Here on Cape Cod, our Pine trees have been under attack. Pine Bark Beetles have been an increasing problem in our local forests. Once the tree becomes infected with these nasty little critters a secondary disease is introduced that finishes the poor tree off in, sometimes as quickly as, one season.
So needless to say, a good majority of the trees we’ve been cutting down the past few years have been dead or dying Pitch Pines.
Ok, hard wood logs= firewood, but what about this surplus of Pine logs we seem to be stock piling now?
For those who own and operate a tree service on Cape Cod just for the sake of doing tree work are really only reaping a small portion of the benefits of working with trees.
Take a look below at one of our recent projects. This barn is still under construction, but as of yet all of our materials for this project have been harvested from the native trees on Cape Cod . Pitch Pine is a harder, more dense wood than White Pine or Spruce, so it make building a bit laborious, but boy is it some strong stuff! Pitch Pine also makes some very attractive flooring when it is milled up in larger planks. Very Rustic.
My son Elijah ontop of 6×6 lumber that was milled from local Pitch Pine tree
This is my son Elijah sitting on top of a pile of 6x6 harvested from local Pitch Pines.
Here is Elijah marking up the beams for mortis and tenon
And then the cut begins
- The first corner being set in place. It has to be just right!
things are starting to come together
You can start to see the barn emerging.
It’s nice being able to work with materials that you know have integrity and have been obtained resourcefully. Take that Home Depot. I will keep you updated as this project progresses towards the finished product.
Oh and did I already mention that Pitch Pine makes some beautiful flooring?
Wide, varied width, Pine flooring, The Pitch Pine has the same rich color and look as White Pine but with much more durabilty.
Comments
Wow, that IS some beautiful wood for flooring. Thanks for teaching me about the pitch pine.
So you’ve heard the slogan “buy local” I’m sure?(and it is a good one)
Well I’ve got one even better….Harvest Local. When we look around at the environments that we live in, we can usually find just about everything we need right there in nature. And all mother nature charges for her goods is a bit of care and good old fashioned hard work.
Perhaps one of our great struggles, collectively, has been to use the available, local resources with care and responsibility.
May we learn!
That is beautiful work. I did not realize you have the means & equipment to process pine locally to produce those beams and the floor boards. I totally agree with the harvest local approach. I’m glad you’re getting your kids involved – there’s hope for the future if skill and love of nature gets passed on
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