Fire season!

Every time I turn on the news I think of you folks in the inland areas. In spite of our cooler, wetter summer, fire season is here! I hope with all my heart that you folks are prepared! The hot, windy months are yet to come, and I would hate to think of any of you loosing your homes, or worse, families or pets.
Carol

DH is on his way up there today, to see if any of our beehives survived. In our case it affects our way of making a living. It sure is hard to be a farmer these days. Sigh.
Grateful it wasn't worse.
WIB!
SW

Hello!
My husband and I moved to an area with a much higher fire risk and one burned through the new property 8 mos after we bought it. Luckily it burned slowly and just burned the grass and about 2' up into the tree trunks. Whew! That was an awful week, before we could get up there to see, bringing a new (to us) fifth wheel to be our 'cabin' when up there. It was Labor Day weekend and we had a mess of fellow 'camper friends' on the property...we sat and watched the spot fires burn at night. Unbelieveably, the brand of the fifth wheel was ...'Fireball'. Really!

Could that NOT have been wake up call? Since then, we have been diligent about keeping the trees trimmed up and brush cleared away. The local neighbors say, " Get good insurance" and tell us that a fire truck would never come down our long driveway to defend our house. We know we're taking the risk, but live for today surely. Everyone up here is in the same situation like in many places in Cali, but if all our trees had burned to the ground, we never would have gone ahead with the house. We dodged a big bullet! I pray for no fires this year!

We came from Fullerton, OCCarol.


Sue

http://sierrafoothillgarden.wordpress.com/
http://www.examiner.com/gardening-in-fresno/sue-langley

I envy your little patch of the Sierras, but since my mobil home is paid for, and the space rent is cheap, here I will stay. Besides, after 55 years in OC, I'm used to the weather, and close shopping, Dr.s etc., and since I spent the last 20 years of employment with Caltrans, I'm used to the traffic.


Carol

I do miss getting to Target in five minutes. And the beach. Most people up here call everywhere in Southern California "LA" and lots vacation in the Monterey area. Different, huh? I was a wedding photographer for 20 years in OC.

Thank goodness for Facebook, so I can keep in touch! And a paid-for house is good these days.

Sue

Sue,
You are so smart. The locals may be wrong, I couldn't believe some of the roads they were on, fighting the Palmdale/Lancaster fire. They have big machines that can push over large trees, not to mention their on ground fire crews, and air drops. The CDF Firefighters put structure protection right after people protection.
It might be a good idea to ask your local fire Capt. to take a walk through of your property. He might have some good ideas on how to make it better/easier to protect. Usually if a motor home/5th wheel can drive the road, a fire truck can too.
It may also give them incentive to protect your place if you offer it as a place for the firefighters to rest and recuperate during the big fires.
Never hurts to ask, and they are more likely to respond in a positive way if there is a personal connection.
We found out after the Palmdale/Lancaster fire that they spent extra effort protecting our bee hives because the fire Captain knew DH's sister and the family name is painted on each hive.
He'd have done it anyway, but I think they expended extra time and effort on protecting our hives.
Bless them all!
We were going to have a mortgage burning party in 5 years, but now it looks like we'll have to wait longer. Sigh . . .
A paid for home is a good thing. : - )
We finally got a facebook page, but I am not sure if this will get you there.
www.facebook.com/home.php#!/?ref=home
We also got a web site. Should be links. If you don't find any LMK, so we can add 'em. : - )
WIB~
SW

What is WIB? What is LMK? hahaha I can't get to your FB page, but if you go to your 'profile view' and paste that link it may work.

That's a great idea about the walk through. Can't hurt to be friends with fire fighter's Folks here just love 'em!

