Well Bill, What have you been doing?

Hello Daylily Friends,

The weather this past week-end has been just so wonderful. The temperatures have risen up to the 60s, and the sun has been so nice. The freezing nights have been in suspension. I got up Friday morning, and there was not really any breeze. There was no rain on the horizon, and so I decided to burn my enormous pile of debris. Believe me, it was a very, very large pile. I started the fire without much trouble even though some of the debris was still damp. I'm showing a picture of the fire when it was first started. Before I started the fire I had a hose nearby that I was ready to use if the fire got out of control. Obviously, safety is important when dealing with fire. I also had to make sure that the fire did not spread to the "wood chips" spread around my Greenhouse, and indeed, all throughout my garden.

As the fire burned I used my fork and my rake to keep making the area of the fire become smaller and smaller. This helped manage the area of the fire, and made it possible to confine the fire later in the evening. I'm showing a picture of myself as I raked the area as the fire consumed the debris. I actually started the fire at about 10:00 a.m. on Friday morning, and I stayed outside with the fire until around 11:00 p.m. I had to do this to make sure that I did all that I could to manage the situation. When I finally went inside the house my wife demanded that I take a "shower." Of course I would have done this anyway, but at Diana's direction, I did it "right away." When your wife tells you to "clean yourself up," well, then you do it right away. I admit that I did smell like smoke and fire. I also showing a picture of a small area of the fire during the early evening hours.

My good friend Bob Snider, a Master Gardener, tells me that the wood ashes from the fire can help the pH level of the soil. Bob says that the wood ashes contain nutrients, especially potassium, and some phosphorus and magnesium. Bob advises that I can use about a gallon of ash where Diana will be planting each her tomatoes. This seems like good advice and so thanks Bob for this information.

As you can see from my final picture, my dear wife Diana Rae came to help out on Saturday. It was good to have her assistance. What she actually did was to gather more debris, and also put this on the fire. Diana was very helpful. It is good to have unsolicited help in the garden.

Bill