Ever since I was a kid, I used rolled up, twisted newspaper and kindling to start fires in the fireplace. For the first half season with the wood stove, I followed tradition. But sometimes, especially with imperfectly seasoned wood, the fire just didn’t take off. And something about the stove’s small firebox made it more difficult to rekindle smoldering wood.
Then, like any dealer with a quality product – try it – you’ll like it – first one’s free -you’ll be hooked, the proprietor of Super Cedar Firestarters offered up some free samples in one of the discussion groups at hearth.com. I’m hooked. Just half of one of these gaines-burgers practically guarantees a rockin’ blaze. It has the side benefit of much less ash to clean out, which is a big plus, given how little my stove is.
Check their site every now and then or get on their mailing list. They do have special offers on super cedars occasionally, which make them an even better deal.
Very nice blog.
I’ll need to get more firewood soon, and I’m concerned about avoiding wood that’s possibly contaminated with Goldspotted Oak Borer (http://www.sdcounty.ca.gov/Portal/News/020209beetle.html). I think even other species of wood besides oak could be contaminated if they are stored near contaminated oak. Do you know about this?
The link on your blog to Homegrown Evolution has a video on ‘barefoot running’. I read the book ‘Born to Run’ by Christopher McDougall, recently – it’s very interesting; I recommend it.
-Bill
Yes – I read ‘Born To Run’ last year. For about 9 months I ran in moccasins. I really liked the feel of it, but maybe I didn’t build up slowly enough. I wound up with a recurrence of some planatar fasciitis. I’m back in the little foot coffins (a.k.a. shoes). I’m looking into ChiRunning as a more gentle transition back into barefoot (or minimalist shoe) running.
And no – I don’t know anything about the Goldspotted Oak Borer.
Ok – thanks.
I’ve been using Vibrams for a while now (mostly hiking and some running) and they’ve helped a lot with a long-standing foot problem I’ve had.