Smell That Smoke?

The title of this blogpost is a phrase that is normally used by BBQ restaurants, but when you smell smoke here on Gobbler's Knob; we're usually burning the prairie. And, it's usually not an accident - it's a result of a few years of cajoling and convincing the Fire Chief that it's time.

Way back in Winter & Spring of 2019, then again in 2020, we missed the opportunity to burn our first prairie installation (according to Mr. Freeze -but, I think he was just stalling-ha!). I was bummed. The original prairie hadn't been burned since 2013 and the east field hadn't been burned since 2014. We had bought an old hay rake and had been raking off the duff every year, but nothing beats prairie rejuvenation like a good, hot fire. 

So, in Fall, 2020 Mr. Freeze knew he could not put it off for another year. There was going to be a major burn on Gobbler's Knob before the plants started to emerge this year - he could either be part of the planning...or be surprised when he saw the flames. We waited & we watched the weather. I watched all the major MDC and MPF burns and reminded him almost daily. We had learned our lessons from previous burns - make good, wide firebreaks, wait until the wind was right and don't mow it down until you're ready to throw a match. 

FINALLY, we had a week of dry weather and with the reassurance of assistance from one of my best friends, Cindy and her husband Rob, Bob quickly mowed the field on March 6th and refreshed the firebreaks.

Plenty of dry fuel for the burn. The view from south of the pond.

The fire crew arrived early on March 7th and our fire chief (Bob) tries to corral everyone so he can teach them how to use the tools, sprayers, etc. We all look like we're paying attention, right?

Enough training - let's throw a match - we'll make it up as we go along. The wind was perfect - 5-10 mph, solid & steady from the southwest. But Bob and I have seen this rodeo before, so Cindy and I started burning the northern firebreak and working our way to the west - just in case the wind decided to change direction. Low & slow.

We left Rob to attend the very high-fuel area. He's got water and is partnered with the Fire Chief. Notice the nice back-burn slowly snaking its way across the dried grass?

The men worked their way southward down the eastern firebreak, while Cindy and I worked our way towards the firebreak to the West, finally turning southward, along the western firebreak..., only about 10 minutes behind the east crew.

 Bob & Rob's line looks like it died out - is that why they're standing there leaning on their rakes?

Then, the inevitable happened - it was as if the Wind Gods knew that Cindy and I were having a great time...taking our time. The wind direction shifted and it was suddenly coming straight from the East. Blowing a head-fire right towards our west line that wasn't quite completed yet. And Cindy needed to refill her sprayer. I looked up and saw this re-invigorated fire line coming at us, so I started dragging fire at a slow trot, trying to not look too panicked and I glanced over to see Cindy quickly refilling her sprayer.

For one brief second, I thought we would get a reprieve as the wind whipped around again.

Nope, keep dragging girl...faster.  Where's that water sprayer?

And then, as quickly as it started, the wind changed again.  Cindy and I had reached our corner fire break and the neighborhood was safe once more from the firebugs on Gobbler's Knob.

The wind shifted to come directly from the West and we had our own head-fire excitement for a few minutes, but no reason to panic - the firebreaks can contain this now and we can hang out & enjoy.

We were so comfortable with the containment now that Cindy could take a video. She's so good at it! Good grief - I sound like a child - "I saved a wooley worm"! Oh well, I'm not going to edit the video - it's the way I am and everyone should know this about me. We had a blast - thank you, Cindy & Rob for helping us. We would have been in good company if we had ended up in jail for burning down the county - fortunately, thanks to your help, we didn't!

The completed burn - approximately 2.5 acres. I can't wait to see what it looks like this Spring!

View from the south east corner.

The eastern firebreak. The specimen garden (where I planted numerous specimens from which I can gather various seeds to share), burned very thoroughly.

We also burned the "East Field" while we had the benefit of Cindy and Rob's help.

View from the south of the burned East field.

View from the north of the burned East field.

