bonfire
4 March 2008 by colouritgreen
It’s that time of year when the daylight stretches out to after 6 on a clear day, and dinner gets pushed further and further back, as we make the most of light after work etc, until sometime in the summer we give up and actually break for food, before returning.
This evening we tackled the heap of leylandii, the result of the fallen trees from last week’s storm. The tree man that the neighbours sent round, finished the job and left us with a nice little pile of logs. And a great big heap of leylandii and alder branches. We offered to dispose of them for him, for which he was grateful, as last time he had a bonfire in next door’s garden and this way at least we can decide when the bonfire happens. On top of that, many of the branches had firewood material in them, and we are hungry for any wood we can get.
So with long handled loppers and bow-saw, we sorted the heap into bean poles, pea sticks, firewood (needs to be cut up further but can be stacked for now), twiggy material went into the hedge to help fill the gap the fallen tree took out, and the rest on a bonfire.
It was a perfect moment for a bonfire, the wind died down, and it started getting dimpsy (that’s Devonian for dusk/twilight) so the fire wouldn’t annoy anyone. Even so we had to be careful how much leylandii greenery went on at any time, as the smoke it generates is amazing.. like a huge white mushroom cloud! Thankfully, we had enough other dry material to get a decent fire going.
Himself, the pyromaniac, had a lovely time.
They say bonfires aren’t good for the environment but I’d imagine that’d depend on what goes on them. A bonfire of wood can’t be more harmful than a log burner in the house, surely?
When we lived in Norway we used to go to the woods on Sundays during winter (as long as the weather was clear), build a bonfire in the snow and grill sausages over it that we ate in hot-dog rolls, also warmed over the fire. The kids would dash about, finding old twigs, pine cones etc and the dogs would go ’skating’ on the frozen lake. They were lovely days
bonfires are not ideal no, but left with huge branches of green leylandii , there were not many choices - it’s not as though they would fit in the recycling bin! People do say the foliage from leylandii is not good for the ground either.
We did try and cut even the smallest of logs (loggets? ) for the woodburning stove, as it is better that we benefit from the heat in the house rather than it is wasted outside.
the tree man was going to burn the leylandii logs too, but we are having them for the woodburner. they will have to be seasoned a long time, and mixed with other wood.. so its not the best of firewood, but we are trying!
yes you are right tho.. all guilt aside. a bonfire can be very nice!