Tree clean-up and homemade charcoal

Busy weekend, and we both sort-of overdid it yesterday, so today is a low-gear day.  I had intended to post last night, but just didn't have the motivation once we finished up.

First was the clean-up of the two trees we took down.  The smaller one I felled was healthy enough that hubby cut the trunk into sections to stack for firewood for the coming winter and the little wood-burning cast iron stove we intend to get.  The tree hubby felled though, was obviously unhealthy, and was rotting from the center out.  It may not be fit for the firewood stack, but there is another use!  We spent the weekend partially burning the trunk to make our own charcoal:

That wasn't the only project going, though.  While hubby attended to fire-making, I decided to fill up garden box #3 with the cardboard bottom, laves/dead grass raked up from around it, and the pile of bags of dirt.

There is one small problem with raking up a small area when it is obvious where you raked: then the raked patch sticks out like a sore thumb until you feel a need to grab the rake and rake up a larger area.  Then you need to ask your husband to construct a quick-and-easy compost area of the scrap lumber that braced the load on the 700 mile trip down plus some chicken wire.  Now we have a northeast compost pile!  I also have somewhere to put the Spanish moss that falls off the trees (usually still attached to the dead branch).

Finally, it just got a bit too dark to keep working on the yard, plus it began to drizzle in front of the forecasted rain.  We moved under the old carport to each enjoy a pipe and admire the progress.