As expected I scooped and shovelled “the proverbial” all day. It was sunny and warmed up beautifully. I barely went inside all day. Cow manure does not smell too bad though so it was not an unpleasant task.
Later while I was Across the Way feeding the cows and pigs I saw that the neighbour was burning his ditches. The afternoon was very still. There were quite a few controlled ditch fires though I am not sure about the controls. It occurred to me that there is wild asparagus in those ditches and they have been burning the old detritus out of the waterways for years and years yet the asparagus grows back every year.
So I went home and set fire to my asparagus rows. As you would. There is quite a wide path between the asparagus beds and the long grass by the ditch and no flames were expected to jump that. And no flames did jump it, though I had my shovel and my husband at the ready. Have you ever seen anyone set fire to the hairs on a man’s legs with a cigarette lighter? I have. A girl did it to a guy she fancied once when we were young. Needless to say she was totally OUT of the running for his affections after that, but the flames flew up his legs incredibly fast, gobbling only the hair, the fire going out at his knees – it took about a second – his skin was fine – though his composure was shattered. We all screamed. She laughed. That girl was a shocker. One is every group.
It was the same way with the asparagus beds but less dramatic. Each bed took less than a minute for the fire to race across it. Only the dead matter burned the greening grass did not ignite. It certainly is an excellent way to get rid of the old canes – these have to be cleared off the rows anyway in case of disease, so it saved me a big job. Tomorrow the beds will be covered in old compost then straw and then we will see what pops up! It is getting warmer by the day. Soon we will have asparagus again. Then I wondered about asparagus in the juicer but decided against it.
Isn’t spring time a fun time!?
It got quite warm which meant I began to shed my jacket then my jersey as the day went on. Draping them over handy fences as usual. Later I saw Alex licking my woolly jersey vigorously. I am not sure what to think about that. Did she think it was a little sheep or a calf though it would have smelt of me and she never licks me.
Today is stock shifting day. This will be fun too!
I hope you have a lovely day.
celi
PS An interesting thought for today. Earn more than you spend. A more positive way of looking at it. Rather than “don’t spend more than you can earn”. Which sounds quite bossy. I hate being bossed about.
The Kitchen's Garden 
54 responses to “Fire in the hole!”
We’ve had asparagus for over a month now. Very little ag burning is allowed in our area, I think the farmers keep their asparagus rows manageable by tilling between the mounds. I’ll have to pay more attention.
Sounds like a fun day on the farm! I like my asparagus on the grill. Yum!
Sounds like a productive day on the farm. I love asparagus on the grill with some Parmesan. Yum!
When my husband was stationed in Iceland many many moons ago, they were not allowed off base, so the boys had to entertain themselves. They’d light their back door “emissions” to see who could produce the most impressive fire.
My brother in law learned that one could ignite “back door emissions” and got out of bed one night and did so. He was nude. Burned his butt. Meanwhile, my sister laughted her fool head off! Love, Gayle
Oh, and about juicing asparagus…don’t do it. Raw asparagus is delicious, but I learned the hard way that too much raw asparagus has a bowel-loosening effect. Much love, Gayle
a great weight loss program then?! c
Gayle didn’t like it. Mikey didn’t like it, either. Love, Gayle
And both my posts here had to do with poop and farts. Only the best from meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. Lots of love, Gayle
Through spring and summer here we have what we call “Caldera Snow” except it’s black……..when the sugar cane fields are burnt prior to cutting. While the resulting large chunks of cane ash are a nuisance…..the word spreads quickly if there’s about to be a burn, so we can grab washing in, move animal water so it doesn’t end up black and nasty, and close windows…..it’s a beautiful sight if they burn early evening, best to find a high spot and then enjoy the glow and crackle of the fire either off in the distance, or just across the road. And the smell is lovely, sweet and heavy, like molasses. And the predator birds come from miles around and have a great feast, as rodents race out of the cane to safety!? Then of course there’s the clean-up, to sweep and wash a deep layer of black ash off every surface….until the next field is set alight. Our Australian Aborigines also did controlled burns traditionally, to clear the undergrowth to allow some plants to re-grow strongly and for others to germinate seeds.
They burn the cane only rarely any more up here. It is beautiful, and those who know how to do it, do it well and in a controlled fashion, but with so many hundreds of thousands of acres of cane in this part of the world given over to cane, the contribution to global warming every year was significant – not to mention the soot you talk about. These days the Queensland sugar mills will take in green cane – the new harvesters are better at separating out the green trash and mulching it straight back onto the fields. There’s really only one downside to not burning, and that is that the fire used to keep down the vermin – not just rats, but also cane toads and snakes. These days, there are loads more of all of them!
Sounds wonderful – sitting up on the ridge – watching the burn.. fire is very important to regrowth.. though of course hard on the environment when used on a huge space – so elemental fire is.. c
Am smiling at your note re Internet shopping! Living where I do 90% of my ‘shopping’ be it food, clothes, books, music, supplements or whatever is on the Net! Actually works brilliantly for me after all these years, but . . . oh yes, I have had somewhat embarrassing conversations with some of the firms the day after to
‘cancel, please’! Am the most honest person on the planet but I have to admit to a few ‘white lies’ as to why I really, simply, honestly, truly no longer want a certain good 😀 !!
Our travels are showing us the true value of money and work… a means to an end, save some and spend some on having a good time. Real incentive to not spend our lives working and buying stuff 🙂
Glad you called it a jersey – you old Kiwi you!
Your ‘ps’ is a bit like Dickens Mr Micawber philosophy. I also like a good burn up, but it has to be clean as I have a neighbour who complains about tiny bits of ash landing in his garden!
Bless the neighbours – they always keep it interesting.. c
Hey Celi … I’m envious you have massive compost piles! Ha, I hate being bossed about as well …
Spring is, indeed, a wonderful time. I’m just about to go down the road – hoping to hear the spring peepers. Hopefully, no fires in the holes. 🙂
Hope you hear some – they are not hear yet but what a wonderful sound they make! c
Heard the peepers, late Tuesday afternoon.