How To Make A One Log Fire

We are told daily we are killing the planet. We are crushing the dreams of our children's future. We need to 'Save the World'.

Saving the world is turning out to be a confusing business. Currently we are being told eating meat is environmentally unfriendly. Yet with the right system in place an animal assisted small holding can in the long term produce the same amount of food in one acre that a vegan based operation can do in eight acres. This controversial argument is based primarily on soil nutrients, naturally locking more carbon into the soil and compost production. It is about adopting older systems with newer technology. But that's the point everything that deviates from the narrative is controversial. Everyone is cheating the deck and hiding the negative's of their truths behind bold claims.

All of that is for another article. This story is primarily about a new narrative, 'Burning wood is bad'.

There is no denying that burning wood releases carbon. It releases more carbon than burning coal. Releasing carbon is destroying the oceans. The EPA stated in 2018 that burning wood was carbon neutral. The Guardian in this article states that this is rubbish. I manage and maintain a small wood. I have to cut down some trees every year to keep the habitat functioning. I dropped two twenty five meter high pine trees due to disease to save three others this winter. There is an argument that I could maintain the area by letting the felled trees create their own eco system on the forest floor and benefit nature. There is another argument that the trees allowed to rot could release five times the carbon into the air that burning them would.

Dilemmas!!!

I decided to chop it up and mixed it with some other wood and allowed it to season into firewood. Firewood takes two years to season. Burning green wood and wet wood is bad for the environment. I agree with this argument, I however choose not to burn this type of wood because it makes a lousy fire.

I plan, I manage, I gather, I sustain.

If you truly want to burn less wood and make people more responsible; you should make people, plan, gather and maintain their own stock. It will keep them fit, it will get them outdoors, it will get them connecting to their environment. If people had to chop their own wood you might see a smarter consumer. This is a stupid statement and a ludicrous idea. It is a pipe dream. We cannot be trusted with our own chainsaws and log splitters. We could end up killing more people than Covid. Not in some horror film scenario but felling trees is an amazingly technical skill done with an insane tool.

Three generations ago we were wiser, Einstein said.

People love chopping wood. In this activity one immediately sees results.

I am not sure if that is true now. We point and shout. We do not listen. The truth is there is so much wisdom in the past that we do not have to learn new ways just relearn old ways.

I believe sometimes the solution lies in the middle. The tree hugger and the lumberjack need to meet in the middle. The solution to burning wood is to burn it smarter. The way we can understand how to do that is to look back at the time when we gathered our own resources and see what happened then.

Let me introduce you to the Swedish Candle. also called the Swedish torch, Finn candle, Swedish fire and the Siberian tree torch.

I would rather show than tell so follow this little 'how to'.

How to Make a Swedish Candle

Step 1 - Take one dry log. It works with green wood but we need to be more responsible now...

Step 2 - Chainsaw a cross cut about half way into the log...

Like so...

Step 3 - Stuff with paper and kindling... a little known fact is chickens are the animal world boss at making a Swedish candle... So if you have a chicken let them do it...

Step 4 - Light the middle... Just remember if there is smoke there is fire... pull out the kindling and keep feeding the centre, you are trying to light the log... Should take about 30mins

Step 5 - At 45 mins pull out all the kindling and let the log burn on its own..

Good work chicken... This chicken is called 'The Colonels Wife'... Truth be known I have to hide the matches around her she is a bit of an arsonist..

Well lit...

This is about an hour after lighting... Look at the Colonel's Wife boasting to her pal.. You can actually lift the fire and move it at this stage to a new location.. Use some common sense though…

Step 6 - One hour in, a little test, a pan with four large cups of water... Perfect stand for cooking..

Water boiled in 4 minutes... That's faster than your hob!.. About two litres of water will douse the fire at this stage... And if you are camping you can relight it the following night... You should be able to cook off the log for about four meals in a row... One log equals breakfast, lunch, dinner and then breakfast again!!!

"Chicken Soup, Anyone???"....

After two hours still burning well and still good enough to stand a pan on the top and cook.

Three and a half hours and punching out loads of heat...

Over four hours of heat and light, using less resources. Practical, efficient and even if it was not a better answer to cooking outside for the environment it is just awesome in how much simpler this fixes a whole host of problems. Next time you go camping, fried eggs are now so easier to do.

You save the world by understanding. You understand by questioning and challenging and looking back at how older generations solved similar problems.

We are going to plant a billion, billion trees. Those new forests will need coppicing, pollarding and maintaining. Some trees will be felled to allow neighbouring trees to thrive. We need to be smarter with what we do with that wood.

I can already hear people saying, "but it was easy for you, you had a chainsaw. Yeah man, chainsaws are like really dangerous and stuff and use petrol".

So in Part 2 I am going to show you how to do it without a chainsaw.

For now I am going to leave you with the wisdom of Albert Einstein.

Out yonder there was this huge world, which exists independently of us human beings and which stands before us like a great, eternal riddle, at least partially accessible to our inspection and thinking. The contemplation of this world beckoned like a liberation…

Thank you for reading my story.

This is my second entry for the challenge called 'Wave Makers'.

You can find my first entry here, 'How To Make Dandelion Lemonade... And Save The World'

I publish my stuff independently for no other reason that I would rather these strange ideas that rattle around my head from time to time have a place to go.

My reach is decided by you so if you enjoyed this and think it could reach a little further I would love for you to share it.

If not that is also cool.

I have more strange musings here, Enjoy.

Have an awesome day.

First Published on Vocal, May 2021