood ‒ Chopping, Stacking and Drying Wood the Norwegian Way by Lars Mytting, is a paean to the wood-fired world and all the tasks and pleasures it entails. In it, I discovered these lines from the great Norwegian poet, Hans Bøli:
The scent of fresh wood
is among the last things you will forget when the veil falls.
The scent of fresh white wood
in the spring sap time:
as though life itself walked by you,
with dew in its hair.
That sweet and naked smell
kneeling woman-soft and blond
in the silence inside you,
using your bones for
a willow flute.
With the hard frost beneath your tongue
you look for fire to light a word,
and know, mild as southern wind in the mind,
there is still one thing in the world
you can trust.
Hans Børli
Happy Monk Tidings - Dec. 16, 2020 - Happy Monk Blog: Time to Hang Up the Baker's Peel for 2020; Baker's Choice: Fruit Sourdough [ See link in profile ]
Instead of “figgy pudding,” I made some Figgy Bread! Fig and a hint of Fennel. Doesn’t roll off the tongue as well as figgy pudding, but it tastes better! (Thus the red carpet threatment!)
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#figbread #figgybread #sourdough #sourdoughbread #woodfired #woodfiredoven #woodfiredovenbread #woodfiredbread #coboven #bread #breadlove #baker #bbga #happymonkbaker #happymonkbaking #naturallyleavened #artisanbread #realbread #rusticbread #penderisland #southpenderisland
Salish Country Loaves tumbling out of Mildrith, the wood-fired oven this morning. There are a few extras, so if you’re interested, I’ll be at Medicine Beach until 2pm today (Friday, Dec. 11)!
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#woodfired #woodfiredoven #coboven #Mildrith #Mildriththeoven #woodfiredovenbread #sourdough #sourdoughbread #bread #realbread #naturallyleavened #baker #bakery #bbga #artisanbread #breadhead #breadporn #sourdough #sourdoughbread #penderisland #southpenderislands #happymonkbaking #happymonkbakery #happymonkbakingcompany
Happy Monk Tidings - Dec. 11, 2020 - Baker's Choice this week: Fig and Fennel Loaf; Happy Monk Blog: Praise the Rain! [ See link in profile ]
Volkornbrot casts a long shadow … getting bagged up for deliveries today. The aroma of 100% rye in the kitchen is otherworldly! I’m walking around in a trance.
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#volkornbrot #rye #ryebread #ryebreadlove #sourdough #sourdoughbread #woodfired #woodfiredoven #woodfiredovenbread #woodfiredbread #coboven #bread #breadlove #baker #bbga #happymonkbaker #happymonkbaking #naturallyleavened #artisanbread #realbread #rusticbread #penderisland #southpenderisland
See you in the morning, Mildrith!
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#woodfiredovens #woodfiredbread #woodfired #sourdoughbread #baker #bakersofinstagram #bakersoven #woodfiredovenlove #happymonkbaking #happymonkbakery #happymonkbakingcompany #southpenderisland #penderisland #penderislandbc
Happy Monk Tidings - Bread 🍞 and Blog 💻 - Baker's Choice: Volkornbrot - German Rye; Happy Monk Blog: The Good People of Pender - [ See link in profile ]
Making this Olive Loaf is almost as delicious as eating it. Marinated Kalamata and Haldiki with zested lemons and spices.
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#wildyeast #michaeljamesbakes #tivolirdbakery #naturallyleavened #artisanbread #realbread #rusticbread #woodfired #woodfiredbread #sourdough #sourdoughbread #penderisland #southpenderisland #happymonkbaking #happymonkbakery #happymonkbakingcompany
Happy Monk Tidings - Baker's Choice: Olive Loaf and Happy Monk Blog: The Joys of Firewood - [ See link in Profile ]
Breadcrumbs
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#innomine #sourdough #sourdoughbread #happymonkbaker #happymonkbakery #bread #breadcrumbs
Bread love 🍞 ❤️ 🍞
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#countrybread #countryloaf #salishsourdough #sourdough #sourdoughbread #sourdoughbaking #bread #breadlove #breadlabcollective #bbga #breadstagram #breadsofinstagram #artisanbread #baker #bakery #happymonkbaker #happymonkbakery #happymonkbaking #southpenderisland #southpender #penderisland #southerngulfislands
Intense little Seed loaf!
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#seedbread #sourdough #sourdoughbread #sourdoughbaking #bread #breadlove #breadlabcollective #breadstagram #breadsofinstagram #artisanbread #baker #bakery #happymonkbaker #happymonkbakery #happymonkbaking #southpenderisland #southpender #penderisland #southerngulfislands
Sprouted Kamut bread tasted fruity, like banana, and of course grassy and sweet. And the loaves have that haunted face look! Halloween was two weeks ago!
