Bonfires: yes or no?

[lynda66]

only as long as I can chuck in some sausages and baked spuds

as good a reason as any ..... i do love a good bonfire ...... try nanas with lumps of choccy in, wrapped in their skins, in foil ..... yummy

[Two_Sheds]

I had one bonfire, once, to quickly dispose of a whole plot's worth of brambles. They were dried out first though under tarp so they burned hot & nearly smokeless.

My perennial weeds get drowned then composted.

Woody prunings get cut into 6" pieces for the chiminea (used prolly twice a year when we have the BBQ out).

Thinner prunings (twigs) get cut into 1" bits and used as mulch under the shrubs.

Diseased material? Not much, but mostly goes in a hot Dalek (very hot, they steam).

I like a bonfire, but I don't like to suffer smoky bonfires every other week. Ideally, in my world, people would save up their woody waste for Nov.5th

[kentvegplot]

I like to burn diseased material.

We have a lot of hedges, hence a lot of prunings, and I usually stack it for a year so that it is really dry before using it in the incinerator. This year I am also going to try disposing of the woody prunings by stacking them at the base of my hedges (recommended in organic guidelines).

[Speed Gardener]

I use an old shopping trolley as an incinerator and burn three or four time a year when I've accumulated a big pile of prunings from hedges, trees, shrubs and fruit bushes from home and the plots. It's normally during the colder months as that's the only time there's enough space to burn without cooking some plant or other. The ashes are collected up and spread round the fruit bushes.
It's good for clearing up all the broken/rotten sticks and pallets too.

[Paulottie]

Bonfires are a necessary part of the vegetable gardener's year; the ash is useful potassium for fruit bushes and tomato beds. Unfortunately there are some inconsiderate folk (who decide to burn a green heap on the nicest day of the year when others are enjoying their gardens.) I always burn on a dull night, and the rule of thumb at the allotment is the same as with oysters ...not unless there is an 'R' in the month. We have a communal firepit, with some raised chicken wire racking; to dry green waste before adding to a fire.

[jackie j]

Bonfires only allowed after 4pm on our sites. Must be attended at all times. I only have them occasionally as I can put my weeds along the bank where they rot down without harming my compost.

[bobleponge]

Luv em, and am very lucky to have enough garden space to have them whenever I want them.
If you could see the amount of hedging I have to cut back every year you would realise why I have a bonfire every couple of months.

[always digging]

bonfires are a good way to get rid of a lot of rubbish and to me a wonderful sign of coming winter , i like to get as many members of the family down and have a bonfire great times

[jplottie]

I love the smell of bonfires, and fortunately we have one of them exemption cert's, so we can have one. We collect a load of woody stuff from around the plot and have 3 - 4 bonfires a year. Fortunately we don't have hedgehogs settling in our fire pit, but there's usually rats. (sorry rat lovers).

[LolaLou]

....personally I'd love to toast the rats that have been living in my compost heap....(that's a joke by the way, I'm animal friendly, really!).

I absolutely love bonfires! Marshmellows on old grubby twigs all round! On our site we are only allowed bonfires on the weekend nearest to bonfire night. Its how I found out we had an allotment site tucked away at the end of our road (we'd only lived there for 6 weeks). The whole field looks like its on fire and the smoke in the area is almost unbearable (it virtually swamps the road outside the hospital if the wind blows in the wrong direction). I truely feel sorry for the residents who back on to our allotment site as their houses must smell for weeks on end afterwards BUT rather than come to an agreement to only burn after late afternoon in the autumn/winter like others have mentioned above, they petitioned to ban all bonfires on the site except for that one weekend, so our hands are tied. I only burn my corn on the cob stalks, PSB/sprout stalks and any wood that has rotted around the plot over the year and use the ashes on the spuds/fruit. The fire is put together on the day so that no creatures crawl inside (not even the rats....)

[Frana]

Great if controlled!

On our allotment we always have a bonfire on bonfire night.

Any combustable material is saved for a couple of months prior and on the actual night - foolproof safety precautions are taken, and we also have a spare area that serves well in the controlling of a fire. The fire is usually built on the day it is to be lit in order to save our little wild friends any unnecessary suffering!

This has not only always proved to be a very successful way of getting rid of burnable waste, but also creates a fantastic 'camaraderie' among plot holders and helps to strengthen our little community by way of getting together a group of people who may only pass brief friendly greetings throughout the year.

The nights are always a great social event - and local residents may also attend on occasion which helps formulate good neighbourly relations, something which is also very valuable in the world of allotmenteering!

[craigrockfield]

Mixed messages here, interesting. I think homemade potash is potentially a sustainable way of recycling nutrient back into your soil through the use of unwanted and problematic vegetation and could even be considered organic if from your own plot.

On our allotment site, fires are and are not allowed whenever it seems to suit the committee. Generally a rule of common sense applies as we do have problems with a neighbouring camp site, therefore it is important to check which way the flag blows as a guide to wind direction first.

[Davyburns]

the way my wife cooks, neighbors are never sure if its a bonfire or an evening meal

[Davyburns]

we have a huge communal bonfire around haloween which is always a good night

Erm, is that the one they call Guy Fawke night

[Sara]

Hi everyone,

Thanks for posting. We'll fit as many of your comments as possible into the magazine's November issue.