Through the 31 essays that make up Letters from Eden: A Year at Home, in the Woods, author Julie Zickefoose demonstrates how truly at home she is on the 80 acres of forests and fields where she lives.…
Mill Prices
The prices reported here are those that log buyers—mostly sawmills and wholesalers—are paying for logs. Because these are prices paid for delivered wood, landowners need to adjust the…
Late-Summer Fishing
It’s late August, about noon on a bright, sunny day. I’m gathering my fly rod, waders, vest, my elegant wading staff – a spruce stick with a hunk of clothesline tied to it –…
Blister Beetle
Years ago, I learned that the large, bulbous, metallic-blue beetles that are often found on the lawn are called blister beetles. When bothered, they exude a clear, orange liquid from their joints that…
Shagbark Hickory, Carya ovata
When the Earth cooled during the Pleistocene, the continental glaciers that formed in the northern latitudes flowed southward slowly enough that tree species across North America were able to survive…
Managing a Mosaic Forest
According to traditional forestry, there are two kinds of forests. Every forest you step into can be categorized as either even-aged or uneven-aged. But most foresters regularly come across woodlots…
A Pond in the Woods
All ponds have water in common. It’s their surroundings that tell them apart. The pasture pond is a sun-splashed delight prized for its recreational opportunities and as a landscape accent. The…
Is it Best to Stake and Tie Newly Planted Trees?
Trees are made to sway in the breeze. They need to, really. Trees and wind have been doing this dance for a long time, and the trees seem to have learned their steps. Just watch them: they move a lot…
A Cultural Revolution is Needed to Arrest Timber Theft
Timber theft is a crime that takes generations to overcome – generations the victim will not see. Timber is surprisingly easy to steal, and the high value of northeastern hardwoods is all the…
The Long View
Norm Lake, a Grafton, Vermont, logger, whose work in the woods began during the transition from axes and crosscut saws to chainsaws, died this spring at the age of 89. I had a chance to visit with…
From the Center
Northern Woodlands magazine has come a long way in the 13 years since we launched its predecessor, Vermont Woodlands. Our first issue was published in June 1994. It was a slim 28 pages, printed in…
Looking Through Jewelweed
Jewelweed has to be one of the wateriest plants in existence. If you doubt it, just hold some of it between yourself and a light source, preferably the sun. Even its thick main stems are so…
Whey to Help Hemlocks
Hemlock woolly adelgid, the tiny but mighty scourge of hemlocks from Tennessee to as far north as southern Maine and New Hampshire, may soon face a worthy adversary: University of Vermont researcher…
Neutrons as Radio Tags
TITLE: Neutrons as Radio Tags AUTHOR: Geoff Wilson WORDS: 792 You are probably familiar with some of the fascinating observations that biologists have made by putting radio or satellite transmitters…
Where Does Drinking Water Come From?
When you wake up in the morning and take a shower, brush your teeth, and have your morning glass of water, you rarely, if ever, wonder where that water comes from. For two-thirds of the residents in…
Blistering Beauty
The photos are disgusting: arms covered in purple welts and oozing blisters. The stories are also horrifying: there is the New Hampshire woman who needed intravenous antibiotics and cortisone shots…
The Inside Story
The hill we live on supports two dairy farms, some beef cattle, and a few horses. A bucolic peacefulness descends as the animals graze upon the green slopes. Though the scene seems tranquil, it…
The Once and Future King?
Overhead, two dozen open burrs still hung from the chestnut’s limbs. The burrs, like the tree’s curled and deeply toothed leaves, had spent the winter on the tree. The nuts they once held…
Sweet and Sour Gardening
Now is the time of year for cleaning out the woodstove and spreading the ashes on the garden, a chore that both prepares the stove for summer vacation and sweetens the soil for the coming growing…
Eagle versus Owl
In a showdown between a bald eagle and a great horned owl, who would win? A bald eagle has a wingspan that can be nearly seven feet. It can weigh up to 14 pounds. It has piercing yellow eyes and a…