Scorched Earth On Silo Hill Farm

This is how my Saturday looked:

Silo Hill Field Burn

Oh yes!  We finally got our fields burned off!  That's my husband Sam surrounded by fire and that's the old stone silo in the background that gives Silo Hill Farm it's name.

These are the Bad Baird Boys and their implements of destruction:

That's my father-in-law in the middle....he's the Boss!!

This project starts with the right weather conditions (not too humid, not too windy) and a call to the Sheriff's office to let them know we are burning intentionally.  Next, we gather our supplies which includes rakes, propane torches, lighters and we use 2 four-wheelers. Both of them have water tanks with pump sprayers on them.  Earlier in the week Sam used a tractor and plowed a fire line around the fields to be burned.  (Good fire lines make good neighbors!) 

The burn starts with a "back burn" along the fire lines.

  This is a great way to keep a fire contained.  My father-in-law and I took the four-wheelers along the perimeter and made sure the fire didn't jump the lines.
Now we are ready to burn the interior of the field.

This is the field where we have our corn maze in the fall. (It's a lot of fun and you can check it out here if you like Pumpkin Patches and Corn Mazes).  On this day, however, it was burned so we can start planting a new one for this fall! (Yay!)

You can see that the maze paths were well-worn and didn't burn much.

We burned two big fields, the pond area and a border along the woods.  Here is what the maze field looked like before we started:

Here's what it looks like now:

It's supposed to rain this week and all of that black will be gone.  When it dries out, we'll plow and plant corn for this years maze.  (Just as soon as we decide what the design will be!)  But for now....the Boss can take a break!

Enjoy your Sunday.....I'm going to mow my very big yard!!