The Hidden Beauty and Wonder of a Seed

“Though I do not believe that a plant will spring up where no seed has been, I have great faith in a seed. Convince me that you have a seed there and I am prepared to expect wonders.”
― Henry David Thoreau

For the last 5 years, I've been working on establishing native wildflowers on our land.  After getting a small patch of soil prepared & planted near the house, I had to wait patiently for the first 2 years until the showpiece flowers started blooming.  Over the next 3 years,  we burned the small patch every winter and each spring even more flowers would grow.  I was fascinated with the huge numbers of insects that surrounded the native wildflowers.  By the thousands, they come.  So many varieties of bees including honey bees, bumblebees, carpenter bees, mason bees and even little sweat bees were availing themselves of the sweet nectar produced by these plants and I could watch them for hours.  Their ability to work so energetically for hours is something of which I'm very envious!

Honey bees on Butterfly Milkweed in the hot July sun.

And when the butterflies arrived - oh lordy, I knew I was hooked on native wildflower gardening and needed to plant more.  After all, I have 23 acres, so why not plant it all in flowers?

Black Swallowtail on Prairie Blazing Star in July

Crimson clover makes a great cover crop.  We planted it in the late fall and it provides plenty of food in the early spring for the bees that emerge early from their winter slumber.

Last Fall, I spent a lot of time out gathering native wildflower seeds on our property which included thousands of Butterfly milkweed and Common milkweed seeds too.  I was delighted to receive seeds from new friends and I went even further and purchased a variety of packets of seed from the Missouri Wildflowers Nursery (MOwildflowers.net).

Normally, I would have already scattered the seeds over the areas to be planted so that the freezing and thawing from winter would naturally stratify the seeds and get them ready to sprout this summer.  But, the areas I’m going to plant this spring are still thickly covered with dead fescue that we killed last Fall.  If not killed, the fescue would continue to choke out the native plants and I might as well throw the seeds in the trash, because they wouldn’t sprout until the fescue is gone, gone, gone.  The dead grass then has to be burned off too so that the seed, once scattered, can make good contact with the soil.  I’ve been seeing some whorled milkweed struggling through the thick grass in this area for the last 2 years, so I can’t wait to see what happens when we burn it this spring.

Mr. Freeze has plowed a fire lane to the south (to the right) of this 3/4 acres, so we don't burn down the neighbor's barn & house.

While we’re waiting for the perfect burning weather (we don’t want our names to be part of a headline story in the local newspaper), I am manually stratifying the seeds.  Well, this is the way the experts recommend stratifying seeds at home, so we’ll see if it works.  At least this way, I’m not feeding the local mouse population too!   I moistened some soil less potting mixture (sphagnum peat moss) and mixed the seeds in, dumped it into trays, then put them in the spare refrigerator.  

These flats contain seeds for: Praire Blazing Star, Purple Coneflower, Yellow Coneflower, Pale Purple Coneflower, Horsemint (Bee Balm), New England and Aromatic Aster, Royal Catchfly, Rose Verbena, Hairy Mountain Mint.  The bag contains both Common and Butterfly milkweed seeds.  All require 3-6 weeks of stratification.

I have placed them outside at night a few times, just so they could freeze over and then brought them back in.  It’s what would happen in nature, so I’m helping, right? 

I've also potted some Common milkweed plants to have around for any Monarch caterpillars that I’ll find this year.  I’ll be able to set the potted milkweed plants inside of their houses for them to eat, eliminating the need for me to cut fresh leaves every day from the field plants.

4 seeds were added to moistened potting soil in each recycled 1/2 gallon milk jug.

I put together 34 of these, sealed them shut and left them on the deck all winter.

All I have to do now is wait until the perfect burning weather to do our prescribed burn.  Mr. Freeze always lets me throw the first match.  I think he knows it appeases my inner pyro, who needs to be unleashed often.  I love fire - not because it is destructive, but because of what happens after it passes through.  It brings new life to areas where it was once suffocated, it renews and rejuvenates and some seeds even require it for scarification.  After a long, cold winter, I am ready to turn up the heat!