Using charcoal briquettes can helpout when you are baking with cast iron over coals, cuase they create an even heat for a given period of time.....once you get the hang of it then using wood coals the right size will be habit and routine.
get dutch ovens that have 3 legs for standing over coals, and can stack one on top the other for cookin several recipes at oncet.
If you gonna use a backyard pit, i suggest setting a iron pipe in cement, and placing a hinged hangin iron on the top for placing over the heat where you need, and then it would be strong enough to support a big [small] african pot. A local welding shop probably can set you up with the whole works if you trell them what you need, and even start a sideline business for all your neighbors when it catches on!
My favorite desert is upsidedown cake with pinapple rings, apricots and marichino cherries ..... when done in a dutch oven out on the trail makes a big hit..... but to get it right it needs alot of practice at home... guess thats why i like it..... practice.
Get a brass/bronze brush for cleaning, when you buy new ware, mix heavy salt water and fill the cast iron as full as possible and boil the salt water dry a couple times, this will take out the oils used in manufacture that are not conducive to a healthy system, the wire brush is used to get it all clean and is not as abrasive to the finish as is a steel brush or steel wool. Generally if you clean immeadiately after use with just plain ole hot water the cast iron will come clean. If you get things that stick, you are cooking with a less than perfect seasoned pan, to low of heat [tryed to fry to quick before the pan was ready]. I try not to clean my pans to often with water, cause it takes a couple dayz to season them up agian..... when they get to looking really bad, they get thrown on a hot fire for a minute or so and then scrubbed with the wire brush, and oiled up again.... sometimes they get pretty big before they get washed.....
When you use cast iron your iron levels do not need to be supplemented as much either as a little iron gets cooked into your food every time.
Just my thoughts
William