A BIG FIRE

With all of the work involved in building the back lawn and pruning the orchard, a huge compost heap has built up in my my garden. Compost heap is in fact a bit of a misnomer, since it is mainly wood, not compost; thin sycamore trees, the parts of felled fruit trees that are too small to be used in the wood-burning stove, last year's Christmas tree etc etc. We are talking of a pile roughly 10 metres long by two wide by two high.

Today I decided to burn it. I want to do it before the trees around it start to blossom, since the smoke is not good for them. It has also been dry for the past week or so, though bitterly cold. And there was a wind, which I thought would help.

I thought wrong. After six hours of trying, and copious amounts of petrol, I have managed to burn roughly one square meter. I will have to try again another day.

Walter Blotscher