Farmers, taking a cue from lightning strikes, burn sections of land which renews the growth and allows wanted grasses and plants to thrive while killing off unwanted plants. I must have seen at least 3 fires burning. The one above was close to the road.
I love the smell of the smoke. It brings back a lot of memories of the burns we used to do on the farm. This kind of burning is not allowed in my area anymore. I would love to burn off the peony patch, but I can see that not everyone knows how to do this and the end result could be disastrous. Plus, the smoke contains particulates which are not good for people with lung problems.
The Sunday night news made me giggle when they reported on fire departments having to respond to burns gone awry. I remember, when I was probably 6 or 7, dad did a burn of the corn field. It started out clear and calm but, as the day wore on, the wind kicked up and the burn got out of control. We called the fire department to keep the flames away from the farm buildings. Mom kept my brother and I in the house although we were allowed once to go out to see what was going on. I remember one of the fire trucks sunk, up the axles, in the mud of a newly thawed corn field. The fire eventually burned the entire field, which is what dad wanted but also went into the woods north of the house. For the next few days, we could see, at night, little patches of glowing embers and small knots of flame. It burned itself out after going into the woods about 10 feet.
It's a different smell than the one from burning leaves. I think this has more of an earthy smell in it than burning leaves does. Doing this is renewal. I'll bet this patch thrives this year.
Beverage: Africa Rooibos tea
Deb
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