Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I was a city kid until 6 yrs ago...Now that I live in a rural location, I'm fascinated by the thought processes of those with acreage who mow a lawn of 5 ac around the house. What's the purpose? It certainly doesn't cut down on the little rodents visiting the house (as I imagine the owners are thinking)..It does cut down on natural habitat. ..We won't argue about asthetics.
...of course, I always laugh at how many homesteads that are practially in a wilderness area with campers parked in the drive...Your whole property is a campground. Why do have to go anywhere else to enjoy nature?
If you have a woodlot, the foresters tell us healthy woods should have 1 or 2 snags (standing dead trees) per ac and several fallen trees. That provides habitiat for important members of the ecological system. Let them alone, unless they block access drives or are in danger of falling on structures or fences.
I was a city kid until 6 yrs ago...Now that I live in a rural location, I'm fascinated by the thought processes of those with acreage who mow a lawn of 5 ac around the house. What's the purpose? It certainly doesn't cut down on the little rodents visiting the house (as I imagine the owners are thinking)..It does cut down on natural habitat. ..We won't argue about asthetics.
Maybe they love lawns. I used to. I loved watering and mowing and working in the yard. Maybe it DOES actually serve as a fire break and a wide open space to see their domain..... We logged our hill when we moved in to protect the house from tall trees that fall in windstorms, and open up the view. And it DOES cut down on cover for unwanted varmints. Probably plenty of bad reasons, but there are lots of good reasons.
Quote:
...of course, I always laugh at how many homesteads that are practially in a wilderness area with campers parked in the drive...Your whole property is a campground. Why do have to go anywhere else to enjoy nature?
This I sortof agree with. I used to camp A LOT when I was young... no need to do that now. Our property is prettier than anyplace I ever camped.
Except it's different. We don't unplug and sit outside around the campfire and talk like we would if we were camping. Camping isn't a location, it's a mindset.
Quote:
If you have a woodlot, the foresters tell us healthy woods should have 1 or 2 snags (standing dead trees) per ac and several fallen trees. That provides habitiat for important members of the ecological system. Let them alone, unless they block access drives or are in danger of falling on structures or fences.
It's fine for all landowners to know about beneficial things they can do for habitat. It's also OK for landowners to choose their best use. Dead snags are also fire fuel. So are big piles of debris. We could spend all our time cleaning up the woods and there would still be more. There is no shortage.
Everyone may have their own good, solid reasons for doing what they do. Protection of one species may mean the discouragement of others. Mowing underbrush helps us, and our goats, see predators coming. Keeping some tree cover though helps protect the chickens from our eagles who fly over. It's always a tradeoff. I think our property keeps a pretty good balance.
As for intentional stick fires.... we've learned having several small burn piles are the best way for us. It's not good or safe to have ONE MASSIVE burn pile, we do several smaller ones, burning them in winter or spring when it's seasoned and not yet too dry to be a risk.
See on this pic.... there is a BIG tree that just fell over in a recent storm. There are many like it in our own woods and the 800 acres of timber next door. We want to clean that tree up. It's OK to want to clean that up It's an oak, so we're currently trying to see if there is a small mill who wants it. If not, we'll cut it up for firewood, and then pile the small sticks and burn them. There is a burn pile down there now, that hubby will probably burn soon.
Many years ago I learned the hard way to NEVER use gasoline to start a burn pile. Relax, no injuries.
My father in law and I were clearing brambels, branches and dead leaves from a windfall and I had poured what I thought was a small quantity of gasoline over the pile. FIL hands me a small box of matches and says "Light 'er up."
What I had failed to take into account was the pile of leaves on top and gasoline has flammable vapors. Leaves on top of pile trap vapors. (See where this is going ?) So I strike a match, extend my longer than average arm and drop said lit match into previously mentioned brush pile, and then there was a very, very LOUD KABOOM!! and next thing you know smoldering leaves are raining down on us and FIL is standing there with the silliest grin I'd ever seen him do, laughing his a$$ off. Then the women come running out of the house screaming as if the world just ended "All the windows shook! Is everyone alright ?" and "What the %@&& did you do? "That sounded like a BOMB!" FIL & I are laughing like two kids who just found a pack of firecrackers. FIL says to me "That's a good one! That was fun !" I look around checking to see if I had started a brush fire and everything was out. I grabbed the garden hose and sprayed the area just to be on the safe side. That day was talked about for the next couple of years. ...and yes, it was fun.
A couple of weeks later there was a gentleman in the local news who had poured gasoline on a burning brush pile and the flames traveled up to his gas can. He survived but let's just say his lesson was more painfully learned.
That's when I learned NEVER use gasoline to light off a brush pile. If you need to use a liquid firestarter, use diesel. It's not EXPLOSIVE like gasoline.
