On 12/8/2014 12:11 AM, ~misfit~ wrote:
Once upon a time on usenet Bob F wrote:
~misfit~ wrote:
Once upon a time on usenet IGot2P wrote:
On 11/30/2014 1:24 PM, Brooklyn1 wrote:
On Sun, 30 Nov 2014 09:47:33 -0800, "Bob F"
wrote:

Peter Jason wrote:
On Wed, 26 Nov 2014 22:42:00 -0500, Dan Espen
wrote:

Gus Overton writes:

In the 70s people used to burn them in my hometown, I remember
my dad doing it but it was noticed that's not really good idea
when the flaming leaves get on houses, dry bushes, etc. And
the city created a law banning it

I'm an idiot. I put the front leaves in a plastic bag. I
forgot you aren't supposed to do that anymore. They have
biodegradable bags now you use. I assume the hardware store
down the street has some.

There were a billion leaves in the backyard and I did put those
where the tomato plants were. I guess I should empty the
plastic bag back there too. But there are so many leaves I
don't think they will decompose. I should bury them?

Nope, way too much work.

My leaf pile is as big as a van.
It's behind some bushes.

Takes one to 2 years to turn back into dirt.


Not if you set fire to the pile.

There are good reasons that is now illegal many places.

In the County where I live burning leaves is illegal, and carries a
very stiff fine; $15,000.00
Can't burn trash, treated scrap lumber and many other
combustables... won't be long all wood stoves will be banned.
http://www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/58519.html

I live in a small Iowa village and it is perfectly legal to burn
your leaves. In fact, we attempted to burn leaves yesterday but
they were still a bit wet so most of them did not burn. My neighbor
just put in a high dollar outdoor wood stove that is a hot water
system to heat his home and his shop. He only needs to put
additional wood in it every 4 to 5 days. It also has a 500 gallon
water tank above the fire pit and two pumps that circulate the
water to the house and/or shop when called by one or both of the
thermostats. It is a pretty high tech outfit but on the downside it cost
$8,000
plus. :-(

IMO it would have made a lot more sense to have used that amount of
money to install efficient heat pump based heating (which could also
act as AC if needed).

I think that would depend on his wood source and electrical costs.

Indeed. I think that we can assume that electricity will always be
available.....


Electricity is not always available. Where I live, Southern California
Edison can fail at any time of the year. We do not get snow, so that is
not a cause of failure. While high air conditioning usage might cause a
failure in the summer, it does not explain failures in the winter since
most homes here have natural gas for heat. I think the main cause of
failure might be a lack of preventive maintenance by SoCalEd on its
distribution system. Thankfully, we have mild winters and -- for the
summer -- lots of shade trees.

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean, see
http://www.rossde.com/garden/climate.html
Gardening diary at http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary