Rural life

Wood Cooking

There is nothing like using wood when you are grilling. Wood cooking goes back to the stone age. Now it has become an art. Using different types of woods gives different flavors to what you are cooking or smoking.

Like slow cooking hickory being a hardwood stands up to large cuts of meat like briskets and whole fowl. It has a spicy, smoky profile giving the strongest, smokey taste.

  • Oak is a level below hickory for smoky flavor. Good for any meat which you want a smoky flavor.
  • Maple is good for vegetables especially corn on the cob. It gives a mild, sweet flavor. Sugar maple is used mainly for turkey.
  • Alder is milder than hickory and gives smaller cuts of meat particularly fish a subtle flavor.
  • Applewood gives a mild, sweet flavor to white meats like pork, poultry, and fish.
  • Cherry like apple gives a sweet, fruity flavor to lamb, beef, and gamey meat. Also great for steak.
  • Pecan gives more of a nutty flavor which is good for chicken.
  • Mesquite is the most concentrated, earthly smoke you will have. Like hickory, used for large cuts of meat.
  • Apricot is like hickory but not as strong and sweeter.
  • Black walnut and chokecherry have a bitter flavor. They are used to mix with other woods.
  • Citrus wood will give a milder, fruity flavor compared to an apple or cherry.
  • Lilac is used in Europe for smoking cheeses. It produces a mild, sweet smoke that goes well with poultry and pork.
  • Plum and pearwood give a fruity, mild flavor.
  • What some of you do not know is cottonwood can be used to give a mild smoke for those that do not have a strong smoky smell or taste. The Sioux used cottonwood to remove some of the gamey taste of the bison meat. As with all woods, avoid greenwood.

How much smoke do you want is often a trial by error. So before cutting any hardwood tree down, maybe you might make use of wood by placing it in your grilling recipe.

Landscaping decor

Solar Outdoor Accent Lights

Solar outdoor accent lights have come a long way from the simple path lights. The lights are brighter, coming in changing colors, and the batteries last longer.

The advantages of solar lights are that they can be placed anywhere as long as they are in full sun during the day.

The disadvantage is that my solar light works for maybe a year and needs a battery replacement. I went to the low voltage lighting, but solar lights have their use.

Their use of pathway lighting adds to curb appeal. They increase security and reduce injury from tripping on something. Path lights come in the usual light on a stake, one that looks like a rock that shines from the side, and the flickering ones looking like a flame.

Solar floodlights and spotlights come with a motion detector that can be mounted or placed around the home. The floodlights without the detector can be part of the landscaping accented to certain flowerbeds or trees. I used a few floodlights in a flowerbed with white flowers creating a moon garden.

String lights can be hung from trees, along with the patio, and under gazebos for a party-like or romantic atmosphere depending on the hues of the lights. Just make sure the solar receptor is placed in sunlight.

Real Estate (Farm & Ranch Land)

Winterburn in Evergreens

I am getting a few evergreen questions with similar problems. My tree is an arborvitae that is turning brown on the south side.  What is happening? It may be winterburn in evergreens.

Winterburn of the top of an Albert Spruce

The fancy term is winter desiccation. A lot of different plants suffered winter desiccation, including evergreens like arborvitae, boxwood and yew (maybe think twice about growing here), and white pine along with some spruces like Colorado Blue. Being evergreens, the trees and shrubs use water through their roots to keep the needles green and the plant alive. If the soil dries out during a thaw in the winter, or a dry fall going into the winter before soil freeze-up, a problem arises.

Winterburn of the south side of Arbovitae

The leaves lose water faster than they can replace it, so the leaves/needles started to turn brown and die back. The south and west sides of the plant will show more injury because the sun’s intensity is stronger causing the needles to transpire.

For now, just watch the plant and see what happens. If it sends out new growth in the spring, then prune out the dead branches back to living tissue.  If the plant is completely brown with no new growth, then you will need to remove it.  Young plants are more at risk than older plants. Also, plants around the foundation of the home where water has trouble getting to the root are more prone to injury. Odds are they should come back.