Marshall and I get up just before sunrise each morning. Me? Well, I just grab a cup of bush tea and enjoy the morning on my verandah but Marshall’s day starts in the bush even before the sun comes up.
Making Charcoal
Since I first met Marshall, he has always seemed to have a chainsaw either in his hand or in close proximity. Originally, it was a 4 foot bar Stihl when he was cutting large trees for selling the lumber but today it is a 2 foot Poulan Pro and he is cutting small pieces of hardwood and putting them in a “still”.
A still is a pit in the ground where you put dried wild grass in the center of the hole and stack the wood pieces around it like making a Boy Scout fire and then you put more grass on the top before burying the whole thing in a mound of dirt with a vent hole in the top leading down to the dry grass below. Once the fire is lit, then you block up the hole and keep checking on the still every few hours to make sure no “blow outs” (smoke escaping) occur. After 4 or 5 days, you dig up the pit and the result is charcoal.
Peace and Guidance
