what to do with bark

So this load of wood I've got, the bark is falling off of all the splits. This doesnt bother me as I find the bark to be holding lots of moisture and hindering the logs from catching.

But.. now what do I do with all this bark? Only the birch makes good kindling, since it behaves like it's been soaking in gasoline.. but the other stuff?

Maybe burn it in the outside pit in the summer? There must be a better use for it.

Makes good mulch, use it under fancy mulch. Also great to compost; you do have a compost pile?
Ed

Don't worry about it. It's not nearly as bad as the bite.

If it doesn't go into the fire and ends up on the ground, my dogs eat it.

I like the mulch idea. Will have to try it this summer.

I burn it. It's all BTUs in the dark....


Matt

I use the big bark pieces to help burn down the coal bed. On my NC13 I run a piece N/S from the top of the air supply "doghouse". Then I put cross pieces onto that. Doing this creates a blast furnace
that helps burn down the coals without adding to the coal bed. Burning ash I can easily heat my 1874 house into the seventies. Because of all the coals with locust & hard maple I can't get the house
above 69*. Seems like for every hour of wood burning & producing heat, I spend two hours trying to burn down the coal bed.
Al

After splitting I usually have a LARGE pile of bark (elm mostly). I throw most of it in large, plastic garbage cans and put a lid on them. We use the bark for either starting the fire or just to get things really going. I have never had a moisture issue but I try to stay a year in front of my burning needs.

If I have large pieces I burn them too. Smaller pieces I throw them in my organic heap in the woods.

Being in a more urban setting, larger bark pieces go in the green can (90-gallon yard waste). Smaller stuff gets added to mulch. The last time I rented a splitter, I filled the green can with bark. I had bunch of pine w/ thick bark, some of which literally fell off as I was rolling the rounds to the splitter.

Peace,
- Sequoia

I mulch what comes off while splitting and stacking. What comes off in the garage while waiting to burn I place in a small trash can and use it as kindling.

Wow, that's a great idea. Thanks! I purely hate wasting good dry pieces to burn down coals with an open primary and not getting the heat that nice piece of dry wood could give me used in the normal way. I'll try this for sure.

I'd burn it.

when I burn bark it helps take off the bite of the cold at my house.

Now that's not right!! LOL..