Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Shoreline


Right on the heels of yesterday's declaration that I had no new batches of  photos, here we have some shots of Queens Creek which I forgot were taken Sunday evening from my back yard.


See, I'd worked the entire weekend.  Finally, after cutting the grass Sunday evening, I decided all work must cease and desist.  Relaxation was about to begin.

So I dragged a lawn chair down by the creek and started snapping photos.



Even these Canada geese seemed worthy of a couple of shots...



along with this bush, which still shows signs of being scorched by one of my father's good deeds:  a shoreline burn.

One evening after a particularly grueling day at the paying job, I walked into the house, glanced out the back window and noticed the better part of the yard down around the bank of the creek had been singed a nice shade of burnt right up smoky black. In a situation where ordinary folks might have panicked  (a situation which very clearly screamed not long ago your back yard was ablaze), I merely responded, "Awesome.  The house is still standing, no trees caught fire, and there's less brush to cut back. Where are the potato chips? I'm starved."

You see, around these parts, we some folks intentionally burn their shorelines to keep the growth down-- and to encourage the wild asparagus.

To repeat:  we intentionally light fires both to tame growth and encourage new growth.

Any questions?

(CBW, please put your hand down. Right. This. Instant.)

p.s. We ate some of that asparagus last night for dinner.  Mmmm, mmmm good.

11 comments:

Kay L. Davies said...

Someone, I think, once wrote a book "Stalking the Wild Asparagus" but I forget his name. One of those names that's just on the tip of my tongue, but inaccessible.
There was asparagus growing wild all over the place where I grew up. Under the trees in the orchards, in the ditches by the sides of the roads...of course, I was a kid and didn't like asparagus, but all the kids in the neighborhood would pick it, then we'd sell it to our mothers.
— K

Kay, Alberta, Canada
An Unfittie's Guide to Adventurous Travel

Mental P Mama said...

Wait. There's wild asparagus on that bank???

Maria_NJ said...

Oh how wonderful to go down there and get some asparagus...do you have chickens to for the eggs...you know eggs and asparagus

when I move to Virginia I told my husband I would like to build a chicken coop, not a real big one, just maybe 8 chickens...The people down the street have one behind their restaurant..I love to go look at them...

Annie said...

Food for Thought...

Thanks cbw for those wonderful photos...how lucky you are to have such a spot to live. wow.

And thanks to Kay L. Davies for her wonderful comment about the book she once read "Stalking the Wild Asparagus".

It is by Euell Gibbons, 1976 it appears, and is proving a wonderful read on google after I searched for it.

So thanks to you both, you have made my morning!

ps By the way, does your dad encourage the new growth to eat it?

We used to have to burn a paddock of ours when we lived in the Northern Territory, tocontrol the growth (and help prevent bushfires). Unfortunately it didn't encourage any wonderful tasty new growth such as wild asparagus. Though I think I have heard that the aborigines used to eat the Pandanus nuts of the bushes we would burn back...must do another googlesearch...oops...i now have a baby to burp, and a toddler to chat to...ah, just as much fun as google.

Jamie said...

Maria- When we build the Blister commune we will have chickens, and a fainting goat and a pygmy cow.

Ft Bragg used to have controlled burns all the time to prevent uncontrolled burns occuring when the Army was out in the field.

I love asparagus.

Trisha said...

Fire can be a useful tool if used properly and carefully!

Love the Canada Geese!

Driftwood and Pumpkin said...

What the heck is wild asparagus? Is it the same as regular asparagus? See, I did have questions. I need to intentionally burn the woods line here and rid ourselves of the wild thorny roses. But I am not sure Smokey the Bear would approve. :(

Daryl said...

Asparagoose as my dad like to say is yum ... a stinky diuretic but still yum .. I am stuck here ...wait the WV is vessaff .. well vessaff to you too

deborah said...

I like your pictures.

I like your attitude.

I like asparagus.

I don't have any questions.

If you write it, it is unquestionably true.

Anonymous said...

I love the Canada Geese too. They may be good material for your book--very justifiable downtime by the water, to re-energize, if nothing else !
1. thing one: I love asparagus and love that it's a nutrient powerhouse 2.thing two: your photography is always beautiful & often stunning.
3. thing 3: a concern--you Virginians have lived in your location a long time, and many there have the practice of shoreline burns...but does the wind ever whip up & carry sparks up onto houses? I worry about stuff like that, living in CA where we have firestorms carried on the wind.

LLC

Chesapeake Bay Woman said...

LLC- It's a legitimate concern, but honestly not that many people do it anymore in Mathews...Guinea over in Gloucester (which is really just Mathews extended) may be a different story, and I seem to remember some of those fires burning out of control over the years, but generically speaking the people who do still burn tend to be the old school sorts who have lots of common sense and keep close tabs on the weather and wind. Also, there are usually burn bans instituted by the county if conditions are ripe for fires to spread out of control.