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I absolutely love birch bark for starting fires. It's amazing how little you need to get the fire roaring. I had a some birch splits in our delivery; I took the time to peel some of the bark off and stash it away.
Brich burns real well and once split it doesnt rot any faster or slower than any other hardwood. When it is not split, it starts rotting the day that it was cut until the bark is split. It will also rot standing up, so beware that when you cut a birch tree that if the crown is dead, it may not be worth cutting the tree for firewood. It pretty obvious if rot has set in.
When I drop birch, I run the saw down the length of the trunk and score the bark down to wood, that usually delays the onset of rapdi rotting but the best thing is to get it cut and split. The bark obvously makes a great firestarter, so I usually have a big box set aside when splitting to save the bark for fire starters.
When I drop birch, I run the saw down the length of the trunk and score the bark down to wood, that usually delays the onset of rapdi rotting but the best thing is to get it cut and split. The bark obvously makes a great firestarter, so I usually have a big box set aside when splitting to save the bark for fire starters.
Great score! And it's great to get a sizeable load like that.
We call white birch "water birch", because it holds a lot of water. It is a low btu hardwood. But it is free, and that's what matters!
I've got a little white birch in my stacks now, and I've peeled off the easy bark, like others have said, to help it dry and to have some
quick fire starter material. (Actually my boys steal it from me to start their camp fires. I don't really need if for the stove.)
Gotta love scrounging!
We call white birch "water birch", because it holds a lot of water. It is a low btu hardwood. But it is free, and that's what matters!
I've got a little white birch in my stacks now, and I've peeled off the easy bark, like others have said, to help it dry and to have some
quick fire starter material. (Actually my boys steal it from me to start their camp fires. I don't really need if for the stove.)
Gotta love scrounging!
maplewood said:
Ok, thanks for posting this. I thought I was nuts for scrounging birch bark. There's a few rotten birch trees on our land behind our VT houe. I've gone back there and "scrounged" some bark for our firepit fires. I'm glad I'm not the only one!
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