Faster, Weedfire! Kill! Kill!

Clearing out the stockpile of weed seeds.

For years, I had visions of a cozy mid-winter brushfire in which we burned up the invasive seedheads of summer past. There would be snow-covered ground, a circle of friends, plus whiskey and/or hot chocolate.

Instead, we have an ever-growing pile of brush near the tulip tree that is so unwieldy that new brush is growing out of it. And, a gargantuan pile of dry, brittle herbaceous invasive weeds inside the pole barn that is more voluminous than the tractor. In fact, it is impeding the right-of-way. Cathy errs on the side of hauling invasives that might have set seed to the barn. Friends are less interested in burning things than I imagined. I guess they are mostly from the suburbs.

Since it’s been such a wet stretch, fire risk is low and I thought I might as well go for it this first of July evening. After checking for any burn restrictions online, I set out with a lighter, a small glass of whiskey, and my lone self to get the job done.

Of course, 45 seconds after I lit the first miniature flames the town siren went off at the odd time of 7:06 pm. I spent a moment being spooked at the idea of some sort of instantaneous violation and monitoring system portending the arrival of firetrucks and spectacle, and then remembered that usually in the country no one is really up in your business.

It only took about an hour to get through bundles of desiccated sweet clover, burdock, thistle, mullein, wild carrot, and whatever else we’d deemed unacceptable to leave to chance. This is four years of brittle material that I’m glad is no longer waiting in the barn.

Do you like a casual-but-safe burning of things? Schedule now to join us next winter in the tackling of the brush pile!