FORGED BY FIRE
In the early years of our farming journey, when we were young and brimming with enthusiasm and intelligence, we saw fire as a free and easily available tool to use on our farm. After all, here on Drover’s Way Farm, near Perth, Ontario, trees abound, and our home farm was fortunate to have acres of woodlands, along with open fields and pasture land. We could come in to the large stone fireplace in the kitchen, which had provided heat for generations before us, and bask in the glow of our own fire, created and provided by our own property and our own hands. We had only to harness this tool, which couldn’t be that difficult, since so many people before us had done this, and for free!
Our first adventure in fire started simply enough, with the need for firewood. This need became readily apparent that first year, as we moved into that beautiful yet bracingly cold stone-flagged kitchen, in the dreary month of November. We hadn’t thought ahead to the need for warmth because free firewood was available outside our back
