The grass is only starting to green in some warm areas so I'm getting an earlier start this year. Last year I generated a lot of smoke from burning the green grass mixed in with the dead grass. Also, last year that green grass slowed some fires down as I had to tend the fires to keep them going. Well, I guess that's better that than having an out of control fire. As with every year at this time a few of those runaway fires make the evening news.
Initially I thought my fire wouldn't really burn as the ground is still wet. But the dead grass is tinder dry, and with a little breeze, the fire moves right along. Thursday was our warmest day this year with a high temperature of 57 F. The light breeze from here then there then over there made where to burn tricky at times as I always think of the wind direction when anticipating if the fire gets out of control. Having a fire burn towards a building or the neighbors is not a good thing.
Ordinarily it would take me a number of days to cover all what I had burned Thursday. I got lots done: the areas in the corral where the cattle didn't eat all the grass, the fruit tree / garden area, a small part of the NE pasture by the trees, the entire ditch along the property (that usually takes me two times - once for the northern and once for the southern ditch), 1/2 of the front yard (the half that did not burn last year), and along the hayfield fence: the north, east, and south borders. Or I should most of the south fence line. The SW corner has tall pine trees south of the fence and in the shade not all of the snow has melted on my property. No big deal. I can burn it later, or skip it as I burnt that section last year. I even burnt around my mailbox in the ditch across the road. Not an easy thing to do as that ditch has lots of old dead grass along with many snowberry bushes mixed in. On top of that the pasture next to that ditch hasn't been mowed in a number of years and has lots of tall dead grass. Not an area one wants to have a fire escape. But I was very careful and had no problems.
I also didn't set any trees on fire
- unlike last year where a pine tree trunk in the fruit tree / garden area caught fire.In the northern part of the ditch I found a dead squirrel. Good. I hope it was the one I seen prancing around my yard last week. I heaped a bunch of pine needles and cones on the squirrel and burnt away.
When I was burning at the southern end of the ditch a teenage boy in a car stopped to tell me that the fire was burning in my field. I asked him if it was on this or the other side of my driveway and he said the other side. I had made sure no fire was burning north of the driveway before I left that area. I was just at the point where I was going to burn along the southern fence line. I knocked the fire down so I could go back to check where the kids said the fire was burning. No fire was burning north of the driveway. I think the kid meant at the north end of the hayfield where the fire left the ditch and moved into the hayfield itself. I wanted that to burn. *sigh* By "driveway" he must of thought the approach across ditch to the hayfield.
As I walked back to the southern fence line I noticed two old fence posts smoldering and smoking heavily. *sigh* I went and got my pail of water and poured it on the fence posts. The posts were no longer in the ground as they had rotted away some time ago. Even with nearby newer posts anchoring thebarb wire fence to the ground, I still was able to lift the smoldering posts high enough to get their bottoms in the pail of water. That definitely put the fire out smoldering under and inside the posts. Then I went and burnt along the southern fence line.
Friday was cool and damp so I didn't burn. Last night it rained and is raining again now. So no more burning till next week.
I probably only have a few more days of burning along the weste fence line, and in a few areas of tall grass, before I turn my attention to burning a few more tree stumps this year. I am way ahead of schedule as I usually am at this point mid-April to the end of April. Maybe I'll be able to get an earlier start on digging my garden this year!
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