WIB means Walk In Beauty. LMK means Let Me Know. Now quit pulling my chain. : - )
I coined a new acronym last week. It's SOBB, it means Stressed Out Beyond Belief. It makes me smile to see it, so when I see it and I'm smiling I can't have a pity party. : - ) Convoluted but I'm smiling more these days. : - )
Went to FB page and tried what you suggested, Sue. www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1514127336
Good luck!
The CDF has helped us out in so many ways over the years. They love us because DH is diligent with his fire breaks and roads. We've been affected by two fires this year.
One at the rental, thank the Creator for good neighbors and passers by. All 4 of our fire stations were out on life saving calls, and the next nearest available CDF engine was 20 minutes away in the next town of Perris. We were all glad to see them.
Our local guys felt really bad they weren't first on site. I told him not to worry, we weren't upset, just happy they were able to help their patient. We knew if they weren't there in five minutes they were on another call.
You already know about the P/L fire.
I'm so lame, I only heard about Farmville last week. I don't get it, and any one who wants to come do my chores for the day is welcome to come on out! Real farming is hard work and a lot of heartache. It is worth it! : - )
Missed you and will log on as I'm able. Connection here in O'side is iffy at best,
WIB!
SW

Wow, two fires! Thanks for the acronymical help. I'm outside now!

Sue,
We were so Blessed that no one and no structures were lost. We did loose 80 bee hives, but since DH worked so hard making new ones and taking care of the one we had, we're okay. Especially since we're getting that bonus crop of blue curl, honey.
Dang, I forgot to get a photo of it in bloom before I left home. No worries, it will still be there when I get home.
Don't forget that pine needles make great kindling (when dry), and great mulch too! Your local fire chief would be better able to advise you on what you need in your area for defensible space.
Most of the time they race through consuming the dry stuff on the ground, but if they start catching those firs on fire, they can explode at the top sending fireballs far in advance of the fire line. Get the fire insurance, get a safety deposit box, get on line backup for your computer. Then don't stress it, but do practice evacuation routes, think it out in advance, so you won't panic if it ever, (I pray it doesn't!) the woods catch on fire.
Things can be replaced. People (2 & 4 footed) can't. Also don't forget to have a place to meet up if you get separated from other family members.
Hope it helps. : - )
WIB,
Jules

I like your acronym SOBB! I think that is what everyone around here is during the worst parts(maybe all) of fire season. I know i am. Seems like no matter how much you prepare, when that wall of flame is coming at you it all goes out the window. I dont know how the fire guys do it. packing 80 lbs of gear in 100+ degree heat in the middle of those fires, risking their lives so others can be safe.

SingingWolf you have blue curls? is that the same as woolly blue curls that is a great butterfly plant? did you plant from seed? from plants? did you get it locally? sorry for all the questions but i really want to try some and have only found one source for seeds and that is up north.

do you have lots of butterflies at your place? where i am the only ones i see are the white cabbage butterflies, and once a swallowtail. there were more butterflies at home depot the last time i went then around where i am. sigh......... i am trying to plant lots to entice them to come back.

You know I'm not sure which ones they are, Sherman, but they grow wild. You are welcome to come collect seed. I know where a nice patch of them are. Same as with my other b.fly attractors. They love lantana, which readily starts from seed, they like b.fly bushes, which the gophers seem to like a lot too, (dratted Rodents!), and they seem to like the Tecoma stans, or what I call the Honeybird bush. It's needing trimming. Am hoping for some Pride of Barbados, or the Mexican (?) Bird of Paradise. Hope to have some seed to share. My Dad, was able to get great photos of b.flys on the POB.
Look for a tiny blue butterfly no bigger than your pinky tip. That's the Buckwheat blue. They like wild mustard, and will often stay on the plant for a while.I get the same b.flys you do, but have also had visits from the North American Giant Swallowtail. Seems they like citrus and citrus growers find them to be a pest.
You know a hummer convinced me to buy not one, but two red sage plants, because he came to drink out of the one in my cart at Lowe's.
Then again there was a beautiful passiflora I went to buy, but it was covered with caterpillars, so I didn't buy it. I didn't know if it was a good cat or a bad cat. : - |
Our CDF firefighters do a lot of training. One of the guys I used to work with, was a seasonal firefighter. It's hard work, and you have to stay on your toes. They train hard. They deserve a lot more credit, and a break from firebugs and weather caused fires. Wouldn't that be a novelty?
Be home on Sunday, Sherman, so if you want to get together send me a dmail. Good time for collecting acorns (CA Live Oak), and English walnuts, and coneflowers, Oh MY!
Can I stay for another week? LOL!
I miss being at home, but not enough to miss Harbor Days in O'side.
WIB!
SW

