By Tomi Hazel
The July sun was bright as we crouched down and reached deep into the belly of the Fire Pig. Our tight gloves blackened as we gently pulled out the treasures. The charcoalized White Oak twigs were coherent. The bark still held on tight and star bursts of shrink cracks adorned the end grains. Success.
This load was cooked last February and has sat dry in the sealed drum of the Fire Pig. One of the advantages of a double retort kiln is that one does not have to open it up any time soon after the pyrolization has ended. Yah, I know, that just raises endless questions but that is how I go fishing. Imagine a big bonfire with twenty foot flames, burning clean. Perhaps you had to be there. We were laying bundles of Buckbrush alongside the Fire Pig , cut from the fire lane on the ridge. The Fire Pig loaded with White Oak and sealed with clay before we lit the side pile fires. The week had been wet and we carefully lit fires on both sides of the drum kiln.
Ah, and yes, I was born in the Chinese year of the Fire Pig. Fire is a lot of my work and Fire, the sacred entity, has been companion and ally for ten thousand years, at least, in this canyon.
The best twigs and small limbs will go to Tea Ceremony. The rest to cooking charcoal. We cut fuel for restoration. We burn clean to burden the atmosphere the least. The third charcoal is the fine pieces shoveled into waiting drums from the Buckbrush side burns. This is two thirds of our production and goes to the farm compost for near permanent carbon sequestration and enhanced soil resilience.