MJ's little flock

[rjohns39]

Good evening MJ

 

[BY Bob]

OK, MJ, I've spoken to the man & here's what he had to say:

It is a very, very old tree. The main tree was to the left & has broken away; what you are seeing is an off~shoot from the stump. The fire is burning the internals, where all the toxins get stored. Where the phyllum is [that carries oxygen & food] between the bark & the centre, is not burning. So long as that doesn't burn the tree has a chance of recovery. His opinion was it would.

That is very good news. I would love for it to make it.

 

[CrazyChookChookLady]

You can!!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/176078608X/?tag=backy-20

Thank you so much!!!!!

 

[BY Bob]

Sandy update

These photos are five minutes old.

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She's panting in the heat (they all are), which was 40C when the photo was taken, but sensibly keeping to the afternoon shade.

While her face is rather more pink than red, at least it's not discoloured and she's not using her pain posture. She may be pink from the heat. Even Janet is more pink than red today.

I'll see how they look first thing in the morning.

She looks pretty good to me. What a pretty girl as well.

 

[BY Bob]

Are you still going to do the straw-bale pyramid? Somewhere where you can stop it from getting wet (unless it rains)? According to my hubby, they can spontaneously combust if they don’t dry out properly (did any of your horse bales do that?) My father-in-law has a station wagon and said he would drive me to get some bales, and I thought I could chuck a tarp over them if there was the forecast of rain.

Yes they can spontaneously combust but the circumstances where that can occur are very specific and hay bales stacked outside in a small pile cannot.

Spontaneous combustion of hassle baffles occurs when damp hay is baked and stored in a dry barn in a large stack. Mold can form on damp hay and it creates a small amount of heat as it grows. The stack has to be large enough to trap the heat from escaping and dry enough so that when the heat reaches a high enough temperature the hay will start to combust. This problem is almost exclusive to barns and large scale hay operations.

There is no way a couple of bales stacked outside will ever burst into flames. Please don't let this fear stop you from doing anything or keep you running crazy putting tarps on top of a couple of bales that you have outside.

 

[CrazyChookChookLady]

I second @BY Bob reply. I used to bale 7 acres of hay for my horse twice a year and have had bales spontaneous combust. The reason is because the hay did not dry enough before being baled. We used to use a piece of 1" pvc pipe jammed into the center of our stack and run a thermometer down to check the temperature.

You may even do better with straw instead of hay. There is less leaf in straw and therefore less mold opportunity. Plus there should be minimal seeds in the straw so you won't have hay growing in your yard next year.

 

[BY Bob]

I second @BY Bob reply. I used to bale 7 acres of hay for my horse twice a year and have had bales spontaneous combust. The reason is because the hay did not dry enough before being baled. We used to use a piece of 1" pvc pipe jammed into the center of our stack and run a thermometer down to check the temperature.

You may even do better with straw instead of hay. There is less leaf in straw and therefore less mold opportunity. Plus there should be minimal seeds in the straw so you won't have hay growing in your yard next year.

Thank you for backing me up. The most money I made as a young teenager was baling hay for farmers. We always did it in August because it was so hot and most importantly, dry. But that of course made it miserable work.

 

[CrazyChookChookLady]

This is just a small sample of the hay I've baled. This was my barn with my ex-husband.

 

[Shadrach]

OK, MJ, I've spoken to the man & here's what he had to say:

It is a very, very old tree. The main tree was to the left & has broken away; what you are seeing is an off~shoot from the stump. The fire is burning the internals, where all the toxins get stored. Where the phyllum is [that carries oxygen & food] between the bark & the centre, is not burning. So long as that doesn't burn the tree has a chance of recovery. His opinion was it would.

How does he know this kind of stuff?

 

[Ribh]

The great injustice in my eyes was he was one of those rare people you could call a good man. He was born in Ireland and I got to know h

How does he know this kind of stuff?

He trained in horticulture. Our 2nd home business is actually plant based ~ mostly air plants & some water plants as the man broke his back about 20 years ago & most heavy gardening is now beyond him. I usually do any digging that needs to be done.