I know a guy who did that. His hair and his clothes caught on fire. His wife grabbed him and threw him in their goldfish pond, saving his life. Ha ha. That day was talked about for more than a couple years. Not sure she ever really forgave him for being so stupid.
When we first retired to our property, DH thought his city slicker self was going to pour gas and light a match on the huge wood pile. I put the slams to that, informing him our Volunteer Fire Department could use the practice putting out fires, plus they could also use the donation we would give them for coming out with their equipment.
I know a couple of men who ended up in the hospital burn unit from throwing gas on brush piles. One didn’t have a lot of common sense, so no surprise. I really did give the other one more credit than to be so stupid——.
Yepper—- paying the fire department is a lot safer and a lot cheaper since most hospital bills have a big left over co-pay, not to mention rehab time, prescription meds, permanent scarring, yadda yadda.
...of course, I always laugh at how many homesteads that are practially in a wilderness area with campers parked in the drive...Your whole property is a campground. Why do have to go anywhere else to enjoy nature?
This is exactly like wondering why people who live in apartments would want to stay in hotels when they travel.
People have campers because they like to camp, the reasons why aren't universal. City dwellers might like camping because it gives them a rare opportunity to get back to nature. Rural dwellers might like camping because they're used to having their own space and can relax more easily in a camper than in a hotel sharing walls with other people. Maybe they like going to fairs or flea markets or music festivals where they have the opportunity to camp on the grounds which enhances the experience for them.
The first thing on your list should be calling the fire department to see if there is a burn ban in force for the time frame you want to start a fire. Our fire department will issue a burn ban that is weather dependent.
The other first thing is to ask them if you need a permit to burn.
...
In our area, our county has a website with an online burn permit. If the page is green, you can burn. If red, you can't. No calling anybody, no fees, no hassle.
I was a city kid until 6 yrs ago...Now that I live in a rural location, I'm fascinated by the thought processes of those with acreage who mow a lawn of 5 ac around the house. What's the purpose? It certainly doesn't cut down on the little rodents visiting the house (as I imagine the owners are thinking)..It does cut down on natural habitat. ..We won't argue about asthetics.
...of course, I always laugh at how many homesteads that are practially in a wilderness area with campers parked in the drive...Your whole property is a campground. Why do have to go anywhere else to enjoy nature?
If you have a woodlot, the foresters tell us healthy woods should have 1 or 2 snags (standing dead trees) per ac and several fallen trees. That provides habitiat for important members of the ecological system. Let them alone, unless they block access drives or are in danger of falling on structures or fences.
True, but in our area, the scenery changes drastically from one area to the next. We don't live on the beach, but a few miles away there are campgrounds on the water that we like to frequent. We don't go often, and built our house on a hill with large windows to take in the surrounding scenery; we enjoy the views daily. For us, it's like leaving our "permanent campground" to visit a temporary campground. We thoroughly enjoy both styles of life.
(Oh! - almost forgot, we can't fish on our property!)
How many of you do yard burns?
We don’t get a yard waste green can and are expected to burn, compost or haul off our yard waste.
Hauling a few acres of waste clippings and branches is for the birds.
Are there any special things you do when you burn?
This is what we do.
We have a nice designated burn pile area.
I keep a charged water hose nearby.
If it’s dry I will wet the surrounding areas.
To start the fire I use a propane weed burner. It’s kinda like Elons “not a flamethrower” and works well.
We don’t use gasoline.
Sometimes we will use a fire log starter
I don’t burn paper or boxes but I don’t think that would hurt anything if you were on top of it.
Sparks and embers from boxes or paper are fire hazards is my reasoning.
Keeping a heavy duty metal yard rake there works good too.
Oh and we never leave a fire unattended.
We can see it from inside our house.
So what do you guys do?
We recently moved from very rural N. Idaho to rural TN. In both areas, "open burning" (burning with no burn permit) was limited. Odd part-in Idaho, no open burning from 5/10 to 10/20 (through the summer) due to heat, dryness and wildfire risk. In TN, it's the opposite-no open burning from 10/15 to 5/15. Winter is the dry season, with lots of dry leaves and regular, if mostly fairly small, (by western standards) wildfires. But otherwise, yes, we do as you do. In TN, you can get a burn permit during the "closed season". They'll be issued unless it's been especially dry or is windy.
We're on 8 acres and have plenty of downed limbs and cut brush to deal with. I did recently buy a wood chipper/shredder and have a wood stove, between the two I can get rid of most of my yard waste. We also added a pair of goats to help with brush clearing.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I loved watering and mowing and working in the yard. Maybe it DOES actually serve as a fire break and a wide open space to see their domain..... We logged our hill when we moved in to protect the house from tall trees that fall in windstorms, and open up the view. And it DOES cut down on cover for unwanted varmints. Probably plenty of bad reasons, but there are lots of good reasons. 
Relax, no injuries. 
