On February 10 I posted this picture of one of my brush piles. It was about the size of a 2,000 square foot house. The fire has been burning now for 96 hours and the brush pile seems to be about 90 percent consumed.

I will be glad when the fire goes out. The smoke is starting to give us headaches, and no matter how many showers I take, I smell like wet ashes.

I will spread the ashes and charcoal over the lower garden area. American Indians used charcoal for fertilizer. Hope it works.

An eternal flame?

As I look out of my upstairs window, I see flames from our burn pile. It has been going for 72 hours and shows no signs of going out. I spent the day pushing the brush into the center of the pile with my tractor. The hot embers ignite the fresh brush and here we go again.

There are forest fires in the area, but I was careful to clear a 20-foot firebreak around the pile. I also called the U.S. Forestry Service to get a burn permit.

The forecast was for rain today, but it was bone dry. We need a good shower.

Dining at the hawk buffet

For the past two days I've been burning the huge brush piles created by our tree clearing project. The piles have been burning for 48 hours with the brush about 75 percent consumed.

When I started the fires I noticed field mice scampering for safety. Then the hawks started circling and watching the rodent frenzy from nearby tree tops. I never saw a hawk swoop in for a kill, but this afternoon while pulling off my boots on the back porch I heard at least three different hawks giving their victory cries. It's one of the most distinctive bird sounds you'll ever hear.

Fewer mice means fewer snakes. It's a win-win for me and the hawks, not so good for the mice. Such is the natural order.

Who wouldn't like lamb's ear?

Reading a gardening blog the other day, I was surprised that some folks think lamb's ear is on a par with kudzu and needs to be eradicated. There were several tactics listed to keep lamb's ear at bay.

We have a thriving bed of lamb's ear which is pretty and absolutely no trouble. Occasionally it will escape its boundaries but it's easy to dig up and put back in it's place.

Remember when I went off about the sumac tree and was chastised by a reader for belittling the tree. I get a dose of my own medicine. We just all need to get along.

A special shade garden

I never met a rock I didn't like. My son and daughter will testify that in their younger days when a rock on the side of the road caught my eye, I would stop and toss it in the trunk of the car. Oh, what an embarrassment their old man was.

When a neighbor asked if I was interested in some boulders he was digging up on his property, I jumped at the offer. It took both our tractors to haul them over to my place.

I wanted to plant something special around them, and today the perfect plants dropped in my lap. Our friends from church, Bob and Suzie, knew how much I admired the wildflowers in their beautiful log cabin compound, and out of the blue Suzie showered me with three celandine poppies and a healthy viburnum. I planted them in the little shade garden near the road where the boulders stand sentinel.

In photo, granddaughter Keaton inspects our afternoon handiwork.

Rocks, plants from friends and a beautiful granddaughter, three of my favorite things.

Gardening tip of the week

I'm sure many Deerfield Diary readers grow flowers or vegetables in clay pots every summer. If you do, you know that in the heat of summer the plants have to be watered every day and sometimes twice a day if the temperature gets above 90 degrees. The potting soil dries out quickly as the heat extracts the water from the clay.

Solution: Before you put in the potting soil, line the pots with several layers of newspaper. This will cut down the water evaporation and your plants won't need watering as often.

If you don't have a newspaper, go to the store and buy one. Believe me, your newspaper needs the revenue.

Ember Days validated

TO: Sam Venable
FROM: Vince Vawter
RE: Ember Days

Your continuous seasonal promotions of Ember Days inspired me to attempt to validate in a scientific manner your supposition that brush cut on those days will not grow back as rapidly and enthusiastically as brush cut on non-Ember Days.

Not that I suggest that you would ever exaggerate, customize or generally belie the truth in any manner.

On March 4, 2009, the first Ember Day of the year, I cut brush on the south side of my driveway. On March 5, a non-Ember Day, I cut the brush on the north side. The brush in question was mostly of the hated common privet variety.

Herewith, I enclose ground-level photographic evidence that Ember Days do appear to have some basis in reality and are not a figment of the heralded Venable imagination. As you can see, the privet in the second photo has not re-emerged. This is the side of my driveway cut on an Ember Day. The privet in the first photo is up and running. I cut this on a non-Ember Day.

Once again, your column gives solace to the lazy of our tribe who would rather spend the afternoon on the couch rather than wielding a sling blade in the hot sun.

Congratulations on yet another contribution to the nurturing of mankind, and if you’re not doing anything in the next few weeks would you mind helping me cut the brush on that north side of the drive.