Logs for fires

[jocelyn plummer]

Does anybody remember the folklore poem about types of wood and how the logs burn? I am sure there was one on here last year!

 

[JoceAndChris]

http://www.uk-ironworks.co.uk/homeworks/firewood.htm

It's Flyfisher's from this thread:

http://www.periodproperty.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=10261&p=119692&hilit=how+to+make+the+perfect+fire#p119703

 

[JoceAndChris]

I haven't managed to gather much ash yet but I've been very excited about creating log piles round and about, there's nothing like a nice geometric stack. Sorry to be a log pile geek, I have to share these with someone!


Holly:

Apple:

Cherry:

 

[jocelyn plummer]

Thanks for the poem reminder---our Town Council are selling logs from the park and seeing the birch reminded me of the folklore.
Absolutely love your log piles, how very satisfying..Tabby Cat gorgeous too.

 

[Ushy M]

Aha! I'm a bit of a logpile fan too (although some have muttered about signs of OCD!). The poem doesn't mention dead branches of pseudoacacia, but I can confirm they burn lovely. Autumn cosiness pic here (I think Tommy is secretly jealous of Lord Rochester btw!)

 

[Schoolmarm]

Are they ok left in the open? When I had a huge stack of logs I got a bit obsessive about them being kept dry. Is this not necessary?

 

[JoceAndChris]

Thanks for your interest Joss and Ushy! A logpile rewards effort, and OCD is a great disorder to have if you own a period property.

Ushy - lovely, cosy Autumn delights you have there. Your boy looks like he knows he answer to everything in that picture, but he's not going to divulge. Lord Rochester says don't be too jealous - the reponsibilities heaped on him here are overwhelming and frequently make him extremely cross:

Fires are probably my favourite thing about living in an old house, worth all the effort!

Schoolmarm- our logs under a thick canopy of trees so don't get too wet. I'm sure it's better to keep them completely dry, and I should probably rig up tarpaulins over them, but all logs get brought in and dried out over several weeks on the porch or next to the Rayburn. The logs in these pictures are for 2011 as we only recently chainsawed them up.

 

[Schoolmarm]

I see. In that case I will start collecting again. I stopped when the shed I used to use was converted to my "water treatment plant" :roll:

 

[Penners]

I haven't managed to gather much ash yet but I've been very excited about creating log piles round and about, there's nothing like a nice geometric stack. Sorry to be a log pile geek, I have to share these with someone!

Joce - the log third from the right, on the fourth row from the bottom, is about 68mm out of alignment.

Standards, dear, standards.

Joss - you're lucky if you're able to choose your log species. Our local chap sells... logs. A rare old mixture, and you don't get to choose!

Are they ok left in the open?

The best way to store logs is in the open, with a bit of a roof over them (open front and back). That way the rain is kept off and the air can still circulate around them, so they dry and don't go mouldy.

 

[JoceAndChris]

Joce - the log third from the right, on the fourth row from the bottom, is about 68mm out of alignment.

Standards, dear, standards.

:lol: Sorry! Will try harder next time!

(and the logs are sorted according to what we think looks like it needs a prune or a chop - more wood here than can be used in our lifetime, that's not even with drastic felling, plus there's masses of fallen wood in the hedgerows round and about)

 

[MdB]

Didn't someone say that the best place to keep logs was the greenhouse? The lower the water content, the hotter the burn and the fewer condensates in the flue. Something like that anyway.

 

[Penners]

Well, if they did, I hope they added that the greenhouse door and ventilators should all be left open.

 

[Penners]

looks like it needs a prune

Mrs P says that about me, from time to time. She usually feeds me Activia yoghurt.

 

[Gareth Hughes]

looks like it needs a prune

Mrs P says that about me, from time to time. She usually feeds me Activia yoghurt.

I tried that once. Eye of a needle didn't come close...

 

[Penners]

the logs are sorted according to what we think looks like it needs a prune or a chop

Incidentally, Joce, at the risk of stating the obvious, those larger logs need splitting, and the sooner it's done, the better they'll dry out.

 

[wobs]

I got some logs from an old beech tree that a relative had felled. Cut up and split in May, I guess I shouldn't be burning them until next winter. Would I be right in saying that?

Got plenty of waste wood to be going on with, but logs look so much better.

 

[Moo]

The trouble with log piles is that, however hard you try to brush off the small critters that have set up home there, you always miss the odd one or two and have to risk life and limb trying to rescue them before they're burned alive.

 

[Penners]

Or, if your rescue attempt fails, enjoy them with a piquant sauce.