Chopping Kindling
November 5th, 2013 · 2 Comments · Posted in rural life
When the sun is shining on a cold fall day, this is where I want to be: sitting on a five-gallon bucket with a hatchet, turning odd pieces of firewood into kindling.
The chimney expert who installed our new wood stove assured us that commercial fire starters would turn any standard-size log into a roaring fire. We did not find that to be the case. These fire starters–paraffin squares that look like wafers of baker’s chocolate–flare into a surprisingly brilliant flame when lighted. They eliminate the need for newspaper in starting a fire. But try as we might, we could not get them to ignite a full log. We needed kindling.
The previous owners of our farm property left all kinds of wood in the basement. In fact, when we first looked at the property there was a window missing in the basement. The hole where the window was supposed to be was being used as a chute to toss firewood. Here’s a tip: a basement is not a good place to cure firewood, nor does the moisture that leaches from the wood do much good for the structural members down there. Our home inspector noted that mold was starting to grow.
That’s where my hunt for kindling began. I’ve already hatcheted my way through one pile of skinny, narrow, short and otherwise mongrel hardwood. We’ve almost burned our way through a stack of full-size logs that were left in another corner of the basement. So we’ve been tidying up as well as making headway with our long-term kindling needs.
This is the box my wife chose to store the kindling next to the wood stove. As you can see, it was used many years ago to ship vanilla beans. (Imagine the value of a load of vanilla beans this size at today’s prices!) More recently, it was the base for our television monitor in the living room.
I think it makes a most excellent kindling box. We found something else for the television to sit on.
(The flame-resistant mitts you see on the tile floor really help when loading logs into a hot stove.)
We use fat wood sold by L. L.Bean. I does start with just a couple of pieces.
That’s some pretty high-end kindling, Nancy.