Friday 1 November 2013

Firelighters.




At this time of year we often light our sitting room wood-burning stove with excess walnuts.

The new crop is already being gathered (and eaten), so any remaining nuts from last year make extremely good fire-lighting material.

This may seem like sacrilege to many, especially if you're paying ££££'s or $$$$'s per kilo, but with about 30 kilos from last year still in stock, the only alternative would be to dump them.

Waste not, want not; and those oil rich kernels burn really well.

5 Minutes later.....


Aaaaah........Walnut warmth!



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21 comments:

  1. Nothing like good firestarter materials to get a blaze going!

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  2. That looks so cosy. You can't beat a real fire.

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  3. Like minds - until recently I was using the last of the macadamias we brought from up north to light our fires.

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  4. Ah roasting your big nuts by the fire
    Bliss

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  5. i would never have thought to use walnuts in this way. I have used pine cones, now I wonder if conkers would serve as fire lighters?

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    1. Not sure if conkers have any oil in them... I think maybe not.

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  6. I bet you it smells good too!

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  7. Were they whole walnuts - if so wouldn't the oil from the nuts seep through to the ash pan?

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  8. I had never heard of using walnuts to start a fire. My fireplace is propane and although I do not have the wonderful aroma of a wood stove, it only takes a flip of a switch to get it going.

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  9. Nut burning...always a lovely way to spend the evening, or so I've heard. Now tell us more about your lovely fireplace. Obviously very very old. In fact a photo tour of your cottage would be most wonderful.

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  10. What a great idea! We sometimes end up with a handful of nuts that are a bit past their prime. I've typically thrown them outside for the chipmunks or squirrels, but i don't like feeding them and they may not like nearly rancid nuts, either.

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  11. I never thought of using walnuts as fire starters.....makes good sense. I shall give it a try tonight as we have a ton left over from last year.

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  12. It's been pouring down most of the day here and your walnut fire does look very cosy and comforting

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  13. Thanks for the idea Cro. Here in the far North of England our walnut trees produce a very dodgy crop. At present they are drying in the sun on the South facing window sill but I don't hold out much hope of their being eatable. The one I tried had a shrivelled inside and was not even a tiny bit appetising, so some time soon they might save the farmer a couple of days of chopping sticks.

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    1. When I was young we had a walnut tree in our Surrey garden. We used them for pickling (in Goodwood week), otherwise the squirrels had them all.

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  14. bloody hell look at them burn! Wow

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  15. Could you not get them pressed for Walnut oil. Good on salad and makes a great finish for wood - I've a little stool I made in my bedroom treated with walnut oil. I bet you could sell it quite easily

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    1. I drink a spoonful of walnut oil every morning; but we leave the pressing etc to others.

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  16. Hmm... maybe I should try this with the black walnuts that litter our property!

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