The Fire Story

or        Our First Fire in Cambodia

Here we are in a beautiful tropical land trying to learn how to garden. The hard way of course! Not yet being able to speak the language adequately doesn't help! The locals are probably wondering at some of the stunts John and I pull in the learning process!

Through the last few years, we have planted seeds like crazy and usually only a few, if any, come up. How discouraging! The problem seems to be that the ants steal the seeds away to their nests when we aren't looking and before they can sprout. Not only that but, the ants farm aphids, mealybugs, white flies, spider mites and all kinds of other nasty, plant destroying insects (this is mostly conjecture! ... but it is my garden! ... and that's my reasoning!)

The plants that we transplant from seed trays (if we get them outside on time) take really well but... Our windows are all tinted blue. Seedlings growing in the house end up being unusually long and leggy and sickly for lack of sunlight. So we need to sow directly into the garden ...

Looking around at what the locals do .... We've noticed that they burn leaves, twigs and other such things and spread the ashes around under fruit trees and garden plants for fertilizer and to keep insects away. That seems like a good idea. Unfortunately, no one has informed them (in a convincing way) that the plastic and other garbage they burn with their leaves is so very toxic! BTW: We are looking for posters on this subject if you know of any! (Khmer or English would do!)

Typical roadside sight. This will be raked up, burned and
left "as is" or spread under nearby vegetation. 10-5580 

Local people have offered to give me ashes. I always refuse! I know what's been burnt in their fires! My conclusion: we needed to make our own fire.

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Opportunity knocked when a big tree in front of the Base got heavily pruned in order to run high voltage electric wire. One bright, sunny and (soon) hot morning, we chopped branches, broke up twigs and bagged leaves.

Two full TukTuk trips later we had a mess in our front yard.
It took us about three weeks to clean it all up. 12-1619-1

1st --- The leaves got spread out to dry in the sun... then I crumbled them up and put them on the Sweet Potatoe Patch as a mulch. It's dry season now and the leaves help reduce the need to water and also to keep the soil soft. 12-1871

2^nd ---I built a fire pit like no other! We burned for two days!
No plastic or other garbage went in that fire! 12-1875

3^rd I screened the ashes and kept on burning the big chunks until I had

a 5 gallon pail full. You can be sure that I put lots of ashes

around the string beans I planted for John!

Now I am gardening with renewed energy and hope. I pray the seeds will sprout and grow and give us vegetables to eat and give away... John has been making noises about moving to an apartment so we won't have to work so hard!

What are hobbies for, I ask you?

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