Eastern Sierra

Eastern Sierra
Eastern Sierra snow October 2010

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Fields ablaze! Nature Notes 020911











As I drove to school one morning last week, I noticed a field on fire. Fortunately, I had left home early that morning and I had time to drive by and take a look. I wasn't sure what exactly was happening, but I did take some photos. The smoke, by then, had drifted over by my school and it was in my hair since I drove through it. UGH! We could all see the smoke and smell it all day. It turns out that, due to the extremely low temps the night before, the growers had placed bales of hay next to the fields of potatoes and had lit them, hoping that this would prevent their crops from freezing. It was 17 degrees for two nights down in Thermal. That's a new record. Unfortunately, their crops were lost, along with crops of peppers. That's the chance that growers take and since then, we've had no more frosts. Nature Notes for February 9, 2011.




7 comments:

Spare Parts and Pics said...

Seems like burning bales of hay would be ineffective and overkill (global warming??), but sure enjoy the pics! Hard to imagine 17 degress in Thermal!

??? said...

That looks eerie. Around here, nature is just preparing for spring, so reading about growing peppers is somehow weird.

KT said...

Sorry to hear you are being hit by the low temperatures. We saw a segment on the world news the other night about record freezing in El Paso, TX...what a mess.

Teresa said...

I love that 2nd picture...perspective and depth!

Carver said...

These are fantastic shots. I'm sorry about the losses due to the low temperatures. I've never heard of fires to try and heat a crop area.

Diane AZ said...

Oh dear, more extreme weather! Too bad about the crops and all the smoke, but these are interesting shots. :)

giorno26 ¸¸.•*¨*•. said...

Grande foto !
Buona serata :)
Myriam