Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

permaculture - [permaculture] mediterranean orchards, terracing and fire protection - continuing the conversation

permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: permaculture

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: Charles de Matas <cdematas@hotmail.com>
  • To: <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [permaculture] mediterranean orchards, terracing and fire protection - continuing the conversation
  • Date: Wed, 6 Feb 2008 17:54:00 +0000




Thanks for re-starting this topic, it’s the most important topic for me on
this list. Fires are my main problem. Our dry season has started and I
expect to get some fires on my land in a week or so. I live in the tropics
so what I say may not apply to other regions. I think it’s important to
identify the source of fuel for the fires. In my case it’s grasses. There
an annual type which has dried down now on my land and will burn easily.
This will provide fuel for fires at the beginning of the dry season. The
fires at the beginning of the dry season are not very intense and the trees
may survive them. There is another type of grass, a perennial that
propagates by rooting at nodes, which I think is para grass. This will
continue growing through the dry season and will accumulate a lot of biomass.
It provides fuel for fires at the end of the dry season. The fires at the
end of the dry season are very intense and will kill practically any tree. I
lost most of my valuable trees last year in a fire at the end of the dry
season. I lost a lot of enthusiasm for mulching after that. I may only
mulch at the beginning of the rainy season from now on. Last year I mulched
during the dry season and it only provided fuel for the fires close to the
trees.
I’ve been trying to do more composting instead. The dry annual grass would
be a very good carbon source for compost. I’m also harvesting tropical kudzu
and composting it also. Fire prevention is now a year round job for me. I
started my compost piles during the rainy season. Norak is quite correct
that during the dry season the compost heaps dry up and the biological
activity stops and it becomes a fire hazard. Every year I lose grass piles
and compost heaps in fires. I have to be diligent and hoe around the heaps
and the trees to prevent fires from reaching them. Only bare earth seems to
stop the fires from getting to them.
While I have some water from a small pond I’m going to use it to help
keep my compost heaps moist. My compost heaps are elongated and low to
maximize contact with the ground to increase earthworm activity. I keep the
compost heaps moving by adding material at one end and pulling it forward at
the other. This avoids the problem of just a small area of ground being
enriched by the bottom of the heap.
I tried digging a swale last year but I don’t think it has enough fire
prevention uses to warrant the effort. I don’t see any easy way to handle
the problem of the para grass on my land. I’ve resorted to hand-to-hand
combat by grubbing out the roots with a hoe.

Charles
Trinidad (10 N, 60 W)

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<some more
general questions that came to me:what about composting cleared stuff off the
land? i dont like the idea of having to shred it cause we would have to buy
the machine and then petrol for it but then my experience is that the piled
up stuff just dries and becomes perfect place for weeds to grow, and then
composting process runs only in winter when its moist and it can takae
million years to compost. also its a fire hazzard in summer. i also thought
of digging in the stuff but that again is too overwhealming a task with such
a huge land that we have plus again causes more soil disruption... any ideas?
also i had the idea of creating something like a swale specially designed to
keep the fire out of the land, and place it around the perimeter of the land,
anybody heard of/saw/did something like that before? ok so thats my thoughts
for now, thanx to all!peace&pacenorak
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
_________________________________________________________________
Express yourself instantly with MSN Messenger! Download today it's FREE!
http://messenger.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200471ave/direct/01/


  • [permaculture] mediterranean orchards, terracing and fire protection - continuing the conversation, Charles de Matas, 02/06/2008

Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page