Come on spring!!!!!

Well, I can see some of the ground again!!  I have cabin fever to the max.  I just wanna go out and get stuff done that has been sitting all winter.  I can't wait for warm weather any longer.

To kick off the start of the spring thaw my daughter and I built a fire tonight and cooked some all beef hot dogs and a tenderloin steak on it!  Tasted soooooo good!  I am going to install a natural gas log starter in the fire pit this spring so I can light the wood a lot easier.  They are only about $20 and I can get all the stuff I need through work and I have installed them before so it won't cost me much at all to do!

Since I had the fire lit and I had a torch in my hand I decided to go see if the grasses would burn out front to start cleaning them up. 

These were the smaller ones, they are about six feet tall and three feet in diameter.  The rest are much bigger at 6'-7' x 6'.  The ones I tried tonight burnt ok but still need to dry a little more.  It it going to be in the upper 50's tomorrow all day so I will burn the rest when I get home tomorrow!  Should be fun!

This way of removing the grasses is actually better than cutting them off.  This is the way nature does it and is much quicker and more efficient.  When you simply cut the grasses back and do not burn them they build up debris in the center and will actually kill the center out of themselves.  Over the long run they will begin to rot in the center and weeds and trees can sprout there.  When you burn them they will burn all the excess dead material from the entire plant.  The ashes then fertilize the plant and there is nothing there to rot so the new growth shoots up much quicker in the spring. This also allows the suns warmth to get to the crown faster giving a quicker jump on the year.  Unfortunately they will not let us do this at work for safety reasons and city code.  I would like to look into some form of this however that we could safely do in town or near a house.  I can do these without cutting them down because they are out by themselves by the road.  The ones near the house I cut down first and then light the base with the hose in hand to keep the house wet and free of flame.  The grasses will burn entirely in less than sixty seconds so you gotta be ready before you light it or you could be in quite a mess in a hurry!!

On another topic........it is really really muddy!!!  The frost is still in the ground a most everywhere and the snow melt is just saturating the surface.  After another day or two of really nice weather the frost should thaw and the water will start to dissipate and the mud will begin to lessen.

I can't wait!!  I am so ready for an early spring with a perfect summer!

Kenny