I found this nursery in Escondio, called Las Pilitas and they had woolly blue curl plants. spent the whole months garden budget there !
http://www.laspilitas.com
they specialize in Calif natives and even have a list of what BFs like what plants on their web site.
how ironic that they grow wild and i bought them at a nursery. just had to have them!
might have to plant some orange trees for those swallowtails. But, you know how our ground is, can't do trees till it rains. also have to lay in a supple of aviary wire so those wonderful gophers dont get them.
one thing i have noticed, besides the nightshade thing, is that when i put pot belly pig poop in the holes all around new plants the gophers seem to stay away.
I think i am babysitting sunday, will let you know if i am not.
enjoy the beach ! wish i was there.

Sherman, I read the same thing on another thread. Two female gardeners said any bulb they placed the pot belly pig poop by was not bothered by the gophers. I think it was the compost forum. I will find it and copy it over. We do not have gophers.

See SW, now you have reason for a herd of pot belly pigs. To sell their droppings as gopher riddance.

Las Pilitas has a great website, lots of info there, lots! He rambles a bit, and some material is pretty technical, but they have experience for sure, and many, many plant photos and descriptions. Lots of info on California Plant Communities and a zipcode finder, so you can find which one you're in. Neat! Lucky you can go there!

http://www.laspilitas.com/

Communities by Zipcode http://www.laspilitas.com/comhabit/zipcode.htm

Sherman, it was you in the iris forum.

Sherman post regarding fertilizing irises.
boy, me too. seems to work when i plant but dont know how long it will last. does make great fertilizer, things grow better with it, to me. i dont know how long to wait but it has been at least 3 months since i first started using it and no gophers around those plants. think i will just keep adding it into the soil and makes notes every week. wouldn't it be cool to have a free, natural gopher repellant !

i am supposed to keep track of how long it repels them (if it does) or if i have to replenish it. so far it is working quite well. i was trying to find out if anyone else has noticed this.


just curious-is there a rule where you cant post the same thing on more than one thread? if there is, i am sorry. just wanted to reach as many people as possible.

This message was edited Oct 2, 2010 7:38 AM

Sherman, you can post on many different threads as long it is within the subject matter of the thread. I was just giving you a jab because I thought it was someone else.

sorry, i get confused and dont want to offend anyone. gophers are driving me crazy and i really really want the pig poo thing to effective.

Sherman, I see no way anything you said would offend anyone. I find it very interesting information.

I think you should request a grant to prove it is for real. You would be a hero to a whole bunch of gardeners. Give it some thought.

that is a cool idea. i am going to look into it. thank you

Every year there are dozens of small fires in Yosemite and Sequoia. Usually they just burn and are watched carefully. Sometimes they just get too close or, like in 2001, grow into large fires due to human actions.

This year we may have been spared, as we are having a nice long soaking rain. Even with the lightning storms last night, the firefighting friends of ours up here are breathing easier.

Here is a photo from the 2001 North Fork fire. It burned through our property within the first year we bought it. Luckily it only burned the grass and about a foot or two into the trees. Pretty sobering. I'm always glad to experience the first heavy rain of Autumn. Now!

