Pine Cone Wonders: Easy Fire Starters

It's summertime, and all those pine cones are dropping. It's time to collect them. Why? Read on . . .
Are you tired of saving all those newspapers for fire starters? Tired of scrounging up bundles and bundles of cedar kindling to get that early morning winter fire going? Well, here is a sure-fire way to get a roaring fire going in no time at all. It really is a wonder because it works every time!

Pine Cone Fire Starters!

First you need some nice, large pine cones (we use Ponderosa pine cones). We collect them when they are nice and dry. (Make SURE they are completely dry or this will not work.)


Then you need some parraffin and a large (large enough to dip the pine cone in) coffee can. Break up the paraffin and put it in the can.


You also need a heat source, something to melt the wax. (Caution: Do not heat the coffee can full of wax directly on top of the wood stove). Melt the wax in a coffee can set in a hot-water bath or another heat source out in the garage.


When the wax has melted, use a pair of tongs to dip the pine cones in the melted wax, lightly coating them. Then lay them aside to dry. Once dry, we keep them piled in a box next to the wood stove.

How to start a fire with pine cones:
1) Place a couple of pine cones on the bottom of the wood stove
2) Pile 2 or 3 logs on top of the pine cones.
3) Light the pine cones.
4) You’re done. Truly, in less than a minute, you’ve got yourself a fire! No newspaper, no kindling, no blowing your lungs out on a dying fire. This really works!

Note: Pine-cone starters work well to start outside, brush-burning fires also.

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What does this look like to you? If you guessed storage for extra firewood, you would only be half right.

Actually, these are the brand-new, highly anticipated chipmunk condominiums. Yes, that's right folks! When the "neighbors" see these high-class condos, they'll move right in. The features can't be beat:
~ Multiple entrances and exits
~ Solid, leak-proof roofs
~ Plenty of ventilation
~ Basement storage area for a winter supply of pine
   nuts

Two condos are finished and ready for our homestead's eager residents. This newest one at the right is a work-in-progress. It is especially high-class because the contractor (yours truly) finally figured out how to stack the building materials neatly and securely.

We anticipate four or five of these Chipmunk Heaven Condos to be completed over the course of the summer. By winter, every ground squirrel for miles around will move in. Unfortunately. Why unfortunately? Because ground squirrels are rodent pests and tunnel all over the place. They are NOT cute little Disney "Chip and Dales," I'm sorry to say.
Oh, wait! Here comes a future resident now: