You've probably heard about a country boy and his brush pilling before. After spending yesterday cleaning up debris after our snowstorm and subsequent high winds, I could help but spend some time thinking about brush piles. Let me tell you, I'm starting to be come a professional at making them. I'll admit at first It was just a way to get rid of all the debris after snowstorms and high winds on the farm. I have quickly come to learn that there is a lot of value to brush piles alone as well as burning them.
Burning brush creates bio char which is great for your garden and flower beds. The charcoal and ashes left over are both rich in carbon which plants love. To use this the bio char I'll start brush pile fires during a light sprinkle to help insure I don't burn everything into ashes so they'll be some charcoals left. The ash is good for plants to however, you miss part of the second benefit of burning the brush which is carbon sequestration in the ground. Carbon Sequestration just means when you create bio char you are taking the carbon dioxide that would normally end up in the atmosphere and putting it in the ground which is good for your soil and the atmosphere. Win Win!
This was a burn pile last year. The new grass growing here was the green-ist in the field
Ask any country boy and he'll tell you there are a million ways to pile brush. I guess that's where the old saying comes from. I like to pile my brush as high as possible to ensure it burns well and that it takes up less space in my fields. I generally load it into my tractor bucket or on pallet forks and haul it to an out of the way place. I don't want to haul it far so I end up with multiples piles across the farm.
My pine brush pile. Still some good logs in here for the sawmill
Some of my brush piles have been in the same spot for many years. These we don't burn since they are already breaking down and creating really good soil underneath. At some point when we need some dirt for plants we just move the leftover wood to another pile and scoop up the good dirt left behind. It is really a dark rich soil that plants love. You'll want to be aware that pine and other evergreens are very acidic and not all plants love it. I usually have those in separate piles. They are great for our shade beds which generally love acidic soil.
This is the dirt left after moving what was left of a pile. We use this dirt in the greenhouse
Another great reason for brush fires... Parties. Around here a huge brush pile fire is a good reason to have some friends and neighbors over to sit around and talk and drink some fermented liquids. Sometimes you get lucky and get some friends that play the guitar and banjo to come along as well. You have to make your own entertainment when you are far away from a town!
Party Pit. When we light this pile at the barn we used to live in, it means people are coming over to enjoy fire and fellowship
Lastly when you have a really big pile with lots of tree trunks and stumps in it, it can be hard to get it all burned. Tree stumps can stay in the pile and smolder for weeks. You can keep piling brush and burning it but the tree stumps remain for many fires. A good alternative to burning these are to inoculate them with mushroom spores. If you drill holes in the stumps and apply mushroom spores with inoculated wood dowels, the stumps will break down on their own in a few years and continue to provide you with mushrooms as you keep adding new wood. Again, be careful of pine and other every greens as mushrooms generally dislike them.
New Pile started yesterday
4 things brush piles are good for:
- Just let them rot to make great soil.
- Burn most of the pile to make bio char.
- Inoculate logs and large limbs with mushrooms to grow food.
- Just leave the pile to become home for lots of different animals like rabbits, chipmunks, field mice, groundhogs, etc.
Still plenty of work to be done after the winds last night
I save the good stuff for the sawmill
More food for the sawmill saved
Be careful!
- Don't burn if it hasn't rained in a few days. I start mine immediately after a rain usually.
- Winter time after a light snow is a perfect time to burn
- Watch for high wind, what you think is just a slight breeze can be a big problem for a fire.
- Check your city/county burn ban limits and schedules. In the summer in my area you aren't allowed to burn until after 4pm and sometimes not at all.
- Have a plan for if the fire gets away from you. If I'm away from water, I'll keep the tractor nearby.
- Don't leave a blazing fire unattended. Stay with it until it burns down considerably at least.
Snow on the ground makes a great time to burn
Now that's a fire!
Bonfire party time
So there's a few ways this country boy piles brush. Do you have another ways you get rid of brush or techniques to share?
