Well, things finally came together and I’ve been burning in the Morso Squirrel for the past few nights.  The anticipation of finally firing her up has been killing me and I’m enjoying every minute of putting her through the paces.  After about 18 hours of burning I’m ready to share a few insights on this tiny workhorse.

With roughly a 15 inch x 15 inch footprint the Morso 1410 is  one of the smallest wood stoves I’ve seen.  The firebox is only big enough for 12 inch splits of wood, but you can cram a few 14 inch splits in on the diagonal.  Despite it’s diminutive size I have been able to get 8-9 hour burns when I pack her full of wood on a nice bed of coals and nearly close the primary air supply.  I’ve found a few coals capable of restarting the fire even after 10 hours.

It takes a really good coal bed before the Squirrel starts burning efficiently and smokeless.  If I use a lot of dry kindling I can usually get to this point in about 10-15 minutes.  Yes I said smokeless.  This is an EPA certified stove, and when it is burning hot even the smoke is consumed inside the stove.  I couldn’t believe it the first time I checked the stove pipe outside and all I could see were heat waves rising into the cold morning air. Read the rest of this entry »

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I recently decided my little cabin in the woods needed some help in the heating department.  Self sufficiency and reliability have become my mantra lately, so I needed a dependable heat source that my own two hands could supply the fuel for.  Wood heat seemed perfect.

My cabin is situated in the deep woods of North Mississippi where heat is really only a concern for 4 months out of the year.  When it does get cold we can see temperatures in the teens for several days though.  I suffered through a weekend like that just a few weeks ago and decided it was time to act.  Kerosene heaters and down blankets can only do so much.

Knowing nothing about modern wood heat, and with a desire to be as efficient in it’s use as possible, I started Googling.  I found a great forum on the topic of wood heating, heating in general really.  Hearth.com was a wealth of information and had me leaning toward an EPA certified wood burning stove.

There are many brands and types of wood stoves to choose from.  I knew I wanted proven quality and cast iron, so I went with the Danish stove maker Morso.  There’s a bit of a debate on which company is the oldest wood stove maker in the world.  Depending on who you talk to the title goes to either Morso of Jotul, both from Denmark.

My cabin is only 900 square feet, and from what I’ve read some of these big wood burners could have you opening a window long before they were up to operational temperature and burning efficiently.  I needed a really small stove with a good reputation and decided on the Morso 1410, or the Squirrel as it’s also known.

The Morso Squirrel has arrived and I’m in the process of constructing a hearth.  I hope to have the old girl fired up within the week.  I’ll have a little review soon.  I included lots of pictures in the post because pics of the Squirrel on the net are hard to come by.  She’s elusive like that.

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My first post direct from the wild. I’m using the new Iphone 3G with a WordPress app designed for the Iphone. More to come. This is really Outdoorblogging! Oooh! I hear coyotes. If I can figure out how to attach pictures I’m all set.

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When I was a kid all I ever fished with was live bait.  On the way to the fishing hole Dad would take us by the bait shop to pick up whatever our target fish was fond of.

We would fill our bucket with minnows for White Perch.  A cardboard cylinder of chirping crickets guaranteed a stringer full of Bream.  Night Crawlers packed with soil in an old ice cream container meant Large Mouth Bass was on the menu.  Lastly, a tub of the nastiest puree to ever come out of a blender; a combination of pig blood, old cheese, and rotted meat fished off the bottom of the pond on a big treble hook would have Catfish as big as me flopping around inside the boat in no time.

Every cast was filled with anticipation because there were only two outcomes, either you caught the fish or the fish took your bait. Read the rest of this entry »

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I devoted a sizeable chunk of July to chasing the Speckled Trout, Redfish, and Blue Crabs of Grand Isle, Louisiana.  My eagerness to fill my freezer with fish fillets and lump crab meat would have been better served by learning how the tides and moon phases effect fishing in coastal areas.

I’ve heard old fishermen talking about how good the fishing gets when the tides and moon are just right, but I always wrote that off as superstition and mumbo jumbo…I’ve learned it’s not. Read the rest of this entry »

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I arrived in Grand Isle late last night, and I’m getting my first look around this morning.

I’m staying at a rental cabin on the bay side of Grand Isle.  There’s a nice pier off the back of the cabin so I’ll have easy access to the bay with my kayak.  I plan on carpet bombing the entire island with every bait and lure known to man before I’m done though.

This morning I started fishing the marshes skirting Caminada Bay.  The tide was coming in and I could see dolphins catching their morning meal as the sun started to rise.

I was fishing a Berkley Gulp artificial shrimp off the bottom.

These little fake shrimp were getting me some bites, but I didn’t catch any Speckled Trout of legal size.  I caught three 10 inchers and they all went back to grow some more. Read the rest of this entry »

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These nasty buggers have launched their attack on my tomato plants, and I’m showing no mercy.

The Tomato Hornworm is laid by the Hawk Moths I see fluttering around my tomatoes in late May.  It starts out the size of a grain of rice and matures over the span of a month into this leaf chomping monster.

Despite their 3-4 inch size the hornworm can be hard to spot with its green camouflage.  I scan my garden daily too keep their numbers at bay.

One hornworm can strip a tomato plant clean of its leaves in a few days.

I have a favorite stone step in the garden that has hosted the execution of many Tomato Hornworms.  The hornworm is no match for shoe and concrete.

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I am very happy with the way my hay bale garden is producing.  Eliminating trips to the grocery store, at least for fruit and vegetables, is a major step on the road to self-sufficiency.

Once ripe, these fruits of my labor aren’t going to last long unless I find a way to preserve them for later.

I’ve been using several preservation methods.  I’m drying my herbs and fruits.  I’ve put up about 10 jars of pickles and tomato sauce too.  The quickest method I’ve found is the vacuum sealer though. Read the rest of this entry »

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I have a big fishing trip down to Grand Isle, Louisiana planned.  The goal is to fill my cooler with Speckled Trout.  A few Red Fish, Spanish Mackerel, and Blue Crabs wouldn’t hurt either.

I’m preparing my fishing gear and assessing the state of my tackle because I’m leaving in a few days.

I never seem to get my gear cleaned properly after salt water fishing.  I rinse my reels and even give them a coating of oil after each trip, but I always lose one or two to the salt water. Read the rest of this entry »

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The man with two last names, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall took his custom built gastro-wagon on a journey across Britain.  The catch was he had to forage, hunt, and fish for all his food.  He could barter the things he found, but he could only spend money on gas for the journey.

Here’s a clip of Hugh first firing up the gastro-wagon.  Too bad his first meal was a meager serving of hog weed and fried minnows.

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This was the premise for A Cook on the Wild Side , a series Hugh produced for the BBC back in the mid 1990’s.  You can see how this journey really changes Hugh as he leaves his life in London and heads into the wilds of Britain. Read the rest of this entry »

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