It was a very pleasant weekend, the first time we've spent outside in shirt sleeves. The ground is just starting to firm up enough to operate machinery off the rocked roads.
It was nice to work on the property when the pine grass is greening up, bushes budding, sun shining. We skidded logs and piled slash both days, and enjoyed a small slash-pile bonfire Saturday night with our neighbors.
It's time to start logging again. Our goal this summer is to thin 3-5 more acres out of our 20. The minimum this year will be 3 for our NRCS EQIP contract, and we have a few acres left on our DNR FLEP matching grant for thinning and slash abatement. Both programs have been a considerable financial help to us in accomplishing what we need to do on our land.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Monday, April 5, 2010
Spring, snow, and smoke
A late blast of spring snow makes for an interesting weekend here. Four inches fell late in the week. It melted fast, but there are enough remnants of snow on green grass for some nice photos of wildflowers and such.
The snow also gave us a couple more weeks to burn slash piles. The ground is wet, the breeze is mild, so we dragged out the arson gear and torched 4 small piles Saturday. The wood is so wet that the fuel mixture is difficult to light, and it takes 3 or 4 tries before the pile takes off in flame. I used 1/2 gallon to 1 gallon per pile to get them started!
My favorite part of burning piles is going around late at night and tending them. Tonight is starry and cold -- barely above freezing -- but it's warm by the large piles of coals. I rake the charred stubs from the outer perimeter into the pile, heaping it as high as I can, so there will be nothing but ash in the morning.
Addendum: Early this morning I made the rounds through frost-trimmed wildflowers and snow patches. I stirred the fires, now the size of small campfires.
I saw 8 deer and a red-tailed hawk today.
The snow also gave us a couple more weeks to burn slash piles. The ground is wet, the breeze is mild, so we dragged out the arson gear and torched 4 small piles Saturday. The wood is so wet that the fuel mixture is difficult to light, and it takes 3 or 4 tries before the pile takes off in flame. I used 1/2 gallon to 1 gallon per pile to get them started!
My favorite part of burning piles is going around late at night and tending them. Tonight is starry and cold -- barely above freezing -- but it's warm by the large piles of coals. I rake the charred stubs from the outer perimeter into the pile, heaping it as high as I can, so there will be nothing but ash in the morning.
Addendum: Early this morning I made the rounds through frost-trimmed wildflowers and snow patches. I stirred the fires, now the size of small campfires.
I saw 8 deer and a red-tailed hawk today.
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