This past long weekend for New Year's Day, I took advantage of the day off to cut and split some firewood. (More on that in a post next week.) I got out my trusty double-sided ax, along with a sledge hammer and a wedge and got busy splitting well-seasoned oak for firewood. It was cold, but as I split, I began shedding layers of clothes. First the jacket, then the hat, then the sweatshirt. Splitting firewood is hard work, but it is a satisfying endeavor. Sometimes the ax bounces off of the wood! You turn the log from side to side, looking for a weakness in the wood grain to exploit. As you continue, suddenly you are able to get the ax in a little bit. At that point, you insert the wedge and bang it with the sledge hammer. Your ears are greeted to a satisfying cracking noise as the wedge penetrates the hard wood and splits wide open. And then you do it again...
When you get near a knot in the wood, things get interesting. The wood will not split no matter how hard you try because the wood grains are so twisted and rock-hard. Some of those pieces will have to be burned whole. There are other interesting things in the wood. There are times when you split a piece of wood and encounter something gross. Revolting even.
What in the world are we looking at? I don't know the scientific name, but I believe it is the larvae of the oak wood-boring beetle. I would think that this beetle is responsible for the death of my trees. The larvae is so destructive. They eat (drill) tunnels through the hard wood. That is a remarkable feat. I pulled one of the larvae out of its tunnel. He was fat and heavy in my hand. There were numerous larvae.
I began thinking that this would be a great survival food - a delicacy, to be sure. I bet it is high in protein. What type of recipes would these larvae be good in? Blending them up in a protein shake would get you going. Making a sandwich with several all lined up or rolled up in a tortilla might be something to try. In the end, I opted for simplicity and just popped it in my mouth and chewed. The taste was...
I'm pulling your leg. I'd have to be mighty hungry before I would eat that thing! But there's no way that I was going to waste all these larvae that I was finding. I called for the hens. When they came, I flicked the fat larvae to them. Those gluttonous girls snatched the larvae up in their beaks and ran away quickly. All it took was two pecks and a swallow and the oak-borer beetle larvae was devoured. Then they came running back to me looking for more.
Wood-splitting turned out to be a multi-tasking exercise. I now have about a cord of firewood cut and split and stacked. I was able to feed the hens their fill of oak borer larvae. That's a win-win situation!
