Pine cones = firelighters!

[Clara]

Sorry if everyone knows about this, but I was blinking amazed to see someone light a pine cone and put it in the woodburner as a firelighter the other day - fab!

[Welsh Girls Allotment]

I'll keep my eyes open for them, my Dad introduced me to candle wax to light the fire - it goes like hell !!

[Annpan]

The eejit I am I have just bought in firelighters, cause I was getting fed up with using a ton of kindling for every fire, and there is somat up with me woodburner, I have to relight it every morning (didn't do that a month ago )

My in-laws have a garden full of pine cones must go round with a bag and nick them all.

[Jean]

What a great idea - I'll get some tomorrow although I'll have to light the fire to dry them out - it's extremely wet out here!

[ina]

Yep - wet will be the same problem here, too. Maybe I should keep my eyes open for them, too - just in case I should get my woodburner sometime in the next 5 years or so...

[old tree man]

They are great arn't they we used them in the forest after work to light our stoves, as well we also used to feather twigs by cutting into them at
1/2" intervals all the way round, they used to take of like rocket fuel.

Russ

[theabsinthefairy]

I collect boxes of them in December, put them behind the rayburn to dry out and open up, then I decorate some for Christmas, let the cats use a couple as toys (more a case of I can't stop them nicking a few out of the boxes) and when they are dry - brilliant firelighters!

I also use a cardboard box filled with the sawdust / chippings collected up after a bout of chainsawing wood, and put them onto of the morning coal bed of embers, open the flues on the Rayburn and five minutes later - hey presto - lovely little flames ready for the day - little or no effort but works a dream every time.

Any other firelighting tips anyone?

Monika

[Clara]

Any other firelighting tips anyone?

Yes......you need an overenthusiastic toddler to pass you the twigs

[theabsinthefairy]

How about -

OH cutting the brambles back around the hedge line of the field about 4 months ago

Horsey casually walking around the outside of the field - along the hedge line
and collecting up all the bramble cuttings in her tail

spending 2 days combing them out - only to realise that dry as they are they make for perfect kindling!!!!

A day in the life of .......

[farmerdrea]

layer of dry pine cones (there are literally hundreds of pine trees on our property, so a never-ending supply of cones!), layer of dry twigs, layer of shredded or loosely crumpled newspaper. Light the paper. Works every time to get a roaring fire going. Our only source of heat is our woodburner, so we've got it down to an art for springtime, when we often let the fire go out over night, but need it again in the morning (during the winter, we never let it go out!).

Cheers
Andrea
NZ