Turn to Burn

[canuckamuck]

Our area was told this year that everyone had to either have crops planted, or have their land cleared. There would be an inspection, and land that wasn’t cleared or planted would be taken away. This is not a new thing. This is the general understanding up here. People do not have paper deeds to their land, they have an agreement of who owns what, which is backed up by the Headman.

 

So, the result of this is, anyone who has land must not allow it to remain in a natural state. This is a ridiculous notion in the age of conservation and environmentalism. But that is the deal.

 

So, everybody in the village in the last couple of weeks has been hacking down the countryside in preparation for burning.  However, there was some misunderstanding of when the burning ban began. People thought they had a few more days, however, we learned yesterday that it was the last day. So, all the burning needed to happen last night.

 

Clearing land by burning is not a task to take lightly. Generally, you need some tools and you need a team and a plan. Once the fire is lit you can’t change the plan. The main danger, other than getting caught in the blaze, is burning the neighbor’s land. Our village is in the mountains. Lots of land here is planted with valuable fruit trees and tea, among other things. Sometimes the land to avoid is above the land to be burned, and sometimes it is beside or below. Above is the worst of course.

 

Firebreaks are cut and people are stationed to direct the fire as well as possible, and to mop the bits that threaten to get away. However, with everyone burning on the same night labor was in short supply. Usually people help each other out and there are enough folks to make a safe burn.

 

Last night there were fires planned at the edge of our tea field from two sides. Usually I avoid being involved in such things, as I am morally opposed to the burning. But it was necessary to defend our tea, which is currently, heavily grassed in. So, I made the hike to the top of our highest hill with my long spade and a rake. Others had backpack water tanks and various items to fight the fire.

 

As we waited for latecomers to arrive, we watched across the valley as neighbors began their burn. They had the worst situation. A long stretch of hillside ready to burn with a thick growth of bamboo and wild trees at the top. They did a good job at first, starting fires at the top and the sides to make a good fire break. Then they lit the bottom. But as they lit the bottom, their firebreak at the top failed in two places.

 

The fire from the bottom was ferocious. It made its way up the hill in a very short time a massive orange wall with fire tornados and an intimidating roar. It is hard to know how much land they burned that wasn’t theirs. Because as smoke obscured our view, someone from our team was tired of waiting and had lit the field we were watching. So much for having a plan.

 

It had been a very long time since I was up close to a brush fire, and I was immediately shocked with the intensity. Right from the start we couldn’t get within 20 feet of the blaze. The heat was incredible. All we could do was watch and hope the fire break held. Luckily the fields to be protected were lower than the fire. So, the danger was greatly reduced.

 

As the day ended and a moonless night began, fires could be seen in all directions creating a false dusk, as fires further away were glowing on the horizon. Our team left me to mop up around the tea field while they went off to help a different neighbor that had a runaway blaze. I made my way off the mountain in total darkness. The fires were done for the year.

[thequietman]

Sorry ..... I would have replied earlier, but I nodded off. ????

[canuckamuck]

11 minutes ago, thequietman said:

Sorry ..... I would have replied earlier, but I nodded off. ????

I appreciate your effort.

[osmond]

Approximately what area did they issue the "use or loose" the land advice ?
Being  west of Chiang Rai town "in the hills", no paper land, hardly any burning visible and very little smoke in last week or so . . .
Generally the air has been OK except for 2 days.

[thequietman]

1 minute ago, canuckamuck said:

I appreciate your effort.

See .......... this is the kind of response that wins hearts and minds.

Canuck clearly knew that my comment was tongue in check and he acted on it for what it was. Many others should take a leaf out of his book.

I actually read his post from start to finish and it did interest me. I did nod off again, but it was still informative. ????

[canuckamuck]

2 minutes ago, osmond said:

Approximately what area did they issue the "use or loose" the land advice ?
Being  west of Chiang Rai town "in the hills", no paper land, hardly any burning visible and very little smoke in last week or so . . .
Generally the air has been OK except for 2 days.

Up in the Doi Chang Wawee area. The use or lose thing has been the deal for a very long time though. More than the ten years I have been here. I think it is the deal for all the paperless land holders.

Rumor is that papers are coming though.

[canuckamuck]

5 minutes ago, thequietman said:

See .......... this is the kind of response that wins hearts and minds.

Canuck clearly knew that my comment was tongue in check and he acted on it for what it was. Many others should take a leaf out of his book.

I actually read his post from start to finish and it did interest me. I did nod off again, but it was still informative. ????

I am excited to learn that I have won your heart.

[tinca tinca]

19 minutes ago, thequietman said:

Sorry ..... I would have replied earlier, but I nodded off. ????

does not twitter have a limit on words/letters that can be posted on its site ??

Same should apply on here....i lose track of some posts, because I do not read properly and skip some words due to the post BEING FAR TOO LONG !!!

[canuckamuck]

28 minutes ago, tinca tinca said:

does not twitter have a limit on words/letters that can be posted on its site ??

Same should apply on here....i lose track of some posts, because I do not read properly and skip some words due to the post BEING FAR TOO LONG !!!

Oh yes let's make everything like Twitter. The gold standard of societal achievement.

[Randell]

Thanks for sharing the insight and info and humour as a fellow Canadian I appreciate it. And good luck with you tea crop. Green? I drink a lot of tea and always looking for something different from store bought  or over prices tourist tea shops. Let me know I would be interested.

[canuckamuck]

4 hours ago, Randell said:

Thanks for sharing the insight and info and humour as a fellow Canadian I appreciate it. And good luck with you tea crop. Green? I drink a lot of tea and always looking for something different from store bought  or over prices tourist tea shops. Let me know I would be interested.

Still learning, but I made some lovely black tea last year, and I make some reasonable oolong when I get the conditions right. Most of our trees are very young so we aren't producing big quantities yet. But remind me in August and I'll send you something.

[Randell]

Fantastic I will be in touch in Aug. Kudos for your efforts.

[sceadugenga]

I seem to recall that my father in law used to get me to drive him up to Doi Mae Salong to buy tea, it was about half the price of in the city.

[canuckamuck]

1 hour ago, sceadugenga said:

I seem to recall that my father in law used to get me to drive him up to Doi Mae Salong to buy tea, it was about half the price of in the city.

Mae Salong has a very good reputation. The best in Thailand. I plan to visit this year and watch some processing.