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| Connie and Katie watch the burn from the safety of our tree line |
We just had our prairie burned. It was a prescribed burn, and we hired an experienced professional crew to do it for us. Prescribed burns are essential to native plants in a prairie, so much so that the government gives grant money to help with the cost. We were fortunate to receive such help. I imagine there are a lot of questions out there about the purpose of a prescribed burn. I had so many questions for Katie when I first started learning about burns, and I still have questions. It is all fascinating to me. There are 6 basic questions in life. Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How. I will try to answer those questions as they relate to a prairie burn to the best of my knowledge here. I will get some help from the internet and from Katie of course. If you have questions, contact your local conservation group, read up on it, ask me or Katie, or do your own research online. There is a plethora of info about it.
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They started on our back prairie. So, this is the start of the entire burn process. Exciting!!!
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Let's start with the Why. Why do, and why should we burn prairies? There are a lot of detailed answers that can go into the Why. I will keep it somewhat short and simple for two reasons. I don't truly know a lot of the information, so I don't want to mislead anyone. Plus, I don't want you to get bored reading my blog. It would take pages and pages to give all the Whys. The basic reasons we burn a prairie on purpose are two-fold. First, fire helps the soil to reset which returns essential nutrients into it. In other words, fire burns thatch. Thatch consists of dead plant material. By burning thatch, the nutrients from it go back into the soil to be reused by living, growing plants. On a side note, burning thatch also reduces the risk of an uncontrolled fire. Second, it can kill off invasive and non-native plants that can take over a prairie. By killing the "unwanted" plants, we allow the native plants to recapture their territory and soil, so to speak. A prairie will thrive better and be more beneficial to the local ecosystem if we help the native plants do better. With more native species in the prairie, the pollinators and grassland birds will flourish easier.
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| A crew member setting the first fire line |
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| A water "truck" patrols the fire to make sure it doesn't get out of hand. |
The next question would be How do you burn a prairie. The short answer is CAREFULLY, very carefully. Ha. Seriously, you start by hiring a professional crew that does this for a living. They will bring a crew of people for the process. Depending on the size of the burn, it can be a few people to several people. Our burn had a 6-person crew. 2 people walked around with torches to get the fire started. 2 people drove around in all-terrain vehicles with water and hose attached to keep the fire from going where it shouldn't. The last 2 people roamed around and helped to survey and keep an eye on things. Every member of the crew had a walkie-talkie to allow them to communicate well. 1 person is designated the Burn Boss. The Burn Boss decides on the best course of action depending on wind direction, humidity level, and size of the prairie. Our prairie was burned in 4 different sections essentially. The back prairie was divided into 2 and the front prairie was divided into 2. It took about an hour or so to burn the back half and another hour or so to burn the front half. With some time in between to check on smolderings, recheck wind status, and make sure everyone was ready and in place. It was a fascinating process to watch, and the end result was just as fascinating!
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| Fire and Smoke |
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| The first half of the back prairie is almost done. |
The third question is Where? That can be an interesting question actually. The really short answer is wherever there is a prairie that has invasive plants or just needs its soil reset for better nutrients. The where has to be agreed upon of course by the people burning and whomever owns the land. Whether that be a homeowner like us. A foundation like The Leopold Foundation. Or the Parks and Recs folks. Our prairie desperately needed to be burned because it was planted almost 10 years ago, and the previous owner did nothing to maintain it. Invasive and non-native plants were growing amuck, while native plants were dwindling. This all affects the ecosystem of the area. As I mentioned before the pollinators and grassland birds are affected, and they are essential to the planet as a whole!
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| A nice front porch view. I felt 100% safe here. |
The fourth question is When? This might be the trickiest and most complex answer with multiple levels to it. When can mean what time of year? Or what time of day? Or when in general, for conditions? Let's start with the basics first. What time of year? The answer is either Fall or Spring. Fall and Spring offer the best weather conditions such as proper winds, humidity level, and temps. They are also the times of year for planting. Some flowers grow better when planted in Fall and some in Spring. I don't know all the specifics of that, but that is the general reason they burn in Spring or Fall. What time of day? They can burn ANY time of day, it just depends on the forecast for any specific day. Winds should be between 5 and 15mph. Depending on the goal of the burn process, they may want to wait til the winds are coming from a certain direction like South, or West? The humidity level should be close to 40%. Too dry and it is too dangerous. Too wet and it will be too difficult. The temperatures should be between 40 and 60 ideally. For our burn the winds were 8 to 10mph from the Southeast. Humidity was around 48%. Temps were in the low 50s. Not perfect, but pretty close. That is the very basics of when to burn. Trust me, that is the VERY BASICS. Again, to learn more ask a conservationist, or research online, etc.
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| The crew working near our fire pit. No pit was needed today! :0) |
The 5th question is Who? Well, I already answered that really. Who should definitely be a professional crew. It should be done in agreement with whoever owns the land. And whoever owns the land should be open and agreeable to it, because it is for the good of their land and the ecosystem of the planet as a whole.
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| The front portion is almost done, with smoldering brush piles we couldn't burn. |
The final question is What. Well of course I answered that already also. What you should burn is your prairie! Our prairie looks so cool after the burn, in my opinion. And I am excited about watching the regrowth! I invite everyone to come to Ugly Biscuits to see it for yourselves. Our prairie was already beautiful, and now with the proper land management plan, it should become more and more beautiful!
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| 3 Generations out broadcasting seeds together! 💙💚💛💜💗 |
After the burn is over, you can broadcast seeds right away or wait a few days. It is best to do it when you know it will rain afterwards as this helps the seeds to soak into the soil better. Judy, Connie, and Katie did just that and we got a nice light rain overnight! We will broadcast more seeds over the next few weeks and our native flowers and grasses should be in full bloom come June or July! I can't wait!
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| So come lay in our hammocks and watch the regrowth! |
For those of you who want to see ALL of the photos I took of the burn day, see the link below. I think they are all great personally :0). But I will warn you, there is a lot!
Now Go Out and Hug a Conservationist Today!!
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