Sue

Blog: Sierra Foothill Garden
http://sierrafoothillgarden.wordpress.com/

Fires are always sobering, unless they are in a fire place.
Scary Fire back in 2001. I remember. : - (
Please do keep us posted on the PbPP test. (LOL) For the record, the gophers out here have never bothered my iris, but if they was digging there before, I'm sure the PbPP, will drive them away. : - )
Now then, the rain has been a blessing, and our firefighters down here are happy about the rain too! Let's hope that we don't have any big ones this year!
WIB!
SW

Good info regarding Pot Belly Pig poo. Would get it from someone else, but DO NOT want anymore animals here! Not so DSS, living on the same property is talking about growing a large plot of grass in front of his motor home he lives in. Really stupid, environmentally speaking in this neck of the woods. That being said, it would have some advantages though: 1. green relief for the eyes; 2. draw gophers to his side of fence; and 3. draw bunnies over there too!

Fire related. Already we are starting to see some small spurts of green in the burned hillside behind our house. The unusual early rain was extremely gentle, thank God, and did not move the earth, just gave it an early wet boost. A neighbor said she thought they seeded the hillside from helicopters just a day or 2 after the fire.

Unlikely that the helicopter seeded. Too much wind dispersal. They usually bring a truck and spray the seed.
QG, might be sweet to buy CA poppy seeds and lupine (I have some lupine), and reseed it yourself. The best time is right now for seeding.
So much to do, and so little time. Still have to go collect seeds and acorns. Also need more photos of the PP.
LMK, if you want to come seed collecting, here QG.
OH! I saw a new quilters store in DownTown area of Sun City, QG! It's right by Vons, and Dan's Pet Supply. : - )
Seems I'm always in a rush. : - (
WIB!
SW

Thanks about the quilt store. Never get to Sun City, except for the Pulmonologist last spring. There used to be one in Elsinore and Murrieta when we moved here, but they are gone. Have not been to the newer one in Temecula. Saw them online and they seem to have primarily reproduction and more subdued colors. I particularly love the brights and batiks. I know just where to go in SD County. One of them was just 2 miles down the road from where we lived! Loved to go and just hang out. I would be surprised if they had done it be helicopter too. Have seen them 'shoot' it out. We had that done on a slope on a property we built on in SD. I do not climb on hills, so it would not be me seeding it. Neighbor who planted the cross might though. Did I share his photo from up at the cross, after the fire?

OMG! Don't tell anyone where that is, or you'll have the ACLU demanding it be taken down.

That one is directly behind us. We have another white one the next hill over and 5 acres burned around it 3 years ago and we were surprised it did not burn, then found out it is made from steel. This one our neighbor and his brother in law hauled up the hill, dug a hole and planted it in concrete earlier this year. Since it is right behind us, we saw the fire burn behind it first, going north, then returned and burned in front of it going south. We were amazed it was unblemished, THEN found out it is made from wood! The ACLU can kiss (all of) our tocas. The fire was 'only' 25 acres, but when you hear it crackle and feel the heat, it can be scary.

Yep, you showed us the photo before, but I don't mind seeing it again. : - )
We've all been lucky with the fires so far this year. (Fingers crossed). They could have been so much worse. Lots of sage will come back from the roots, and maybe even some buckwheat. DH says it clears the way for native wildflowers to grow too. : - )
I hope so. : - )
QG, I like to hit the craft dept. at Wally world for already cut to size bright fabrics. I don't see many batiks these days. Also their remnant bins have lots of great patterns and colors. But I bet you already knew that. : - )
I haven't been inside the quilt store yet. I guess I should sometime.
I don't mind the fire as much as I mind the smoke. When I can't breathe, I panic.
WIB!
SW

Yes, I panic when I can't breathe too - smoke or blocked lungs.

It is better to be seeing this rain than Santa Ana's for sure. DD's birthday is the 29th of Oct and she was born during big fires in Laguna and Malibu. Her 10th birthday had to be postponed due to big SD fires in 2003 (not far from home, but most of SD County was closed down - schools, offices, Halloween events, etc), then again there were the big fires during her birthday in 2007. We did not get near the rain LA and SD got, but anything helps.

Seems like most Wally Worlds do not have much in sewing and crafts these days. The three near here (LE, Murrieta & Tem) have all been remodeled and have cut their space dedicated to that. They do not necessarily have the best fabrics for quilts - a lot of seconds in their 100% cottons. For scrappy quilts I hear thrift stores are great places as you can buy 100% cotton mens shirts in particular and if you can buy the XXL type sizes you get a lot of fabric for little money. Just trickier to cut out.

