Hi Heather,

  Here is what the daycreek search engine says about quaking aspen.

http://www.daycreek.com/dc/asp/forum2002/search.asp?ForumID=2&TopicID=639&SearchPagePosition=1&search=Aspen&searchMode=anywords&searchIn=Topic&forum=2&searchSort=dateDESC

I have had two experiences using what we call Poplar (Trembling Aspen) in cordwood buildings.

Four years ago we used 7 inch rounds of poplar as decorative pieces in the interior layer of our double stackwall.  I had cut the trees green and peeled the logs (easy to peel) three years earlier, stacked them in 10 ft lengths.  I thought they were well dried, but they shrunk a lot after they were in the wall.

Three years ago I helped Scott and Kerry at '80 acre' build a traditional stackwall using poplar that had been cut in two foot lengths, split and piled for two years.  here we are 3 years on , and it has shown little to no shrinkage.  We peeled it just prior to putting it in the walls.  It was not as easy as the green peeling, but not too difficult.

Our lesson learned:  cut to the desired length and split before drying, or expect shrinkage.

One more thing, the poplar looks great whe first peeled green, and has a nice white log-end inside if not weathered, but it can turn quite black if peeled and stacked to dry, and the black goes right into the wood and is not easily sanded off.

We used polar posts for the uprights in our post and beam and are quite happy with them.  They turn quite hard as they dry, but are prone to rot, so have to be protected from damp, particularly on the botttom end.  We used rounds of asphalt roofing under them a la Rob Roy.  We were also required by our building inspector to treat the bottom end with copper sulphate.