On our last visit to France, Ludovic and I stayed in the cottage extension that Michel, Ludovic’s dad, had built as an extension to their house. Michel had sourced the lumber for the cottage from a supplier who had not properly treated the wood for pests. During the night, we could hear the sounds of capricorns slowly eating away at the wood.

What likely happened was that capricorns had already laid their eggs in the wood, and the larvae was eating their way out.

I asked Ludovic how we could avoid this situation with our building, specifically if there was a way to treat the wood in an ecological manner. His response surprised me. He said, as a start, that the trees for the lumber would be cut in accordance to the lunar calendar. Initially I thought he was joking, but he persisted….

As I started my Internet search on this topic, it appears that the practice of farming according to the lunar cycle started with the ancient Romans. Even so, I have not found any source (at least on English websites) how harvesting timber according to the lunar cycle would prevent bug infestations….

Our carpenter, Michel, will be harvesting the timber according to the lunar cycle….

What else are we doing to properly treat the wood? We will be spraying all the lumber with a borax solution. Warm water is used to dilute the borax and increase absorption onto the wood. Some lumber will be treated before installation and some will be treated right after it’s been installed. Typically, two coatings of borax solution will be applied.