There is a whiff of the new season in the air round here… not the scent
wattle blooms (currently causing havoc with my sinuses!) or the sweet aroma of
newborn animals suckling at their Mamas, but the smell of…
fire!
Don’t panic, don’t panic!!
…
This is a ‘good fire’… let me explain. We have been very lucky in the past year, with some lovely (small) falls of rain. Bushies call it “grass rain” – as opposed to “heavy, soaking, days-on-end enough-to-replenish-underground-water-supplies” type rain. There’s a difference. And while we would love the latter, we are very welcoming of the former too. And we have had pretty good grass rain over the past few months. So the grasses have grown, finally, after years of drought had stunted pretty much everything. And after years of property owners not being game to burn off the old dead grass (in case the spring and summer rains didn’t come to help the sweet new grass come through), they are now feeling (quietly) confident enough to light up the dead grass in the some of their paddocks.
…
Call me crazy, but I kinda like the smell of burning grass… to me, it smells like the happy anticipation of a good season, the promise of a sweet carpet of grass for our cattle, like a cleansing, fresh beginning.
As my Dad would say:
Let’s have a bit of red steer!*
…
And so, little drifts of smoke have been trailing into the skies… like this:
…signalling a paddock alight, somewhere down the road, with a good,
planned “cool burn”.
(As opposed to the horrific, unplanned, out-of-control bushfires of TV news flashes.)
A cool burn takes place soon after some rain, where the earth is still moist and prevents scorching and (generally) burns reasonably slowly.
Animals have time to move away from the flames and only very dry old grass, timber and dead leaves burn up.
TLW and Dash haven’t really seen this phenomenon before and are fascinated. It’s a great chance to show how dangerous and good fire can be at the same time. 
As their Pagi says:
Fire is a wonderful servant, but a terrible master.*
(*He’s got a million of these lines… handed down from generations of old cattlemen. I could say something about him now being an old cattleman… but’s it’s still Father’s Day in some parts of the world, so I’ll restrain myself!!)
The paddock looks blackened and surreal and devoid of nourishing forage at the moment – but in a couple of days, especially if forecasts come good with a shower of rain, it will burst into vivid green life. It’s an amazing part of the cycle out here, where our livelihoods depend so much on us working hand-in-hand with Mother Nature.
…
The fire in this series of pics are of a neighbour’s burn. Next post I’ll show you how we take measures to prepare for our own planned burn.
It involves two little bright sparks, some hot orange machinery and a hot, hot man behind the wheel… don’t say I didn’t warn you!
…signalling a paddock alight, somewhere down the road, with a good, planned “cool burn”.
The paddock looks blackened and surreal and devoid of nourishing forage at the moment – but in a couple of days, especially if forecasts come good with a shower of rain, it will burst into vivid green life. It’s an amazing part of the cycle out here, where our livelihoods depend so much on us working hand-in-hand with Mother Nature.
6 Comments
Leslie
Completely off the topic – I was talking to a friend in the States on Skype this morning and she mentioned that she doesn’t read blogs.
Well, I do. Every day. And do you know, I go to the blogs I read whenever there is a new post – like yours, and I read the blogs that THEY have in their updates.
I figure, if the bloggers I like recommend a blog, then it must be good reading.
So I am reading your recommended reads this morning.
Jayne
Cool burns are the definite way to go to clean up the undergrowth and debris. Makes life so much safer for Summer.
Sadly some are trying to completely ban cool, controlled burns in and around national parks/state forests and want to “leave it go back to the natural state”. 🙁
dykewife
selected burns happen here too in order to prevent the out of control grass and forest fires that can happen.
Debby
And BB? When the grasses start growing back, take pictures of the new growth, post some before and afters.
Just a suggestion, but it would be neat to see.
I’m done bossing you around on your blog. You can have it back now.
And yes. I did notice your new banner, but was mesmerized by the posts and forgot to mention it.
Kate
Very cool pics! There were a few controlled burns here in the spring, not many though. Fires have been so bad in the western USA this year we are all a bit nervous. We spend most of the year with a fire ban on so no fires at all…which stinks when you want to go camping. That’s it! I’m moving to Australia!!! (i’m very excited to see the pics of the hot sparks, machinery and man!!)
Jenni
I love the smell of a grass fire, too, or burning brush. It’s not time for controlled burns here, but it is almost time to start clearing brush again and burning some of that.
When is Father’s Day in Australia? In the U.S. it is in June, 3rd Sunday I think.