David Hare-Scott wrote:
Farm1 wrote:

I finally found time to read parts of that cite.

I noted the obligatory full page Aboriginal recognition (yawn!) and

Irrelevant

it has a lot of references, some of which may
be useful.


....
fire can manage to kill the stolons of white clover, then I might
just set fire to my rose bed where the sodding clover is growing like
Topsy. It's where I grab handfuls to feed the cows mouthfuls when
they decide to hang over the gate between the veg garden and the
paddock.
Erosion following fire may or may not happen. It's never a given.

true

if you have any bare soil then it is
not a good thing to burn as bare soil is
a sign that you do not have full cover
to collect and hold the ashes.

one heavy rain or blow and the ashes
are washed away or blown away.

for a spring, where there is rain, it
is much better to cut and leave it lay
on the surface for the worms to have at
it. this way the nutrients are not lost
as much to rains and winds and the mulch
acts as a protection for the soil.


Palatability of regrowth is worth a consideration. I don't like
tough old lettuces and I've no doubt that pasture grazers prefer lush
growth to dry standing forage.

Of course but there are other ways of getting fresh growth than burning.


Nutrients in burned grasses can't all be lost. Some of it must
return to the soil in the form of ash.

True, metals (K and trace elements) and P are not volatile which is why I
mentioned volatility. OTOH I have been told that burning *increases*
nutrients because of the ash that remains, as ash contains nutrients (the
last is true). Those of this opinion have missed the point that that any
nutrients in the ash were already there in the plants or soil, nothing is
created.

right, it just makes them more immediately
available. the same nutrients are available
longer term if slashed and left on top for
the worms and fungi to break down.


I am not putting you in that category.

when i read Farm1 saying that she had a
burn it struck me as unusual and i took at
as a fire control requirement for the property
not as a normal or yearly event.


songbird