bark what to do

Ok I am in the process of splitting elm and I have chunks of bark coming off of the wood 1" thick 4-8" wide and 16" lpus in length what does everyone do with it?

I've just been using it to mulch a path to my wood pile
There is probably something more useful that can be done with it

That's just good for nothing trash jd...use it in your camp fire.

I debark all my firewood...I just throw it between all my wood rows to keep the weeds down and it also doesn't get muddy/snotty in wet weather.

OR, you could do what my son does...he takes it to build bark bridges through mud puddles....so there's that.

It gets burnt in my firepit.

Mulch.
I don't like the smoke and ash for very little heat so I don't throw it in the stove.
I don't strip splits and rounds. But what falls off stays outside.
It actually does make pretty good mulch especially if you keep walking on it to break the size down.

I throw it around my wood stacking area. It makes a nice mulchbed after it all gets broken up and keeps the weeds and mud out. It also stops all the mud from splashing on my wood piles.

Bark,specially with a bit of pitch in it makes an excellent fire-starter.

sounds like great kindling

I thought I read on this site somewhere that locust bark is high in BTUs. Is this true? I generally use non-locust bark for mulch, but only if it falls off.

I shovel mine into the back of my truck and take it to the local organics place. They grind it up and turn it into mulch and resell it.

-SF

Like others, we use it for mulch and also have used quite a bit along our paths that go through the woods. Makes it better than walking in mud. But a lot just stays by the wood pile. It does work good to keep weeds down and we even use some around fruit trees.

I beat it down to the base fiber and knit clothes for the poor naked squirrels. They're too proud to accept a handout, however, and I am bit several times a year trying to put the little sweaters on these critters before they freeze to death.

:lol: Gives me an idear for some shag carpeting between my stacks!

I just had a bark fire last night, and the night before. The stuff on really old doug fir is inches thick and pops off when dry. It ignites well and smokes only a little. Seems to turn into a huge mass of red hot ash like a cigarrete burning. It puts out quite a bit of heat but I am not holding back with the fuel load either. I think it would burn too fast for the stove and be messy to handle in the house.

I throw it in the chipper/shredder and use it for mulch.

hey- stop needling me

Dry bark is a good firestarter. Put in cardboard boxes for easy use.

Maybe giving the squirrels bark clothes would lower the population by reducing all the hot treetop action. Or maybe it would be worse because they'd just be more intrigued by what's covered.

I burn bark in the stove in the daytime when I can add it frequently. It does seem to make more ash than wood but there is pretty well the same amount of heat per pound in bark as in wood. Also I live in the city with limited space so can't just dump all the wood debris in the back forty. I cut and split all my wood in the driveway so as to not chew up the lawn, then sweep up all the little stuff and burn it more or less immediately in the stove, since our rulers outlawed all outdoor burning a couple years ago.

I actually like ash, I mix it with the compost and consider it a desireable resource.

Did anyone else make the connection that the guy with Bob Ross as his avatar is going out of his way to take care of squirrels?

-SF

Let see, bark is wood and I burn wood so a lot of it ends up in the stove - especially the thick fir bark. The thin stuff, ok I admit, some of it goes in too. I will be seeking counseling soon.

I have a bunch of fir/pine bark that is 1-2 inches thick. Like BG, I burn it just to help keep the coal bed going , but only when I burn on weekends.

I throw my bark into the mulch pile.I use a small piece of a fire starter brick to start my fires!dad gave me a few boxes of it.Anyone think using that stuff is a bad idea??