On 2009-10-27 10:09:39 +0000, Judith in France
said:

On Oct 26, 5:54*pm, Sacha wrote:
On 2009-10-26 17:43:17 +0000, Judith in France
said:



On Oct 25, 10:26*pm, beccabunga beccabunga.
wrote:
geordief;867856 Wrote:

Can anyone tell me if when wood will spark and when it won't?
I mean I (think I ) know that burning resiny wood causes sparks.
And I also know that damp wood will cause sparks.
But what about bone-dry resiny wood(ie pine etc).Could that be safe?
My first impression *is that sparking is greatly reduced but I am s
ti
ll
wary.
Any one have * first hand experience here?
thanks

Any wood from pines or firs will/can spark, whether wet or dry. The
other one to watch for is willow, which is particularly explosive,
especially when burnt wet.

--
beccabunga

We have a woodburner and, on order, a wood burning Aga type cooker.
We burn mostly oak, seasoned at least 2 years, it burns well and no
sparks. *We also burn frene and some pine as we have a lot of pine
beams over 150 years old from the barn. *We had the roof replaced as
it was infested with Capricorne. *This pine doesn't spark but I doubt
there is any resin left in it after all this time.

Judith

Oak is very dense, so burns slowly so presumably that keeps a fire in a
long time and other stuff gingers it up? Some old wooden mantles were
made of oak because it was so hard to set alight easily. * We don't
have a wood burner but when the Aga dies and it must be around 50 to 60
years old, we're certainly not getting another one at those prices!
--
Sacha

The oak we burn is very dry, it doesn't just slumber away, cut to the
correct size it burns at a steady rate. When the oven needs to come
up to temperature, my neighbour tells me that it will need to be mixed
with a lighter wood. Agas certainly are a price, so is Godin but they
are supposed to last a lifetime. Even secondhand these monsters fetch
a good price.

Judith

Funnily enough, I noticed a 1974 Aga for sale at £950 in this morning's
local paper. I don't think our 1950s or 60s model would quite make
that. ;-) The oak sounds what I was thinking of - it's burning at a
steady rate but then helped along by hotter burning stuff.
--
Sacha

Judith in France wrote:
On Oct 26, 5:54 pm, Sacha wrote:
On 2009-10-26 17:43:17 +0000, Judith in France
said:



On Oct 25, 10:26 pm, beccabunga beccabunga.
wrote:
geordief;867856 Wrote:
Can anyone tell me if when wood will spark and when it won't?
I mean I (think I ) know that burning resiny wood causes sparks.
And I also know that damp wood will cause sparks.
But what about bone-dry resiny wood(ie pine etc).Could that be safe?
My first impression is that sparking is greatly reduced but I am sti
ll
wary.
Any one have first hand experience here?
thanks
Any wood from pines or firs will/can spark, whether wet or dry. The
other one to watch for is willow, which is particularly explosive,
especially when burnt wet.
--
beccabunga
We have a woodburner and, on order, a wood burning Aga type cooker.
We burn mostly oak, seasoned at least 2 years, it burns well and no
sparks. We also burn frene and some pine as we have a lot of pine
beams over 150 years old from the barn. We had the roof replaced as
it was infested with Capricorne. This pine doesn't spark but I doubt
there is any resin left in it after all this time.
Judith
Oak is very dense, so burns slowly so presumably that keeps a fire in a
long time and other stuff gingers it up? Some old wooden mantles were
made of oak because it was so hard to set alight easily. We don't
have a wood burner but when the Aga dies and it must be around 50 to 60
years old, we're certainly not getting another one at those prices!
--
Sacha

The oak we burn is very dry, it doesn't just slumber away, cut to the
correct size it burns at a steady rate. When the oven needs to come
up to temperature, my neighbour tells me that it will need to be mixed
with a lighter wood. Agas certainly are a price, so is Godin but they
are supposed to last a lifetime. Even secondhand these monsters fetch
a good price.


Hi Judith,

Getting cepes now in your neck of the woods? We picked over 3 kg
yesterday!

Funny no one has mentioned sweet chestnut. I'd guess it's the most
"explosive" of woods, it can send an ember from an open fire many
yards across the room, even from old wood. (Green chestnut is pretty
hard to burn, anyway.)

Sadly in France we burn lots and lots of oak. We rarely replant it
either... It has a very straight grain and so is easy to split, burns
hot and doesn't go out in a good stove. Frene -- ash in english -- is
very fine wood for the stove or fireplace but difficult to split.

