On winter outings in snow, we often see the minute trotting tracks of meadow voles and the bounding track-sets of white-footed mice and deer mice. Weighing just one or two ounces, the wee…
Magazine Series
The Herbs Around Us
As a longtime resident of Sugar Hill, New Hampshire, Holly Hayward has an intimate knowledge of the landscape here. And she comes from a long line of foragers. She remembers gathering…
Making Paper at the Old Groveton Mill
Author and Northern Woodlands contributor Jamie Sayen recently released a new book entitled You Had a Job For Life, published by University Press of New England. It’s the story of the…
Outdoor Palette: Fritz Gross
“A mistake is beside the point, for once anything happens, it authentically is.” John Cage I asked Fritz Gross if he experienced angst as an artist; if he considered any of his…
Woodlot Pruning: Hardwoods and Softwoods
I recently walked a woodlot with a landowner who had pruned his younger trees according to instructions that he found online. The problem was that those instructions didn’t differentiate…
Field Work: Crunching Data with Biometrician Ken Laustsen
A big-city reporter called one day wanting to know how many sugar maple trees there are in Maine – and how Maine compared to Vermont, a state virtually synonymous with syrup production.…
From the Center
Just about the time that this magazine reaches your mailbox, Northern Woodlands will be hopping the Connecticut River to take up residence in Lyme, New Hampshire. Our nonprofit’s new…
Harvesting the Fruits of Time
A Primer on Apple Tree Release and Grafting Techniques In the early nineteenth century, John “Johnny Appleseed” Chapman sallied forth from Leominster, Massachusetts, to sell and…
Outdoor Palette: Nick Neddo
What do bear fur, deliquescent mushrooms, wasp nests, antlers, and stones have in common? Yes, these things can all be found in the forests of the Northeast. But more curiously, they’re…
Tricks of the Trade: Rope Firewood Carrier
Several years ago I was traveling through the mountains of central Mexico and was impressed with a simple rope firewood carrier that virtually every rural household used. Children had a…