I left out the detail of “move most of the coals over to the other side of your area for the overnight fire.”

Also, if the ground is wet, dig even deeper narrow drainage channels on both sides of that shallow trench. The fire will dry out the ground you’re about to sleep on, and the channels allow for runoff. Luke from Outdoor Boys does exactly this in Alaska, even after digging down to the ground through feet of snow, that’s how I know about it.