Kindling Sticks and Free Firewood

Who Buys Kindling Sticks?

Recently, I was chatting to someone on the phone when they asked me if I'd be interested in buying chopped sticks for kindling the fire. I found this quite amusing, as the thought had never really crossed my mind to BUY such a thing, despite the fact that I do shell out almost £1 at a time for a box of firelighters. I'd prefer not to, obviously, but needs must when you are in a hurry to get some heat going in the place and the sticks and logs are damp. Anyhow, the conversation prompted this blog post.

 

Pallets make great firewood, most rural dwellers with open fires, stoves or logburners know this and most downshifters soon learn. Not only do the pallets split into fantastic firewood, they make great kindling sticks. But burning pallets isn't always the best thing to do, especially as a frugaler. First and foremost, we need to build them into other, more important things that we need. Pallets are like gold, we treasure them. If, like us, you have no vehicle in which to transport pallets, then any that do come your way have to be used accordingly, otherwise it's a bit like burning money.

 

To date, we've had duck houses, planters, fencing, quail housing, compost 'bins' and log stores all built from recycled pallets and offcuts of wood, but we are now down to our last 3 pallets... a tragedy, in my book! There may well be more in the future, but many of the builders' merchants are now charging for them or else insisting they be returned, so I'd to think very carefully how best to utilise the last of our stash. The decision was soon made... we need a stick store, thus freeing up valuable space in the log store.

Stick or log stores are easy to make, when you think about it - they just need to contain the fire fodder and keep the rain off it while allowing the wind to blow through and dry it all. So, another little corner was cleared and the three pallets propped up and nailed together, secured with a piece of board across the top.

The top board has now been felted and a raised base made by laying straps of wood across the bottom.  We've already begun filling it up with all the sticks that are beng collected from around the garden and along the roadsides as we walk/cycle - most brought down by the weight of the recent snow. It shouldn't take long to fill it up at this rate, then it's just a case of keeping it topped up with whatever kindling we can lay our hands on for free. A cubic metre's worth of free, covered space dedicated to storing free sticks - nothing like being prepared.

This basic design, if I can even call it that, is the same one used for so many pallet projects. I've even seen goat housing and poultry sheds built this way and, nearby, there's a wildlife hide constructed in the exact same manner. A piece of tarpaulin draped over the front is sufficient to stop the rain blowing straight in and soaking everything.

Next time you spot a pallet lying by the roadside, in a skip or cast aside in any other way, think of the real frugalers - we simply love our old pallets.

Frugaldom.