I saw the ribbon store in LE closed too. : - (
They do have a new Aaron Bros in Menifee, but you (and I) are going to have to go to JoAnn's or Michaels.
Or make a field trip to the purple house in Riverside. They have all kinds of whatever fabric you are looking for there. I think it's on La Sierra, but it's been a while and you know how bad my memory is. Hmmm.
Try buying cotton sheets and blankets, bed skirts too, from the thrift store. Come to think of it they have some pretty nice curtains too. LOL!
WIB!
SW

Ribbon store? where was that? There is a GREAT store for ribbons and trim in Wilmington/Long Beach. All the colors in various shades and widths, wall to wall to wall, from counter height up about 6 rows. Some fabric and a bunch of little things that are used for wedding and baby shower favors and centerpieces. Purple house? Is that the name. Was at JoAnn's today with DD picking out her tapestry fabric to make her (kinda like Renaissance) vest. Last year she bought a cowhide online and we made a vest with no pattern. We also made her boyfriend's black long coat that was a little like Sgt Pepper's, but without all the trim. No pattern there either, so we faked it by using sleeve pattern from a girl's blouse as a 'guideline', then winging the rest too. His mom siad he really loves it so much, he would go around the house wearing it, then I saw he has it hanging on his wall. Tonight he said the sleeves were too tight now, so I told him how to increase there girth.

Oh my, I have gone on a tangent on the wrong forum

Still enjoyed it.

Drove past your pumpking patch a little while ago SW, the parking lot was full!! lots of little ones anxious for halloween i bet!

Sorry all, you know I got really sick with the flu. I even missed out on the Party at the Pumpkin Patch.
: - (
Onward, QG, The Purple House is a material (cloth) wholesaler in Riverside. The ribbon store used to be down by Taco Bell on Grand in L. E.
These days you can still find some ribbon down at the Indian Store in Escondido, come to think of it, they have a lot of ribbon, cloth, etc. in the craft store next door to the Indian Store too.
We use a lot of Ribbon for Ribbon Shirts, and our Dresses. Fewer people are sewing their own clothes these days. It's becoming a lost art.
Remind me to show you my Autumn Cloak, sometime. I love the way that you created the kids outfits. : - ) Got to admire your ingenuity, QG.
Working with leather isn't too bad. I make my own outfits/regalia for wearing at pow wow. I have so much beading to do before my doe skin outfit is finished.
Then I can make a new Cherokee Tear Dress. : - )
Can you help me with them dratted gussets? LOL!
DH said the Pumpkin Patch did okay this year. We are all glad that the Tree of Terror guy finally came to clean up his mess, and we can have Grandmother Oak back.
Next year, the kids want to do a haunted hay ride. I'm turning it over to them, I always intended to anyway. : - )
WIB!
SW

SW - I guess we all have hijacked this "fire" thread, so I will answer you on the generic "Hellooo" thread.

Well this year we haven't had our usual fire season, and I don't think anyone minds. But I'll be good and stay on topic. ; - )
WIB,
SW

Well, after 7 days of rain and getting a year's worth of rain in that time, I am happy to say the hill that burned behind us is still all intact and only the ash (not mud) came down in the early fall, summer rains. YAYYYYY

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!!!!!

LYNDA

Yea for Lynda. Not much water damage here, except where the pipe goes under the road, is a bit eroded on my side of the road. We did need the rain, but not a whole years' worth in one week!
They are laughing at us in TX, where they have been known to get that much rain in an hour, from time to time. : - )
Hope you had a Happy Christmas!
To all a wonderful New Year!
WIB~
SW

Well guys, we are getting rain later tonight, snow tomorrow and high temperature on Friday of 34. Where is this Global Warming? Stay safe and warm. If you are coming here for new Year's Eve, better wear long underwear. Love, Sharon.