I finally cropped and dug up my magenta spreen today, to stop it
seeding, and shredded it. But it made me wonder how many people
dry and use the stems of things like it, brassicas etc. for
firewood. Anyone here do that?


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

On Sun, 4 Sep 2016 19:17:05 Nick Maclaren wrote:

I finally cropped and dug up my magenta spreen today, to stop it
seeding, and shredded it. But it made me wonder how many people
dry and use the stems of things like it, brassicas etc. for
firewood. Anyone here do that?

I've made a walking stick out of a Jersey cabbage but haven't tried
burning it. Wouldn't it smell unpleasant?

David

--
David Rance writing from Caversham, Reading, UK

In article ,
David Rance wrote:

I finally cropped and dug up my magenta spreen today, to stop it
seeding, and shredded it. But it made me wonder how many people
dry and use the stems of things like it, brassicas etc. for
firewood. Anyone here do that?

I've made a walking stick out of a Jersey cabbage but haven't tried
burning it. Wouldn't it smell unpleasant?

That's what my wife asked, too. I doubt it, but haven't tried.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

In article , says...

In article ,
David Rance wrote:

I finally cropped and dug up my magenta spreen today, to stop it
seeding, and shredded it. But it made me wonder how many people
dry and use the stems of things like it, brassicas etc. for
firewood. Anyone here do that?

I've made a walking stick out of a Jersey cabbage but haven't tried
burning it. Wouldn't it smell unpleasant?

That's what my wife asked, too. I doubt it, but haven't tried.

I've thrown sturdy brassica stalks on the bonfire and ISTR they do
whiff.
Might be okay in an enclosed woodstove but I don't reckon essence de
chou will catch on as a scented candle.

Janet

In article ,
Janet wrote:

I finally cropped and dug up my magenta spreen today, to stop it
seeding, and shredded it. But it made me wonder how many people
dry and use the stems of things like it, brassicas etc. for
firewood. Anyone here do that?

I've made a walking stick out of a Jersey cabbage but haven't tried
burning it. Wouldn't it smell unpleasant?

That's what my wife asked, too. I doubt it, but haven't tried.

I've thrown sturdy brassica stalks on the bonfire and ISTR they do
whiff.
Might be okay in an enclosed woodstove but I don't reckon essence de
chou will catch on as a scented candle.

Yes, but I assume that they hadn't been fully dried out first. Lots
of woods stink when green, but not when fully dry - elder and laurel,
for example. I wouldn't use either for firewood, from choice, but
they aren't unacceptable (unlike when green).


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

In article ,
lid says...

On Sun, 4 Sep 2016 19:17:05 Nick Maclaren wrote:

I finally cropped and dug up my magenta spreen today, to stop it
seeding, and shredded it. But it made me wonder how many people
dry and use the stems of things like it, brassicas etc. for
firewood. Anyone here do that?

I've made a walking stick out of a Jersey cabbage but haven't tried
burning it. Wouldn't it smell unpleasant?

David

I vaguely recall in the dim and distant past that they used to
make walking sticks out of sprout stalks

--
Roger T

700 ft up in Mid-Wales

Nick Maclaren wrote:
In article ,
Janet wrote:

I finally cropped and dug up my magenta spreen today, to stop it
seeding, and shredded it. But it made me wonder how many people
dry and use the stems of things like it, brassicas etc. for
firewood. Anyone here do that?

I've made a walking stick out of a Jersey cabbage but haven't tried
burning it. Wouldn't it smell unpleasant?

That's what my wife asked, too. I doubt it, but haven't tried.

I've thrown sturdy brassica stalks on the bonfire and ISTR they do
whiff.
Might be okay in an enclosed woodstove but I don't reckon essence de
chou will catch on as a scented candle.

Yes, but I assume that they hadn't been fully dried out first. Lots
of woods stink when green, but not when fully dry - elder and laurel,
for example. I wouldn't use either for firewood, from choice, but
they aren't unacceptable (unlike when green).


That would be my thought about these "Bizarre sources of firewood",
they're just very green and high in water content. When dried down to
the 10% or so suitable for a wood burner there won't be much left of
them though they might make reasonable kindling.

--
Chris Green
·

In article , Chris Green wrote:

That would be my thought about these "Bizarre sources of firewood",
they're just very green and high in water content. When dried down to
the 10% or so suitable for a wood burner there won't be much left of
them though they might make reasonable kindling.

Actually, the base of the magenta spreen was as woody as (say) hazel,
and a significant length as woody as willow or poplar. That's what
triggered me into asking. Brassica are a bit less woody, I agree.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

On 2016-09-04, David Rance wrote:

On Sun, 4 Sep 2016 19:17:05 Nick Maclaren wrote:

I finally cropped and dug up my magenta spreen today, to stop it
seeding, and shredded it. But it made me wonder how many people
dry and use the stems of things like it, brassicas etc. for
firewood. Anyone here do that?

I've made a walking stick out of a Jersey cabbage but haven't tried
burning it. Wouldn't it smell unpleasant?

An old guy in my wife's family used to finish his gardening day by
putting *all* his waste, including brassica debris, in an incinerator
& lighting it before going indoors. The fumes were legendary in the
neighbourhood, & it was someone else's job to sneak over & extinguish
it on bad days.