Sustainable Fires

[polc1410]

OK so I feel very embarrassed asking this - its just not a manly thing to have to admit to... I can't keep my fire up!

I have one of those metal bins with the holes in and a chimney in the lid.

I can after the usual troubles get a fire started. But it seems I can't get the right mix of materials to actually do a good long burn.

During the year I'll have fresh green stuff to burn - perhaps seeded weeds that have been left longer than they should. But they need dried out before they burn. If I could get my fire roaring I can burn them off. But at that time of year I seem short on the wood to burn off.

Today I tried to get rid of some raspberry canes - didn't want to compost them as this rasp seems particularly keen on spreading everywhere and I will end up with a raspberry plant in the compost bin. Lost of dead and dried canes plus some fresh. All less than a finger thick. But I don't have much else to burn. I found some scraps of wood and got it going... but couldn't get it to sustain a decent burn. As soon as the bits of wood I added had burned the raspberry canes were no longer burning either. From what I can see a finger width rasp cane isn't hot enough for long enough to ignite another cane etc..

So what am I doing wrong... ...How do other people get enough wood for their burners to keep a decent burn going for hours on end?

[Baldy]

You need to get the heat first - so some decent wood to burn to get the temp up then add the greener stuff.
Or apply liberal amounts of lighter fluid or conservative amounts of paraffin or don't even think about Corbyn levels of petrol....

[Greenleaves]

You need a good hot base as Balders suggests, not so sure on the political correctness of the second statement

[polc1410]

So are people bringing in wood for this purpose?

[Bigmallly]

It may pay to stack the materials somewhere to dry out, cover them with a tarp for a few weeks & see how they go. You need some kind of kindling & firelighters to get the fire going though other wise you just end up wasting fuel plus you will have more smoke than flames. Damp material throws out a lot of smoke as it dries so best to dry it first.

[Greenleaves]

I rarely burn anything as it is a bit unsociable. I collect odd bits of wood etc throughout the year and keep them dry until needed

[Baldy]

I bring in bit of pallet wood sometimes just for the burn...

[Bill Door]

The title is surely an oxymoron!

Besides which I can only think of one thing that I would destroy if found in the garden/allotment (ok so this could turn out to be my "but what have the Romans done for us" moment).

After buying a "burner" and the "fuel" it might be cheaper and easier to either bury the stuff deep or place it in a bucket (or several MFB) of water. If it is wood then there are probably plenty of people around that have open fires or woodburning stoves that would gladly sit before a hot stove whilst watching their favourite TV programme. You never know they may even be willing to let you have all their ashes for the next 3 months. (win/win/win).

Bill

Before you ask Japanese Knotweed, and as I don't know how to destroy I would get the experts in!