Gail and Kevin Lambert wrote in message ...
have a 37 acre lot about 10 or so acres bush.
house primarily heated by wood, at the moment i cut up the half decent
fallen trees for fire wood.
my questions are
1. how do i cut the required amount of wood for heat, while still
keeping the appearance of the land?
Unless you have _very_ poor soils, the land should easily geneate a
cord or more of fire wood, mostly small-diameter material, each year.
2. and should i fall trees for next years' harvest?
I'm not quite sure what you mean by this kev. If you are suggesting
cutting trees for future firewood, I'd do that ASAP, PLUS cutting and
splitting the wood for faster drying.

If you are suggesting cutting trees now for timber harvest next year,
I'd wait.

You may also want to look into the economics of cultivationg Lentinula
edodes (shiitake) on smaller-diameter wood of 2-12 inches diameter.
This should clean up the smaller-diameter material, and perhaps even
some of the lower limbs of trees you want to keep. It should also give
you some income, and diversify the crops from the land.

Daniel B. Wheeler
www.oregonwhitetruffles.com