Author Topic: Spruce Boards - where? And important?  (Read 8445 times)

Offline ArnaudForestier

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Spruce Boards - where? And important?
« on: January 22, 2014, 02:13:05 PM »
OK, mundane question...but no one in my city carries spruce boards, only pine and then some species of hardwoods.  Where do you guys source (preferably, aged at least somewhat) spruce?  Cut it yourself?

Secondly, if spruce shares at least family taxonomy with pine, what's the uproar with pine?  Before I crashed and burned and stopped doing everything including cheese awhile back, I aged on pine, without issue - lots of semi-hard to hard cheeses in tommes and beauforts.  I will admit I boiled the tar out of the boards (pun intended), but spruce is a very aromatic tree...

Just tilting at windmills, very minor issue, curious on others' thoughts.
- Paul

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Re: Spruce Boards - where? And important?
« Reply #1 on: January 22, 2014, 03:33:39 PM »
There's no issue with using pine. Works great. So does fir. So does hemlock. Use what you can find.

Offline ArnaudForestier

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Re: Spruce Boards - where? And important?
« Reply #2 on: January 22, 2014, 03:34:07 PM »
Thanks, Pav, much easier. :)
- Paul

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Re: Spruce Boards - where? And important?
« Reply #3 on: January 22, 2014, 06:22:20 PM »
They may  have pine and just don't know it.

Most coniferous graded lumber is stamped S-P-F , for spruce-pine-fir they are all grouped together.
S-P-F includes balsam fir , all spruce , all pine , hemlock , and larch (or tamarack to you Americans).

 Douglas fir is separated.

You can tell the fir apart as it is usually quite red , as for spruce and pine , look for the S-P-F stamp , and buy the boards with the smallest and fewest knots , chances are , it is spruce and not pine , as pine usually has more and larger knots , even then , it's hard to be sure.

They are so close though , I don't think it would really matter.

Offline ArnaudForestier

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Re: Spruce Boards - where? And important?
« Reply #4 on: January 22, 2014, 06:45:27 PM »
Thanks, JWalker, shows how little I know.  Will do. 

By the way - NICE caravan!  Did you build that?  I'm not a gypsy swing guitarist, I just play one TV..... 8)
- Paul

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Re: Spruce Boards - where? And important?
« Reply #5 on: January 22, 2014, 08:43:49 PM »
Thanks, JWalker, shows how little I know.  Will do. 

By the way - NICE caravan!  Did you build that?  I'm not a gypsy swing guitarist, I just play one TV..... 8)

No , but I am building one similar to it this spring , just amassing the materials now , it will sit on a 1947 five ton truck frame with 22 inch wheels , which I have already scrounged from my neighbors property.

I did build a small guest cabin on our property similar (but with a sod roof) , but this next one I want on wheels , to be able to move to different locations.

This is the one In my yard.


Offline ArnaudForestier

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Re: Spruce Boards - where? And important?
« Reply #6 on: January 22, 2014, 08:51:09 PM »
Wow, beautiful, JWalker - all of it!

At our summer gypsy swing fest there was a guy, a caravan builder, selling his last one before retiring.  In the background:



Wish I had a better shot, this was the last one....
- Paul

Offline Tiarella

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Re: Spruce Boards - where? And important?
« Reply #7 on: January 23, 2014, 12:48:22 PM »
I've always wanted a caravan after vacationing in one, rented the horse to pull it too, in England when I was a kid.  Lots of fun parking in farmer's fields (we were given a map/list of where we could ask to park) and buying milk and eggs from them.  A UK builder of shepherd wagons has opened a US branch locally and I'm psyched although they are not as pretty as the Gypsy ones.

A friend organizes the Django in June workshop/concert series in Northampton, MA each year and I always think I'm going to find time to hear more of it but it's rather peak farming time.......      Or does he call it the "Django in Djune"?   :D. Can't remember.

Offline ArnaudForestier

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Re: Spruce Boards - where? And important?
« Reply #8 on: January 23, 2014, 01:05:52 PM »
Wow, Tiarella, Andrew's your friend!  The man's both a god and a saint!  DIJ was one of the most transformative weeks of my life.  I had hoped to go this year again, but regretfully it looks like my body is being stubborn.  Will have to see. 