I'd not compare the Godin quality with Aga, at least not in the current
stoves. (I assume you're talking about a combination woodstove/cooker.)
Aga is far superior, but also more expensive. The straight woodstoves
from Godin are still decent quality (we have one) but the cookers have
dropped. A couple of years ago we decided that the somewhat less
expensive Lacanche was better stuff -- a friend has a Godin cooker to
compare with -- and we have not been disappointed.

regards,

-E

On 27 Oct, 12:21, Emery Davis wrote:
Judith in France wrote:
On Oct 26, 5:54 pm, Sacha wrote:
On 2009-10-26 17:43:17 +0000, Judith in France
said:

On Oct 25, 10:26 pm, beccabunga beccabunga.
wrote:
geordief;867856 Wrote:
Can anyone tell me if when wood will spark and when it won't?
I mean I (think I ) know that burning resiny wood causes sparks.
And I also know that damp wood will cause sparks.
But what about bone-dry resiny wood(ie pine etc).Could that be safe?
My first impression *is that sparking is greatly reduced but I am sti
ll
wary.
Any one have * first hand experience here?
thanks
Any wood from pines or firs will/can spark, whether wet or dry. The
other one to watch for is willow, which is particularly explosive,
especially when burnt wet.
--
beccabunga
We have a woodburner and, on order, a wood burning Aga type cooker.
We burn mostly oak, seasoned at least 2 years, it burns well and no
sparks. *We also burn frene and some pine as we have a lot of pine
beams over 150 years old from the barn. *We had the roof replaced as
it was infested with Capricorne. *This pine doesn't spark but I doubt
there is any resin left in it after all this time.
Judith
Oak is very dense, so burns slowly so presumably that keeps a fire in a
long time and other stuff gingers it up? Some old wooden mantles were
made of oak because it was so hard to set alight easily. * We don't
have a wood burner but when the Aga dies and it must be around 50 to 60
years old, we're certainly not getting another one at those prices!
--
Sacha

The oak we burn is very dry, it doesn't just slumber away, cut to the
correct size it burns at a steady rate. *When the oven needs to come
up to temperature, my neighbour tells me that it will need to be mixed
with a lighter wood. *Agas certainly are a price, so is Godin but they
are supposed to last a lifetime. *Even secondhand these monsters fetch
a good price.

Hi Judith,

Getting cepes now in your neck of the woods? *We picked over 3 kg
yesterday!

Funny no one has mentioned sweet chestnut. *I'd guess it's the most
"explosive" of woods, it can send an ember from an open fire many
yards across the room, even from old wood. *(Green chestnut is pretty
hard to burn, anyway.)

Sadly in France we burn lots and lots of oak. *We rarely replant it
either... *It has a very straight grain and so is easy to split, burns
hot and doesn't go out in a good stove. *Frene -- ash in english -- is
very fine wood for the stove or fireplace but difficult to split.


regards,

-E

You need to split ash when it's green - quite easy then.

Jonathan

On Oct 27, 12:21*pm, Emery Davis wrote:
Judith in France wrote:
On Oct 26, 5:54 pm, Sacha wrote:
On 2009-10-26 17:43:17 +0000, Judith in France
said:

On Oct 25, 10:26 pm, beccabunga beccabunga.
wrote:
geordief;867856 Wrote:
Can anyone tell me if when wood will spark and when it won't?
I mean I (think I ) know that burning resiny wood causes sparks.
And I also know that damp wood will cause sparks.
But what about bone-dry resiny wood(ie pine etc).Could that be safe?
My first impression *is that sparking is greatly reduced but I am sti
ll
wary.
Any one have * first hand experience here?
thanks
Any wood from pines or firs will/can spark, whether wet or dry. The
other one to watch for is willow, which is particularly explosive,
especially when burnt wet.
--
beccabunga
We have a woodburner and, on order, a wood burning Aga type cooker.
We burn mostly oak, seasoned at least 2 years, it burns well and no
sparks. *We also burn frene and some pine as we have a lot of pine
beams over 150 years old from the barn. *We had the roof replaced as
it was infested with Capricorne. *This pine doesn't spark but I doubt
there is any resin left in it after all this time.
Judith
Oak is very dense, so burns slowly so presumably that keeps a fire in a
long time and other stuff gingers it up? Some old wooden mantles were
made of oak because it was so hard to set alight easily. * We don't
have a wood burner but when the Aga dies and it must be around 50 to 60
years old, we're certainly not getting another one at those prices!
--
Sacha

The oak we burn is very dry, it doesn't just slumber away, cut to the
correct size it burns at a steady rate. *When the oven needs to come
up to temperature, my neighbour tells me that it will need to be mixed
with a lighter wood. *Agas certainly are a price, so is Godin but they
are supposed to last a lifetime. *Even secondhand these monsters fetch
a good price.

Hi Judith,

Getting cepes now in your neck of the woods? *We picked over 3 kg
yesterday!

Funny no one has mentioned sweet chestnut. *I'd guess it's the most
"explosive" of woods, it can send an ember from an open fire many
yards across the room, even from old wood. *(Green chestnut is pretty
hard to burn, anyway.)

