[muntjac]

the answer is there gobs ,, light a tipi fire and ad the rubbish to it this will burn very fast and clean    

[mkhenry]

Yeah, right, very funny, but can any of you give a clear answer to me question, then? :roll:

Very funny about the matches Henry, but we all know wet material does not burn easily, so what's your environmentally friendly answer?

If you got one, ta.xxx

The question was part of an armed forces intelligent test that I knew Munty would know the answer to.

   

[gobs]

Yeah, I guessed that, so all gardeners and who wish to give advise, please do so. Thanks.

[Sally A]

I'd go for the tepee one too.  get it going with dry wood, poke the damp diseased stuff into the middle when it's well alight, and as the wood collapses onto the leaves you want to get rid of, the heat should remain in the ashes for 2 - 3 days which should get rid of it all.  This would have to be quite a big bonfire though with lots of wood or dry prunings.

If I have small amounts of diseased stuff or perennial roots or brambles I tend to put them in the wheelie bin composter, as the council have far better methods of breaking these down to useable compost.

[mushroom]

And what's your best idea of starting it? Without drenching it in any nasty chemicals? if it's not dry.

Start it with dry wood, and get it as hot as possible, then, in batches, put the wetter stuff on. The wetter material has to dry out before it will burn, and in order to do that, the fire has to be lit, and hot, and going well beforehand.

[gobs]

Thanks to you all, for your patient replies to a daft one. I think I get it now, I'm going to collect  bits of wood for next year's blight and keep them dry in shed. ( With matches )

I hope that's a good plan. :roll:

[shaun]

45gallon oil drum a couple of holes in the side and thats it,when its full a splash of diesel gets it going,then you stand around it in your donkey jacket   werks for me

[WG.]

Yup, steel drum for me although I don't burn much stuff at all.

If I was faced with a mountain of wet, blighted potato haulm, I'd probably build a separate compost heap with plenty of straw, poultry manure and comfrey to ensure a complete kill.  Made one a few years back which hit 85°C

[mushroom]

wow, so I'm not the only one with a steel drum! I'm fairly sure I'm the only one with one on my site.

When I got the plot, this steel drum was there, so I filled it with chopped bramble, chopped into small pieces. That went up well. on top of that were the tufts i dug up in July/August - these took a fair old time to burn, they burnt like coal. I still haven't burnt them all. They are truly dead, so what's left after the end of tonight can go on the composter. Tonight there's still some broken pallets to burn, to start it off.

Did anyone also do a BBQ last night? I did. We had sausages and chicken wings and a mackrel done in a chili marinade. I also did a 'fried rice' with red pepper, onion, garlic, mushroom and sun-dried tomato and herbs. Tonight I'm just doing home-made beefburgers with coriander leaf and some small chilis, and I'm chopping up some dill pickles. Might get some cheese slices to make beefburgers.

At our site, we're only allowed bonfires yesterday and today, and it has been this way for a while. We're only allowed to have them from 4pm onwards on these two days. So when the time arrives, everyone lights theirs at the same time. The scene looked like that one in Apocalypse Now where he "loves the smell of napalm in the morning", especially when all the fireworks from the neighbouring houses started. We don't have to buy fireworks, what other people have is enough. A continuous display from 5pm until around 11. Good times  

[gobs]

I had one given by my father-in-low, it disappeared. :x

Would an old outdoor bin do? No idea what metal that is made out of.

[gobs]

Yup, steel drum for me although I don't burn much stuff at all.

If I was faced with a mountain of wet, blighted potato haulm, I'd probably build a separate compost heap with plenty of straw, poultry manure and comfrey to ensure a complete kill.  Made one a few years back which hit 85°C

You haven't had blight for years? You lucky devil! Or have you got a seccret to share? Pleeeeeeeeeease...