I am in a similar situation. I harvest all of my own firewood and I am currently into my second year burning. All the wood comes from my property and here is some of the stuff I have learned so far.
1. Get ahead. The best thing for firewood is to be split and stacked for a while. Log form or rounds will dry a bit, but if you want good heat output and minimal chimney buildup, you need to get ahead.
2. Anything will burn, but how well depends on time. I started harvesting when i was building my house. I went after standing dead trees to help minimize my time. Most of it was ash, with some dead and down red oak thrown in. My first year I burnt about a cord, and it made heat.... but not great. This year i am into two year old stuff, hickory, ash, oak, etc. The difference is amazing. Heat output, longevity, starts from dead and the amount of air i need to give the stove has all changed.
3. Just because its dead, doesnt mean its dry. A tree in log form will retain moisture, no two ways about it. A lot of the red oak i was cutting was fallen over, debarked and missing its sapwood. Stuff looked ready to go. after splitting, I found moisture contents as high as 40% on fresh splits. that same wood stacked and split for two years is now burning like a charm, no sizzling and putting out great heat.
4: efficiency. dry wood burns better and hotter, that is just science. The less energy you have to put into boiling off water, the more heat the wood will put out. I am guessing if you get ahead, that 4-6 cords a year will drop while still keeping you warm.
Overall, welcome to the fun and get working! optimize your space, and get ahead. If that isnt going to be possible due to space constraints, then get the wood split and stacked ASAP. dont wait for the fall, you should be collecting next years wood now so it will have plenty of time to get as close to optimal as you can.
Good Luck