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#kamut #kamutbread #khorasan #khorasanbread #bread #sourdough #sourdoughbread #breadlove #breadloaf #scarybread #halloweenbread #woodfired #woodfiredoven #woodfiredbreadoven #woofiredbread #happymonkbakery #happymonkbakingcompany #happymonkbaking #baker #bakery #southpenderisland #southpender #penderisland #penderislandbc #sproutedgrains #sproutedbread #sproutedkamut #sproutedkamutbread
Happy Monk Tidings 🍞 - This Week's Baker's Choice: Sprouted Kamut Loaf; Happy Monk Blog: To Autumn - [ See link in Profile ]
A hint of brotgewürz, bread spice. A mix of caraway, anise, fennel and coriander lifts this seedy Mountain Rye into a different realm.
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#brotgewürz #mountainrye #wholerye #ryebread #woodfired #woodfiredoven #woodfiredovenbread #bread #realbread #naturallyleavened #baker #bakery #bbga #artisanbread #breadhead #sourdough #sourdoughbread #penderisland #southpenderislands #happymonkbaking #happymonkbakery #happymonkbakingcompany
Happy Monk Tidings - Baker's Choice: Mountain Rye; Happy Monk Blog: Entangled Lives and the Election - [ See link in profile ]
Cinnamon-Raisin Loaves are St. Francis’ favourite, you can tell. He moves along the wall and stands behind the trays fresh out of Mildrith, the wood-fired oven. There, he can inhale the intoxicating perfume of warm spice and warm his stone-cold feet. And dream of what these loaves could taste like, if he could only taste.
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#breadhead #breadlove #sourdough #sourdoughbread #cinnamonraisin #cinnamonraisinbread #bread #realbread #naturallyleavened #baker #bakery #bbga #artisanbread #bread #realbread #naturallyleavened #baker #bakery #bbga #artisanbread #penderisland #southpenderislands #happymonkbaking #happymonkbakery #happymonkbakingcompany
Tidings from the Happy Monk 🍞 - Baker's Choice: A Warming Cinnamon Raisin Loaf; Happy Monk Blog: The Isle of Apples ... [ See Link in Profile ]
1. Spelt and Hunny on their first date. 2. Alejandro and Sandra like each other too much. 3. Happy, well-adjusted Spelt-Honey loaves.
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#spelt #speltbread #honeybread #breadhead #breadporn #breadlove #wildyeast #michaeljamesbakes #tivolirdbakery #naturallyleavened #artisanbread #realbread #rusticbread #woodfired #woodfiredbread #sourdough #sourdoughbread #penderisland #southpenderisland #happymonkbaking #happymonkbakery #happymonkbakingcompany
Happy Monk Tidings, October 14 🍞 - Baker's Choice: Russian Rye; This week's Blog: A New Look at the Noble Miche [ See link in profile ]
Why make a 5-pound miche? Bread-making tradition + dreams of Poilâne + the heft and bulk of a massive whole-grain loaf held against your chest. The sheer joy of so much bread!
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#bread #wholegrainbread #breadhead #michebread #redfife #redfifesourdough #sourdough #sourdoughbread #poilane #poilâne #peterreinhart #rusticbread #woodfired #woodfiredbread #wildyeast #breadporn #realbread #artisanbread #naturallyleavened
The way this fog transforms the landscape, as if our little piece of land has lifted into the clouds drifted about and landed us in another world!
REMINDER: The Happy Monk is on a Bread Break! 😎 See you all in two weeks! Also: read back issues of the Happy Monk Blog [ See link in Profile ]
Pender Island Apple Bread! We’re awash with apples so we used some up in today’s Baker’s Choice. Straight up apples; no walnuts or spices.
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#apples #applebread #woodfiredbread #bread #wildyeast #artisanbread #sourdough #sourdoughbread #southpenderisland #penderisland #happymonkbakingcompany #wholegrainbread #organic #breadhead #bbga #ihatehashtags #ihatehashtagsbutwhatever
Lest we be forgotten: https://leathersmithe.smugmug.com/Community/Green-Angels/Green-Angels-Work/
https://leathersmithe.smugmug.com/Community/Green-Angels/2019-Angels/
Thank you, Davy, for the links and the reminder! Ye are not forgotten!
The Green Angels of Pender Island are wood choppers extraordinaire! A band of volunteers who chop downed trees into firewood that are donated by property owners in return for charitable tax receipts. That firewood is then given to Pender residents for their winter fuel supply in return for a donation, usually around $300 a cord of firewood. This pool of donations are then used to support a variety of local causes. You can read more about this terrific enterprise here: https://greenangels.com/