Bagging birch bark

Three bags of birch bark, the best firestarter in nature, were gathered this morning.  We've been using it exclusively to light the wood stove this season.  The quick, intense heat really gets kindling, even some branch pieces an inch thick, burning right away.

The rule our readers may remember:  Never take bark from a living tree, like this lovely yellow birch.  There's plenty of downed and dead trunks where the bark can be gathered. 

Lopping of stump sprouts is another recent activity out there.  Here's a bunch, from several different species, gathered in the last few weeks.