some gardening, at least

[mellowtigger]

I didn't accomplish much during my "weekend", but at least I got some brush burned in the fire pit. I don't know who left the pile of branches in the alley at my house last year, but I cut it up and burned it today, finally getting rid of it. My back was complaining while I cleaned up that mess, and I kept wondering who deliberately put them on my property so they didn't have to do this kind of work themselves.

There's so much work remaining, but I made noticeable progress. The afternoon went well, but I still have a few microscopic thorns from those terrible burdock burrs. It was mildly satisfying, every time I threw another collection of dry stems and burrs into the fire pit. I know the stems and roots are supposed to be edible, but... those burrs. They just need to go live somewhere else besides my yard.

Comments

[armiphlage]

Burrs leap at the sensitive toe fur of my puppies.

[mellowtigger]

Oh, no! And to think what happens if they try to use their mouth to deal with the problem. OUCH! :(

[darkoshi]

Does your city not have trucks that come by to pick up yard waste? They do that here every week. They don't accept limbs over a certain size, but they take most everything else I put in a pile.
Where you live do people have to burn or compost all their yard waste?

The city certainly doesn't want any burning done here at present, with as dry as it is. Even without a drought, I don't like the smoke from burning leaves and wood.

[mellowtigger]

We aren't currently in a drought in the Twin Cities. It's even raining this morning as I type. :) The city does have pickup, but I'm guessing these branches were too long, up to 4 meters, even though they were thin. I carefully measured distances to fences and houses many years ago, so I would meet city codes for fire dangers, before I placed my fire pit in the only possible location for it. I make sure to burn only in there. In previous seasons, I sometimes have to delay burning due to drought and burn bans. The city does its own prescribed burns too, thanks to all of the natural areas we have in our parks.

Few people burn things any more, as most areas are just grass now in the city. I expect most people rent wood chippers even for the small tree stuff like I have. All these burrs, though, both burdock and others seem best dealt with by burning them. The city is making a big push to get people to compost everything. It does keep minerals where they belong instead of shipping them to landfills. I have that compost pile too, but I don't want painful plants germinating there.