With the colder temperatures impacting our area, firewood has become a premium. Everyone and their dog is selling firewood and saying that it's "seasoned." When it really is well seasoned, expect to pay more. Cutting trees down, transporting handing and working up wood is a risky, labor-intensive pursuit; any do-it-yourselfer will testify to that. The more times a supplier has to handle it and the longer she ties up space storing it, the more she’ll charge. And rightly so.
So how do you know if it's seasoned?
One telltale sign is that the bark has loosened its hold, or has already been knocked off with handling. Also, the log ends have darkened, dried out and started to crack. Seasoned wood contains more splits and cracks and makes a dull "thud" when knocked against another piece of wood. A well seasoned firelog will be lighter in weight than a partially-seasoned or “green” piece of the same size and species. The moisture content tends to be less than 25% in a seasoned log.
