What to do with wet kindling?

[RoseRedHoofbeats]

So as I was stacking my wood (which is thankfully all stacked safely in my woodshed), I peeled bark off as I went for kindling and I have a HUGE pile of bark and smaller branches that broke off and some punky wood and little splits and stuff. Naturally, it picks TODAY to start a soaking all-day drizzle, soaking my kindling.

What should I do with it? Wait for a sunny day and let it dry on the grass, then store it somehow, I guess. It's supposed to rain clear through to Wednesday. I'm not going to be starting fires until December when I get back from visiting my folks, but by then it will be snowing and probably sticking some. My woodshed is STUFFED. I was going to put it at the back and just pile it up there but there's absolutely no room. I have a pallet I could just nail some posts and put some chickenwire on- I was thinking about just getting a big trashcan but I don't want it to rot with no airflow if it's still damp. What do y'all do with your kindling?

~Rose

 

[bogydave]

I Make it as I need it.
Use good dry stuff when I make a batch.
Store it in a big plastic trash can with a lid.

This may be to far gone to salvage,
You won't be burning for a while, so make some new out of some good dry splits & keep it in a dry spot.

Hard to dry it out on grass.
If you want to try to salvage it, lay it out loosely on a pallet, let it dry. Then cover it or store it in a big dry container

 

[RoseRedHoofbeats]

Yeah, it seemed efficient to peel it as I stacked, except now I have a mountain of soaking wet kindling to deal with. But I also have a bunch of too-big splits that needed to be chopped up (which also got wet but at least they'll be easier to store somewhere) so one way or another we'll get something started.

~Rose

 

[elijah]

Rose, wasn't that a great storm that moved through? I had to buck and load my cord of maple up in Sandy this morning and it rained the whole time from 9:30 til noon.

 

[golfandwoodnut]

If you have that long until you light a fire I think you can do just about anything and it will be ready. Just about any firewood drys shortly after it is out of the rain. I thought you were starting a fire tonight or something. I throw some in box in the garage and it is dry in no time. Just get it under some cover, but do not totally cover with a tarp, and I think you will be fine in no time.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Usually the only time you have to worry about your wood getting wet is if it is punky. Otherwise, wood won't soak up much from rain. Just think of quads up there in Wisconsin. He never covers his wood at all and gets along just fine.

For me, bark makes a pretty poor kindling. If barks falls off, we just take it back in the woods to throw it in a low spot or use some in the gardens or around fruit trees.

Rose, in your case you might consider cutting up some pallets for kindling. It is good stuff usually for kindling as most of it is dry.

 

[RoseRedHoofbeats]

I swear, there's some curse on me finding free pallets. All the ones on Craigslist get taken (even the ones I call and ask them to put my name on for!), none of the big box stores have them or want TWENTY FIVE BUCKS FOR THEM (I'm looking at you, Home Depot). I swear I used to see them all the time on Craigslist or just sitting by dumpsters. Grr. I wanted some to stack my wood on and then couldn't find any.

I have a lot, probably half a cord, of splits that were too big or odd-sized or knotty and wouldn't stack well, and my woodshed is stuffed to the rafters, so I'll probably just chop that stuff up for kindling.

~Rose

 

[azsteven]

I've collected my kindling (mostly chips from splitting rounds) into milk crates. They're great for drying it out since milk crates are a plastic mesh which allows it to have some airflow. And they stack up nicely to not take too much space. Once it's dry, then I transfer it to the big plastic garbage can.

 

[jharkin]

kindling sized wood should dry very fast. Probably you could bring it in wet and leave it in your indoor woodbox overnight and it would be fine.

I use all fallen branches for kindling. Even on a half acre my trees drop more than I can use every year. Ive had the brush out piled in the weather and never worried aobut it getting to wet. In late summer I spend a day breaking it all up into 12in lengths or so and pile a bunch in the corner of the shed. Most of it is 1in and under and dries very fast.

 

[firefighterjake]

As every person has said . . . unless the kindling is too punky . . . if stacked loosely inside or outside it will dry very quickly and be good to go . . . as far as storing kindling . . . I'm terrible when it comes to this stuff . . . I have some on my back porch and some above my garage (that's my "emergency" pile) . . . but most of my kindling either comes from my "Summer" shed where I've stacked it along the back wall . . . or even better . . . I have kindling stuffed in my normal stacks of wood . . . especially in the cross ends.

 

[mesuno]

If it is mostly bark I'd stick it in the compost heap and have done. Unless it is birch bark obviously - that stuff is great for getting fires going :D

Personally I prefer splitting some nice dry logs down - I filled up my parents kindling backet last week with an hour of splitting some nice pine logs down to 1/4 inch. Enough for a month or so I would say. It is kept indoors in a large wicker hamper so is guaranteed bone dry by the time it is used.

To split down small I tend to use the point of my knife rather than a hatchet - put the point in along the line of the grain, a sharp tap on the butt of the handle with another piece fo wood and the pieces can be split easily down their length with just a twist of the wrist. A lot less chance of chopping a finger when working with small thicknesses!