Farmers do it better

My father was stern, hard-working, and cheap. I think the latter created the former because, as his son, I was forced to be outside, on my hands and knees, ripping weeds out of the yard on a Sunday morning. He would always say "You better do a good job, too, or they will be back in no time and you'll have to do it AGAIN. If only I knew that many species of weeds don't even die from being completely de-rooted as they have left seeds in the soil that inevitably sprout again...seeds I had no way of identifying or removing.

Two weeks later, there I am crawling around a yard fit for football, the Georgian Sun glaring down on my aching body, cussing at my father when I knew he was beyond ear shot. I day dreamed of dropping gas all over the side bushes, striking a match, and turning the other cheek but that wouldn't have been hard work....and my father was all about that. AS IT TURNS OUT, FARMERS AREN'T ALL ABOUT THAT

This is flame weeding, a practice used for decades but had recently died out due to the post-war commercial boom of new herbecides and pesticides. Flame weeding isn't about setting the ground on fire as I so dastardly imagined. Its about cooking the ground containg weed parts until they're no longer viable. Farmers used use Diesel for this but later turned to Propane.

Thats badass but why?

With the rise of GMO(genetically modified organics) and lawsuits revealing that the chemicals agriculture companies cell can be carcinogenic, straying away from those chemical is ideal. In many ways, farming is as unnatural as it has ever been and the chemicals used to unwanted animals and plants at bay rest on the outer layer of the crop as well as seep into the soil and near-by water sources further tainting an enviornment already affected by deforestation, pollution, and chem trails.

Cost-effeciency is the first check on a farmer's list and once you ditch the chemical route, you don't have too many options. Doing it by hand is costly and accuracy completely relies on the workers so thats not even an option. Using a backhoe to dig it up is time consuming and unnecessarily digs up the earth.

When you think about how cheap Propane is, this technique becomes a no-brainer. As shown above, to do this safely, you will need a spotter to put out any brush that accidentally catches on fire. Of course, if you're field is tilled and open like with the tractor above, then you need not worry.

Lastly, if you a bit of a pyro like myself, then its just because its badass. A flame thrower will lose in a gun battle almost every time but if you want those pesky teenagers to finally stop trespassing, nothing says "I'm batshit crazy" like a 10-foot flame shooting over their heads.

Flame Weeding: The bio-friendly approach.

Farmers do it better

Thats badass but why?