Cleansing Fires

When a task feels daunting it is best just to start - anywhere. It doesn't matter where. The biggest hurdle is getting started. The rubbish piles of fallen sticks and branches scattered throughout the ridge top garden have annoyed me for six and a half years. Today they began to disappear.

I'm talking piles like this that grow bigger with every storm. The forest is messy. What doesn't get tossed into the next county has been piling up for years. There is a strong incentive now to finally get started on this chore. Hordes of visitors are coming in June.

There used to be two rubbish piles in this picture. Now they are gone. I burned up eight large rubbish piles and three small ones. There are six more to go in the ridge top garden and at least that many in the sunny utility meadow.

Two more days of cooperative weather should get the job done. Then we can start new piles of rubbish. I'm thinking three or four permanent burn locations are probably in order for a garden this size. Hauling branches and sticks over long distances is a pain. The forest is religiously messy. Cleansing fires should be an annual event.

The wild cultivated garden will maintain its forest primeval character without all the rubbish piles no problem. There are more giant logs laying about and huge stumps left from long ago logging than I care to count. Gardy ain't going to be burning up all those giant logs. He has better things to do. Besides, the giant logs add a certain unique ambiance to the wild cultivated garden.

It only took six and a half years to get around to this project. The fact that I finally had the time for it means I am making progress. It made it to the top of the list. Over the years Gardy has done all kinds of long forgotten chores in the ridge top garden that seemed more important at the time. All of the wild cultivated garden is slowly getting more civilized. Just give me time.