Homestead mailing list

["Lynn Wigglesworth" <lynnw AT chilitech.net>]

From: "Gene GeRue" <genegerue AT ruralize.com>
> >I'm not sure what you are saying, Gene. Are you saying that forests
> >don't need fire to rejuvenate and maintain health?
>
> Yes.

The differences, cultural and environmental, across the country continue
to amaze me. We have healthy forests, and rarely have fires here. I don't
think my woodland has burned for as long as the land here has been
farmed...at least a 100 years. We have plenty of dead and downed trees AND
they left all the slash when they timbered it 12-15 years ago...head high
piles everywhere when we moved here 10 years ago..now mostly gone and
replaced by head-high raspberry bushes. We have too much moisture for a
fire to really grab hold; the damp forest floor deals quickly with dead
things.

People talk about burning pastures, too, and that is inconceivable to me.
I couldn't set my pasture on fire with a box of matches and a can of
gasoline. Even in mid-winter, there is enough moisture to prevent burning.
My sheep dig through the snow and find green (well, greenish) grass in
January. It's very educational to read about 'how it is' in other parts of
the country, and makes me glad that I live in the often too-soggy
northeast.

Too bad we can't trade our extra water for some sunshine round about
February. Speaking of which, I hear thunder! I NEED it to stop raining; I
have a cow to ship (beef customers waiting!), but my hauler got stuck in
the mud last time, and won't come back until my barnyard dries out. At
this rate, I'll have to wait for the ground to freeze before he'll come
back.

Lynn Wigglesworth
Peasant Farmer
Tioga County, PA