Mouthwash.
Toothpaste.
Chewing gum.
It's not likely teeth realize how many times a day they come in contact with tree products.
It's not likely many people do either, which is why the Louise Kreher Ecology Preserve hosted Goods from the Woods Saturday morning.
"We don't rely on other people," said Jennifer Lolley, outreach administrator for the preserve. "We really rely on wood. Even shade that we get from trees helps our power bills. There's just so many different things that we get from our beautiful forest."
Visitors to the preserve Saturday got to see a demonstration of a variety of ways trees can be used.
Ben Stennett, Auburn forestry graduate, and Keith Connally of Notasulga showed eager onlookers how a man with a chainsaw and a horse can make a forest stronger by removing genetically weak trees.
After cutting a tree down, Stennett and Connally harnessed Connally's horse, Jewel, to the tree and hauled it to a sawmill.
Garth Crow used his small-scale sawmill to show the visiting crowd how a tree is cut into boards.
In between demonstrations, Vicki Powers, Deedee Moreman and Moreman's daughters inhaled handfuls of sweet-smelling sawdust.
Bailey Moreman, 7, said one of her favorite parts of Goods with the Woods was watching Crow turn a crooked pine tree into lumber.
"After Hurricane Opal came through I couldn't find anyone to cut up trees off my property," said Crow about why he bought a sawmill. "I just do this because I enjoy it. I meet interesting people."
Stennett said the main purpose of his forestry demonstration was to show how small-scale forestry is instrumental to building a healthy forest.
By using a chainsaw and a horse to remove weaker trees, Stennett is improving the genetics of the forest.
"I've always loved being outdoors, and I've come to love working with horses and with animals," said Stennett about how he got involved in this kind of forestry.
He said he plans to return to Auburn for grad school, but would like to have a business harvesting trees from small tree farms.
Stephen Marcinko used sweetgum logs to show lumber is not the only thing trees can make.
He drills holes in sweetgum branches, inserts shiitake mushroom spores and seals the holes with wax. Each three-foot log yields approximately two pounds of mushrooms.
Lolley said she thought Goods from the Woods, which she hopes to make an annual event, was successful.
Lolley said approximately 80 people went.
"I think a lot of people were just surprised," Lolley said. "They were interested and surprised to start thinking (about all the things we get from forests)."
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