Some of the Metroparks have a free wood chip pile. I’m sure they bring in a big, industrial tree chipper machine and a dump truck to clear out downed trees throughout the park. The chips are then dumped into a large pile and free for anyone who wants to haul them. We discovered this last year and started making a wonderful path through our woods — a path that did an awesome job of replacing the usual muck road we travel during maple season. We’ve been watching the location for a new pile of wood chips this year, and Anya spotted the pile a few days ago. It’s a bit of rush to collect them — local landscaping companies show up with large trailers and clear the place out.

We got a lot of wood chips the last few days. The first day, I shoveled and Scott ferried. There was a lot of time lost to driving, so he put together a rear hitch mount for one of our carts. We can now tow both carts simultaneously. The second day, I shoveled while he used a pitch fork — a far superior tool for moving wood chips — and then hung out with Anya while he ferried the carts. Today, he pitch-forked and ferried while I consolidated the pile and did a few other tasks (turned compost, disassembled the temporary hop greenhouse). We’re up to 38 cartloads of wood chips! We’ll probably move some more tomorrow, but it’ll all be soggy from the rain tonight.