Sadly in France we burn lots and lots of oak. *We rarely replant it
either... *It has a very straight grain and so is easy to split, burns
hot and doesn't go out in a good stove. *Frene -- ash in english -- is
very fine wood for the stove or fireplace but difficult to split.

I'd not compare the Godin quality with Aga, at least not in the current
stoves. *(I assume you're talking about a combination woodstove/cooker.)
Aga is far superior, but also more expensive. *The straight woodstoves
from Godin are still decent quality (we have one) but the cookers have
dropped. *A couple of years ago we decided that the somewhat less
expensive Lacanche was better stuff -- a friend has a Godin cooker to
compare with -- and we have not been disappointed.

regards,

-E

Hi Emery, good to see you! We bought a Godin about 12 years ago, for
cooking, it was pretty expensive then, maybe the prices have dropped?
I can only say that it was pretty good in quality and performance and
I suppose I should have likened it to a Rayburn:-) The woodstove is a
Supra and I can recommend it. I haven't heard of Lacanche, wish you
told me before we ordered one :-)

I have been mushrooming, unfortunately we had some vicious frost last
week and when we went into the woods near Ambert, they were frozen
solid. How do you treat your cepes, omelettes, dried, what?

Judith

On Oct 27, 10:49*am, Jonathan wrote:
On 26 Oct, 17:43, Judith in France
wrote:



On Oct 25, 10:26*pm, beccabunga beccabunga.

wrote:
geordief;867856 Wrote:

Can anyone tell me if when wood will spark and when it won't?
I mean I (think I ) know that burning resiny wood causes sparks.
And I also know that damp wood will cause sparks.
But what about bone-dry resiny wood(ie pine etc).Could that be safe?
My first impression *is that sparking is greatly reduced but I am still
wary.
Any one have * first hand experience here?
thanks

Any wood from pines or firs will/can spark, whether wet or dry. The
other one to watch for is willow, which is particularly explosive,
especially when burnt wet.

--
beccabunga

We have a woodburner and, on order, a wood burning Aga type cooker.
We burn mostly oak, seasoned at least 2 years, it burns well and no
sparks. *We also burn frene and some pine as we have a lot of pine
beams over 150 years old from the barn. *We had the roof replaced as
it was infested with Capricorne. *This pine doesn't spark but I doubt
there is any resin left in it after all this time.

Judith

I'm burning 19 Century roofing lathes at the moment as kindling and
they spark amazingly. (It's in a wood burner.)

Jonathan

We have a lot of old wood like this, it too goes into the woodburner
although it doesn't seem to spark, much. I remember when we had some
work done on a house about 33 years ago, that the lathes sparked,
maybe some treatment in the wood?

Judith

Judith in France wrote:
[]
Hi Emery, good to see you! We bought a Godin about 12 years ago, for
cooking, it was pretty expensive then, maybe the prices have dropped?
I can only say that it was pretty good in quality and performance and
I suppose I should have likened it to a Rayburn:-) The woodstove is a
Supra and I can recommend it. I haven't heard of Lacanche, wish you
told me before we ordered one :-)


The stuff is definitely not cheap, I'd be surprised if the prices had
dropped. In fact, none of it is cheap, but what we priced the
Aga cookers were nearly twice the price of Godin. What I've heard
is indeed that the Godin quality has dropped in recent years,
which is born out by our friend's (not that we would tell her
that!) Lacanche has a rather annoying web site

http://www.lacanche.com/en/index.html

but it is very high quality stuff.

I have been mushrooming, unfortunately we had some vicious frost last
week and when we went into the woods near Ambert, they were frozen
solid. How do you treat your cepes, omelettes, dried, what?


We've had some frost but not enough to get into the sous-bois. Not that
it's a very good year for cepes, too dry really.

We slice and freeze raw the pristine ones, anything less that perfect
gets cooked in butter and then frozen. Of course we started out with
a big plate of them on the table!

No cepes today, but did come across some delicious macrolepiota procera,
excellent just fried whole in butter or olive oil.

cheers,

-E

Can't you just get a fire guard? What is the problem with sparks?

jonbey wrote:
My wife is Brazilian, and she is craving yams. Cannot buy them anywhere
(can order online but costs stupid money).

Has anyone here successfully grown them in England? If so, how?

Aren't yams very similar to sweet potatoes? (which you can buy
easilly from supermarkets, actually, especially this time of year)

I've grown sweet potatoes with small success, but they didn't seem
to be worth the space and effort for the amount we got. I think
they may have needed more water and warmth when I did them.

In article , wrote:
jonbey wrote:
My wife is Brazilian, and she is craving yams. Cannot buy them anywhere
(can order online but costs stupid money).

Has anyone here successfully grown them in England? If so, how?

