Burn, Baby, Burn

Sunday was a perfect day for burning things. We had a large brush pile from various trees and limbs that have fallen or we have cut down, just waiting for a day when the winds were low and preferably coming from the south (blowing the smoke and fire away from the barn). Once we got that pile started, we decided to burn the fence line dividing our hay field from the soybean field behind us. We pulled out several metal fence posts along the way, many of which were laying on the ground just waiting to pop a tire on the tractor or destroy the cutting knives in the haybine. Because the soybean field was tilled up, we didn't have to worry about the fire spreading. We were able to burn off all the old grass bordering the two fields, but the fire didn't do much (if anything) to the line of mulberry bushes and the dead stalks of horse weed (giant ragweed). If it weren't for the mulberry bushes, we could just take the lawn mower down the line, so instead, Art is going to cut down the mulberries. I told him to just leave them, that eventually they will grow into trees (which the wood is actually a very hard wood- good for burning in the wood stove) and the berries are tasty, too (for both us and the birds). But he likes the clean lines around the field. It doesn't matter much, he can cut them down to the ground and next year they will send up new shoots. He actually said he is going to cut them down, then spread some sort of root-killer on the cut ends, but I'm pretty sure that will only work for a year or two before they start to sprout again.