Hi everyone. Here is the background. My friend who moved into the house about 1976 with his family still lives there. Maybe about 1985 or so his dad planted a peach tree that seemed very fruitful but since then his dad and mom have all passed away. He didn't take care of the tree at all. His dad used to do that. Well the tree was thought to be dead. It had no leaves was dried out and looked like a fire hazard. Because he has cerebral palsy and can't use one of his hands and limps he needs help sometimes. He asked if I could cut the tree down for him.
Well I cut about half of it down. We thought it was dead but we did notice some new green leaves growing. He never waters the thing so we figured he let it die from lack of water but we had some really strong rains, yes in Los Angeles we had some strong rains and the tree must have liked the rain and started growing back some leaves but not many.
So I get the chainsaw and cut about half of it down and since it's peach and he didn't need it I took some wood home for smoking meat. My question is this. I read that when people cut down trees one should let it season for about 6 months but this tree was all but dead for years, only now it's starting to show signs of life again. The wood when cut seems extremely dry. It's orangish color or peach like color actually. It's not green at all. Also being concerned about insect damage I inspected it closely and there were no insects or damage due to insects at all. It's really clean wood. It's just he didn't water it at all for years so that's why the tree dried out and all but died. I guess the latest rain and the little rain we get now and then helped get the leaves to grow again. Will it fruit again, I don't know?
So my question is since it's dry wood already and was very dry all these years does it still need to be "seasoned" or can I use it with my smoking meats right away?
Thanks,
James
Well I cut about half of it down. We thought it was dead but we did notice some new green leaves growing. He never waters the thing so we figured he let it die from lack of water but we had some really strong rains, yes in Los Angeles we had some strong rains and the tree must have liked the rain and started growing back some leaves but not many.
So I get the chainsaw and cut about half of it down and since it's peach and he didn't need it I took some wood home for smoking meat. My question is this. I read that when people cut down trees one should let it season for about 6 months but this tree was all but dead for years, only now it's starting to show signs of life again. The wood when cut seems extremely dry. It's orangish color or peach like color actually. It's not green at all. Also being concerned about insect damage I inspected it closely and there were no insects or damage due to insects at all. It's really clean wood. It's just he didn't water it at all for years so that's why the tree dried out and all but died. I guess the latest rain and the little rain we get now and then helped get the leaves to grow again. Will it fruit again, I don't know?
So my question is since it's dry wood already and was very dry all these years does it still need to be "seasoned" or can I use it with my smoking meats right away?
Thanks,
James