So now you're asking "What is cordwood, and why in blazes are you thinking you can get away with something like this? Well, cordwood is a technique (aptly named the 'poor man's building method') of laying up firewood into a wall. Very similar to regular masonry, with a few exceptions.

We attended a workshop on cordwood techniques with Rob Roy (the big guy on this stuff) at the Earthwood School (below), and we just fell in love with the quiet, ease, and comfort provided by this building method. Yes, he lives in a little Hobbit hippee commune in the middle of nowhere. No, we don't really want to live like that, but we did think it was cute. We'd be happy to answer any further questions, but we don't want to bore you here with details, philosophy, or politics.

The pertinent information is that before we did anything else for our cabin, we needed to bark and stack the wood to cure it for cordwood wall filler to be used in one year. The earlier in the season, the wetter the tree, so the bark came off harder as the summer wore on.

Yes, it was fun at the beginning.

And then we got smart,
and recruited laborers.

Once the wood was barked,
we stacked it into "quoines" to dry.

Another example of a
cordwood house- this
with timberframe construction.

Laying up a wall with windows
looks so easy!.

Sam at the Earthwood
workshop, pointing
a cordwood wall.
(tee hee hee!)