Anyway, say hi to Andrew (Paul, Madison), wish him well as he continues to pull this one together. 

Such a small planet.
- Paul

Offline Tiarella

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Re: Spruce Boards - where? And important?
« Reply #9 on: January 23, 2014, 01:17:18 PM »
Wow, Tiarella, Andrew's your friend!  The man's both a god and a saint!  DIJ was one of the most transformative weeks of my life.  I had hoped to go this year again, but regretfully it looks like my body is being stubborn.  Will have to see. 

Anyway, say hi to Andrew (Paul, Madison), wish him well as he continues to pull this one together. 

Such a small planet.

Well, if you come again and our guest room suite is vacant you are welcome to use it for the whole week if you claim dibs ahead of time.  We are about 45 minutes drive from Northampton.  I don't know Andrew well but we're part of the same community so run into each other a fair amount and have talked at times about permaculture, sustainable living, etc.  If I run into him, happens less often now that I'm out farming more than downtown, I'll relay your regards to him!   :D

Offline ArnaudForestier

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Re: Spruce Boards - where? And important?
« Reply #10 on: January 23, 2014, 03:13:51 PM »
Well, wow again, thank you, Tiarella, that's really kind of you.  Maybe I'll bag DIJ and just help you farm.  ;D

Andrew's a very good guy, glad to know you in that circle as well as this one.  I was a member of Shakespeare & Company, trained with them at Smith College...very strange to come back to the college last year, 20 years older...it seems timelessly beautiful, your country, while I've, er, aged.... :(
- Paul

Offline Tiarella

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Re: Spruce Boards - where? And important?
« Reply #11 on: January 23, 2014, 03:48:41 PM »
Well, wow again, thank you, Tiarella, that's really kind of you.  Maybe I'll bag DIJ and just help you farm.  ;D


It's a deal!   ;D  I'll milk the goats and you can make the cheese.  I want to make an outdoor kitchen here with an earthen oven to making pizza (and other things) with food straight from the garden.  Joseph and I will some day probably manage to create that but until then it's all a dream and I have time to perfect my mozz cheese.  I think making cheese outside could be a lot of fun.  You can see a bit of our place here www.foxmountainfarm.blogspot.com
 ^-^

Offline ArnaudForestier

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Re: Spruce Boards - where? And important?
« Reply #12 on: January 23, 2014, 03:59:15 PM »
Great site, and what gorgeous food, Tiarella!  I love the name Fauna - my sister in law's cat, my favorite.  My dream would be an outdoor oven for baking, a make room for cheese, an underground cave like Oude Kaas's, and a brewery that could make my life easy, handling the 1/2 BBL system I built.  So far, it's a stone in our home oven...and some dough!

Detmolder Three-Stage Rye (30ish hours!)



Just my levain boule:



-Thank you again, Tiarella.  I really miss New England (used to live in Lenox, Providence, Londonderry CT, Pomfret) and hope to pay a visit - hopefully, DIJ!
« Last Edit: January 23, 2014, 05:25:18 PM by ArnaudForestier »
- Paul

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Re: Spruce Boards - where? And important?
« Reply #13 on: January 23, 2014, 05:16:12 PM »
Nice looking rye loaf, I have been making forays into that arena without much success.  :-\

Offline Tiarella

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Re: Spruce Boards - where? And important?
« Reply #14 on: January 24, 2014, 03:42:44 AM »
Nice bread!!!!!  Yes, a wood-fired oven is on my dream list.  I also want a make room and a cave system that has a root and fruit storage cellar space AND a cheese cave space.  Here's a recent loaf I made.  I've been grinding Einkorn grain into flour.  It's an ancient wheat with twice the protein and almost twice the minerals of modern manipulated wheats.  Check out the wheats at www.growseed.org   (I think I have that correct)   We helped her plant out her varieties and in exchange she gave us a big bag of grain.  A few varieties to plant also.  It's my favorite!