Composting Or Alternative?

[jubby]

Hi again Jubby!

Well, can't help but agree with you there - don't seem to be a whole lot of natives interested in

using their nuts (sorry, peanuts!) to actually THINK about how and what they're doing. That goes

for more than just burning, too. Ain't too sure it makes any big difference if they burn their own

land, as well as others' - folks here think in a different way than most of us farangs.

Three metre firebreak ain't enough? Maybe you got some tall bushes, trees or something, close

to the boundary - but would've thought a couple of metres would normally be more than enough,

though I sure ain't speaking from experience - got no real experience, 'cept for the last few

months.

Six metre firebreak? Whoo - that's a big'un!! You could build a whole row of houses on the

firebreak itself!

Hmm..already learned a few things about young teaks. Like, don't think they're wild bushes and

cut them down. hel_l - had no idea they were teaks - neither did the g/f. As you say, they start to

sprout again after a long while - and thank goodnes for that, as I downed one of the neighbor's

prize golden teaks, too!

Yeah - we'd been thinking much along the same lines. We reckon on keeping a 2 metre clear area

down and across the the middle of the land - so maybe only a quarter of the land will be ruined

at any one time. Ought to make it easier to get around the place in the wet season, too!

Can't help you with any "fast growing trees" - but hey - got plenty of fast growing weeds, if you

can use any of them!

The neighbor just had another chat with the g/f. Seems she's VERY teed off, partly as they'd used

about 100K baht on their fruit trees - but mostly coz she'd just quit her job and had been planning to

start a small chicken farm on the land. Well, a 100K's can be a whole lot of money for the

average Thai - and I doubt anyone's gonna come knocking on her door with a bag full of cash to

replace the fruit trees. The chicken farm ain't gonna amount to anything just at the moment, that's

for sure. At the moment they're turning their backs on the land and don't want to go near the place. I

expect they'll return again after they've cooled down awhile.

Here's hopng there are no more "accidents" for you, me - or anyone else!

Cheers

SB

I'll drink to that

As for the width of the Firebreak. You've got to take into consideration the 'consideration' or not of your neigbours and wehter they keep the land relatively tidy. If its heading back to jungle because they are just going to clear it with a match then maybe 3 mtrs not enough.

The Compost Heaps comming on nicely though, only one failed attempt to torch it, but really wet shit doesn't burn unless you add Diesel or something

Just got a tune in my head, wasn't there a band called 'Zombie Nation' ?

[scooterboy]

Hi there Jubby!

Better not "drink to that" - save the drink for putting out any fires!

Well,i f you have to take into consideration the consideration of other folks, lightning strikes,

discarded cigarettes, glass fragments, etc., then maybe it's better the whole land is just one big

firebreak, huh?!

You getting real earth from your compost heap, yet?!

Zombie Nation? Well, if there wasn't - then there sure ought to be!

Cheers

SB

Oh - had a fire way outside the rear of our residential land yesterday evening. Smoke and

flames way up into the night sky - thought maybe a house was on fire. The g/f said she could

hear people shouting to get some water to the area. Shortly after, the flames were gone and

there was just the smoke - luckily the wind was in a direction away from us, so things didn't

get smelly.

Went out to have a look this morning - the fire was farther away than we'd thought. A whole

area of forest gone, nearly taking a couple of parcels with fruit trees with it. Looks like some

<deleted> was burning garbage - and maybe things got out of control. Surprised? Nope!

[runker]

Hay! Composters,

I always wondered why people here burnt everything and thought that composting would be a better way of doing things, however where I come from leaves and weeds etc easily compost themselves either heaped in a pile or left where they fall. I also thought that the dry dusty soil here would benefit from composting.

Well we just got some land recently and have just arrived to experience life in rural Thailand. The teak leaves are dead dry when they fall and we had piles of them covering much of the land. I soaked a few leaves in a bucket of water but it just didn't seem that it was going to be a very easy or succesful job, so I gave in and as instructed by the family, we burnt the lot, so quick and easy.

So at least now I can understand why it is like it is.

I will however get around to building a proper compost heap with 3 seperate sections and roof, and will hopefully prove myself right, even if it does take much longer and hard work.

put a mower to the dry leaves, this will chop them up to smaller bits and then you can use it as mulch.