How to Buy Wood for a Graduation Bonfire

The fuel for your graduation bonfire is a healthy stack of wood. Liberal use of lighter fluid, paper and branches may cause a bright flash but a supply of wood is needed to keep the party going well into the night. You need to buy wood in advance for your graduation bonfire to ensure that the central attraction of your event doesn't flicker and die. Read on to learn how to buy wood for a graduation bonfire.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Lighter fluid
• Lighter
• Old newspapers

1. Place a standing order for extra wood with your neighbors several months ahead of a graduation bonfire. You should ask for small pieces of wood and branches instead of quality materials to show courtesy to your neighbor.
2. Contact local farmers who cut down trees on their property about supplying wood for your graduation bonfire. These requests should be made well ahead of your party to beat out competition from businesses and nearby homeowners, and to allow time for the wood to cure.
3. Mark out a space in your yard to store wood before your graduation bonfire. An area of your backyard away from drains and sprinklers is ideal if your garage is too full for storage.
4. Purchase lighter supplies along with an order of wood to cut down on shopping time for your bonfire. You will need a few lighters as well as lighter fluid to help get your fire started.
5. Select chopped wood that will fit easily into your bonfire pit. Measure out the width and depth of your fire pit to determine how many pieces of wood can fit within the pit at one time. You should be able to fit at least two layers of three wood pieces in your pit for a healthy fire.
6. Calculate the amount of wood you need to buy for multiple fire pits used in your graduation party. You should divide your wood supply for each pit to avoid needless trips from a central wood supply.
7. Gather twigs and old newspapers for weeks prior to the bonfire to get your fire started. These flammable pieces can be used as kindling to introduce the flame to your wood supply.
8. Cover the wood you buy for your bonfire with a simple tarp to maintain a dry supply. Your bonfire will be derailed if the top layers of your wood supply is covered in water and dew prior to the party.

Tips & Warnings

• Coordinate the purchase of wood in bulk with your neighbors who are holding graduation bonfires at a later date. The cost of wood in certain communities fluctuates based on season and increased demand for summer events. You can split an order of wood with multiple parties and ask for surplus wood from other hosts to cut down on costs.