The saga of the lumberjack continues to this day as the stumps are still (mostly) in their original, intact form (for those of you who missed them, here is part I and part II). I was all ready and excited to let the toxic chemicals do their magic, supposedly allowing me to burn them after six weeks. HOWEVER, after three weeks or so, I went out there to inspect what I was sure were decomposed, melted, burnable stumps, only to find that they had not changed whatsoever. This was quite a disappointing blow.
At this point I thought it might be a good idea to read the instructions on the chemical bottle (a step I usually try to avoid with my last breath). They informed me that in order for the chemicals to work, the ambient air temperature must be at or above 65 degrees. As we are in another La Nina weather pattern this year, even 60 degrees has been hard to come by. I believe our first day to exceed 60 degrees was April 18. That means the chemical has only had about 3 weeks to start working.
I went out this morning to see if I could detect any changes in the stumps as we have had about 5 days above 60 degrees so far (and its May! This weather is ridiculous!). The good news is that I definitely was able to see some changes. The wood is discolored and looks as though it were melting right around the areas where we drilled the holes for the chemical. The bad news is that the stumps have, for the most part, changed very little actually. This means that a burning ceremony probably will not be able to occur until Fall at the earliest.
That is probably for the best anyway as there is quite a bit of vegetation that now surrounds the stumps. Back in February, they stuck out like a sore thumb and I couldn't wait to get rid of them. So many beautiful plants have now emerged that they are almost completely camouflaged. While I am eager to burn these stumps, the urgency has passed. I am content to sit back and enjoy the garden this spring and summer. Don't worry though, there will be a final episode to this adventure. I may even include a video clip of me dancing around the flames and shouting like a banshee in my excitement.
At this point I thought it might be a good idea to read the instructions on the chemical bottle (a step I usually try to avoid with my last breath). They informed me that in order for the chemicals to work, the ambient air temperature must be at or above 65 degrees. As we are in another La Nina weather pattern this year, even 60 degrees has been hard to come by. I believe our first day to exceed 60 degrees was April 18. That means the chemical has only had about 3 weeks to start working.
I went out this morning to see if I could detect any changes in the stumps as we have had about 5 days above 60 degrees so far (and its May! This weather is ridiculous!). The good news is that I definitely was able to see some changes. The wood is discolored and looks as though it were melting right around the areas where we drilled the holes for the chemical. The bad news is that the stumps have, for the most part, changed very little actually. This means that a burning ceremony probably will not be able to occur until Fall at the earliest.
That is probably for the best anyway as there is quite a bit of vegetation that now surrounds the stumps. Back in February, they stuck out like a sore thumb and I couldn't wait to get rid of them. So many beautiful plants have now emerged that they are almost completely camouflaged. While I am eager to burn these stumps, the urgency has passed. I am content to sit back and enjoy the garden this spring and summer. Don't worry though, there will be a final episode to this adventure. I may even include a video clip of me dancing around the flames and shouting like a banshee in my excitement.
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