Adventures in weed burning

[Sarge104]

AKA lets not try and burn the neighborhood down....

Its been nearly four years since I first purchased my house and decided to start a garden plot for the wife. The plot itself is 30' x 20' which I've just managed to put down some posts and some five foot wire fabric to deter the local pets. I had a grand idea of pulling all of the rail road ballast from the boulevard and ringing around the perimeter a couple of years back hence my current problem.

Digging up all that ballast caused all the kochia weed to strike with a vengeance around the garden plot. For the past four years I've been fighting both the weeds; and the city since anything noxious and over eight inches gets you a warning ticket. With current rumblings in the city council about changing the weed code to just issuing one ticket and then going in without land owner notification any time during the summer after that ticket, cutting and leveling a $150+ fine on the property owner I'm looking at nipping my weed problem in the bud now.

I've tried the broad spectrum herbicide both the short term and year long formulas. Unfortunately after discussing my issue with the county weed guys I'm finding that trying to use some 2,4-d would cause too many issues(water table is pretty high and I've got plants nearby I want to live,ect.). I've done what I could with active weed eating and trying to get some help from the wife with pulling but after four years I've finally had enough and want the problem solved now.

Going through the tool flyer at work I noticed our welding supplies had a 500k BTU weed burner so I decided to try it out. Today after work I'll have some fun toasting the plant life around the garden area and see how it goes.

[Mumps]

I'll keep my eyes on the news from Montana for fires then... Ask Bryan how well fires and crunching get along.

[myshortpencil]

Move to Colorado for weed burning lessons:

[Sarge104]

I'll keep my eyes on the news from Montana for fires then... Ask Bryan how well fires and crunching get along.

I'll have a ready source of fire suppression handy , I've already got water plumbed to the garden plot. Before I had time to put up the fence the neighbors thought I was putting in a pool since I had the tiller in the plot at least three or four times a year getting the soil ready this year for the garden. I put the compost container in and everyone was stopping by and wondering what was going on. I swear some of these people think milk comes from the store .

The wife is really happy her plants are doing well. We've got tomatoes, banana peppers, peas, onions, and a few other salsa ingredients in there. Of course now people are wondering why I needed a five foot fence in despite the fact I live a block away from a school and across the street is the ball field that is in constant use as soon as the snow lifts.

I've got my own plots of rhubarb, strawberries and butter crunch lettuce in the main yard. The dog keeps the kids out but I just need to make sure I wash the items I bring inside off well .

[Maxwell]

Move to Colorado for weed burning lessons:

We here in Washington can certainly help with weed burning, as well...

[Maxwell]

Move to Colorado for weed burning lessons:

We here in Washington can certainly help with weed burning, as well...

[Duke of Buckingham]

Black Sheep know a lot about weed.

[zombie67]

I've got my own plots of rhubarb, strawberries [...]

1) Oh man, that kinda home-made pie is to die for! Tart and sweet! My grandparents had a garden and grew their own too. I got to help garden as a young child. What great memories. Best pie ever!

2) You live in Montana, right? I thought that was the land of the free, not California. What the hell kinda commie town do you live in with such aggressive weed police?

[Sarge104]

You live in Montana, right? I thought that was the land of the free, not California. What the hell kinda commie town do you live in with such aggressive weed police?

It might have something to do with living on the same block as the city public works director. Though I would think he would take notice of the pot holes in the street as well but that is not the case . I took over the property after it had not been lived in for nearly 5-10 years so it was in serious disrepair. I'm quite proud of the fact the only area now that doesn't draw favorable comment is the barrier of weeds protecting the garden fence .

Wind was gusting 10-20mph on Saturday evening as I went out to do battle with the weed burner. I started inside the yard along the fence line where I placed a foot wide path of ballast to deter the dog from digging out when we use the vacuum . A few places gave me trouble as old weed causalities made for a bit of a fire starter and had to be sprayed down with the hose before they became anything larger.

Moved out on the other side of the fence to the parking/garden area. The wind was annoying and slowed progress but a couple of heavy rain showers also slowed me down as I cleared out the parking area behind the garage and side parking lot. I continued around the garden since my thought was since the water being on the plants would basically boil them I would get more effective coverage. Ran out of propane after getting three sides of the garden fence area done so I still need to do some more this evening if the wind isn't too bad.

I'm pleased so far with the results. Inside the yard where I took the most time over 90 percent of the vegetation is dead. The wind and rock ballast has made getting everything torched difficult so another pass will probably not only get rid of the corpses but also clear the ballast of the remaining weeds. Outside the fence where I was battling both taller weeds and ground cover the wind made it very difficult to kill the ground cover as well so I'm still seeing a lot of green out there. Again after I get a new tank today I should have no problem killing the rest of the ground coverage.

Total time 3 hours.

[Sarge104]

I knew it would happen, and it makes me want to pave the front yard and drive way and paint with glow in the dark lettering saying F*$k City Public Works....lol.

Spent over ten hours over the course of several days getting the weeds around the garden down with the weed burner. Last night the fire department ambulance was going up the hill and must've seen me burning. Needless to say after a polite (really, it was ) conversation I had to stop weed burning last night. Spoke to the fire marshall today about it and under no circumstances are people allowed to burn inside city limits....You guys will love the reasoning, since the city workers can't be trusted to run weed burners and the fire department is not staffed with enough workers to do so, citizens are not allowed to do so...

It is just so frustrating, I know I can dump enough 2-4D on the ground to kill everything, but that can leach all around when it rains. Considering there is a garden less then two feet away this makes for fun times. The city has also changed the ordinance to allow the city to come in any time during the summer after seven days from the first and only notice to do weed control.

I spoke to both my district and a neighbor district's representative about my being against the change. I don't mind the city doing the work, I just want them to notify the property owner before they go on the property and do the work. This "ONE" notice that serves for the entire summer is BS. Unfortunately it seems the prevailing opinion in town is that people think the city trampling over private property will only happen to their neighbor and not them.

I wish the solution would be to vote for competent representatives but these people, are competent, and are actually doing what their constituents want. I've sat in multiple meetings where valid objections have been raised but they seem to be disregarded for what seems to be a knee jerk reaction.

Need to see what the cost of asphalt is I guess...The dog will have to be happy in the back yard with the highest view blocking fence I can erect...*head beats on wall*