Feeling a bit Mad Hatter-ish, we’ve decided to make our latest campfire all wrong…but all right. Here’s a weird and novel way to build a campfire by turning it upsidedown.
Plus some random camping and campervan tips to try out. Let us know if they work for you.
An upside-down campfire
How do we normally build a fire? A bit of paper, some kindling, some bigger sticks, gradually working up to larger logs on top. Well, Milkwood have found it works better the other way! You start off with a base of big logs and work backwards.
Milkwood say: “The upside down fire technique rocks. It’s a cleaner burn with far less smoke and better combustion, gives off more heat, needs less tending and uses the embodied energy in wood more efficiently than the tipi-esque fire method.”
The wood below the combusting material is getting well heated before it catches fire, which makes for better and more complete combustion of the wood below, which equals less smoke and better coals for cooking on. Oh, and the crowd watching you will turn from sneering to amazed!
“The first 10 to 15 minutes will be somewhat unspectacular as the fire makes its way through the kindling and the combustion gets going. Soon, though, the flames will be roaring and the fire’s smokeless state will be apparent. Collect whatever bets were placed upon your complete failure, and enjoy your upside-down fire,” say Milkwood, which is an Australian social enterprise that offers training in gardening, beekeeping, natural building, permaculture and regenerative agriculture.
Aha, Australia. That means their upside-down fires are probably just our fires seen from underneath.
Extremely naughty campfire cones
So now your upside-down fire is right for cooking, treat yourself!
For each person, you need an ice-cream cone (go for good quality sugar cones if you can – much nicer than those paper-y things). Make up a box of delicious things. The choice is yours, but there are some options below. If you pack the ingredients separately, of course, people can make up their own perfect combination, adding the ingredients in layers.
- Broken up pieces of chocolate or chocolate buttons
- Walnuts or pecans
- Flaked almonds
- Brown sugar
- Mini marshmallows
- Chips of toffee or butterscotch
- Banana slices
- Coconut (desiccated or freshly grated even better)
- Sunflower seeds
Fill your cone, wrap in foil and put it on the edge of the campfire, or on a barbecue for a couple of minutes to let the chocolate melt. Naughty, but delicious.
Ants hate cucumber…or do they?
The best way to get rid of ants? Apparently, they don’t have a taste for cucumber.
Leave the peelings in an ant-y area overnight and see if it works for you. Eco-friendly and no nasty chemicals to worry about around kids and pets. But just watch this. We need some scientific testers to report back!
Meanwhile, we have come across another deterrent – good old Dr Bronner’s natural soap (well, you can also use it for everything else too!). Have a look at our article on green camping for more on that, and other environmentally friendly ways to camp.
No flies in my drink
Keep the flies out of your wine, beer or fruit juice by putting a cupcake case over the top. Make a small hole in the centre for your straw to stick through.
We used to like the foam interlocking tiles, but they’re nasty plastic that soon gets dumped in the landfill. Instead, go for a beautiful Green Decore rug.
Lots of colours and sizes and they’re made from recycled plastic. Wash them down, shake them off, roll them up. Use them in the tent, in the awning, on the beach or outside the campervan. Use them at home too.
And a few other ideas…
While you’re browsing, have a look at our best camp kitchen gadgets and at how to build your own rocket stove.