As I write this, there are large fires in Arizona, Texas, and other places. It is hot, dry, and windy. You may think fires have little to do with gardening, but you would be wrong. Gardeners can start fires without meaning to or cause a fire to be much worse than it has to be. Don’t be that gardener.
Compost Fires
The most obvious source of fire is the compost bin. If your compost pile is running really hot, it can spontaneously combust. The debris that has not composted provides a ready source of fuel and you suddenly have a huge problem on your hands. It is part of composting to monitor the temperature of the compost pile. While you want it to heat enough to kill pathogens and sterilize seeds in it, you must pull it apart to cool it if it gets too hot.
Pull small amounts of material from the edges of the pile and spread it out to cool. Continue this until you have the pile torn apart. Be very careful and if there is smoke or flame, call the fire department immediately and stop doing anything with the pile. Smoldering material can erupt into flame if given oxygen, so it is best to let professionals deal with it.
Chemicals Gardeners Use
Another danger is the chemicals gardeners use. Even if you are an organic gardener, the stuff you put on your plants is a chemical. Dormant oil, kerosene, diesel, many insecticides and herbicides are all flammable. Worse, in a fire, they put off poisonous gas. You need to keep an inventory of your chemicals separate from them so if you have a fire, you have a copy to give the firemen. This effects how they fight the fire and what equipment they will need to do so. Many of these chemicals will kill someone who breathes in their smoke, so if you have a fire in an area where they are stored, get professional help putting it out.
Sparks From Equipment
Finally we can cause fires with our equipment. When the area is tinder dry, a spark from a chain saw, edger, trimmer, or even lawn mower can ignite a fire. Be sure you are aware of how your equipment performs. Do not use machines that spark when it is that dry. The conflagration that might result just isn’t worth it.
As dry as the area is, we are only in June. Things will get much worse before the rains start in October. Be very careful outside and make sure you don’t end up on the news as the person who started a major fire.
Want to learn to garden? My first attempt at gardening ended up in failure. The weeds took over and squeezed the vegetables out. I was very frustrated by this waste of good seed, time, and money. So I became a master gardener and spent a lot of time helping other people avoid or overcome problems in their garden.
In order to help others garden successfully, I have written a book, Vegetable Gardening from the Ground Up, available in an ebook or a paperback from Amazon. It is also in Kindle Unlimited.