Aren't yams very similar to sweet potatoes? (which you can buy
easilly from supermarkets, actually, especially this time of year)

No. Unfortunately, the word "yam" essentially means "edible root"
in the countries where they are grown, despite what the OED says.
It can mean pretty well anything, but almost all are tropical.

The most 'official' meaning is Dioscorea species, which are unrelated
to Ipomoea batatas, the sweet potato, and taste very different.

I've grown sweet potatoes with small success, but they didn't seem
to be worth the space and effort for the amount we got. I think
they may have needed more water and warmth when I did them.

Yup. They really need 6 months of warm, damp conditions - where warm
is close to the maximum that the UK gets to.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

In message ,
writes
In article , wrote:
jonbey wrote:
My wife is Brazilian, and she is craving yams. Cannot buy them anywhere
(can order online but costs stupid money).

Has anyone here successfully grown them in England? If so, how?

Aren't yams very similar to sweet potatoes? (which you can buy
easilly from supermarkets, actually, especially this time of year)

No. Unfortunately, the word "yam" essentially means "edible root"
in the countries where they are grown, despite what the OED says.
It can mean pretty well anything, but almost all are tropical.

The most 'official' meaning is Dioscorea species, which are unrelated
to Ipomoea batatas, the sweet potato, and taste very different.

I've grown sweet potatoes with small success, but they didn't seem
to be worth the space and effort for the amount we got. I think
they may have needed more water and warmth when I did them.

Yup. They really need 6 months of warm, damp conditions - where warm
is close to the maximum that the UK gets to.

Would growing them in a heated greenhouse work, or do we need more
sunlight as well?
--
Stewart Robert Hinsley

On Oct 27, 10:17*pm, jonbey wrote:
My wife is Brazilian, and she is craving yams. Cannot buy them anywhere
(can order online but costs stupid money).

Has anyone here successfully grown them in England? If so, how?

--
jonbey

I can't advise on growing them but I do see them in ordinary French
markets, maybe a market near you has some?

Judith

In article ,
Stewart Robert Hinsley wrote:

I've grown sweet potatoes with small success, but they didn't seem
to be worth the space and effort for the amount we got. I think
they may have needed more water and warmth when I did them.

Yup. They really need 6 months of warm, damp conditions - where warm
is close to the maximum that the UK gets to.

Would growing them in a heated greenhouse work, or do we need more
sunlight as well?

Dunno, but I suspect that we have enough light - provided they were
grown from March onwards. The humid tropics doesn't get as much
light as you might think, especially under the canopy (which is
pretty well the only environment that occurs naturally). That doesn't
apply to the arid tropics, of course, and many places are both.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

"jonbey" wrote

My wife is Brazilian, and she is craving yams. Cannot buy them anywhere
(can order online but costs stupid money).

Has anyone here successfully grown them in England? If so, how?

Quite common to see them in the greengrocers in Southall.

--
Regards
Bob Hobden
just W. of London

"Sacha" wrote in message
...
On 2009-10-27 10:09:39 +0000, Judith in France
said:

On Oct 26, 5:54 pm, Sacha wrote:
On 2009-10-26 17:43:17 +0000, Judith in France
said:



On Oct 25, 10:26 pm, beccabunga beccabunga.
wrote:

Funnily enough, I noticed a 1974 Aga for sale at £950 in this
morning's local paper. I don't think our 1950s or 60s model
would quite make that. ;-) The oak sounds what I was thinking
of - it's burning at a steady rate but then helped along by
hotter burning stuff.
--
Sacha


Six years ago we sold our 1950s Aga for over £500 to a company
that renovates them, and they came and collected it. That was
after using it for 22 years having bought it for £60 and
installing it myself. Did you know a 2 oven Aga contains seven
bin bags of insulation. Guess how I know this?

Mike

On 2009-10-30 09:10:34 +0000, "Muddymike" said:


"Sacha" wrote in message
...
On 2009-10-27 10:09:39 +0000, Judith in France
said:

On Oct 26, 5:54 pm, Sacha wrote:
On 2009-10-26 17:43:17 +0000, Judith in France
said:



On Oct 25, 10:26 pm, beccabunga beccabunga.
wrote:

Funnily enough, I noticed a 1974 Aga for sale at £950 in this
morning's local paper. I don't think our 1950s or 60s model
would quite make that. ;-) The oak sounds what I was thinking
of - it's burning at a steady rate but then helped along by
hotter burning stuff.
--
Sacha


Six years ago we sold our 1950s Aga for over £500 to a company
that renovates them, and they came and collected it. That was
after using it for 22 years having bought it for £60 and
installing it myself. Did you know a 2 oven Aga contains seven
bin bags of insulation. Guess how I know this?

Mike

Ummmm, now let me see....... ;-)
--
Sacha