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The tire and wire are excellent ideas!!!  I have a BAD back, and splitting the kindling is typically much harder on it due to the additional amount of leaning forward and bending down to pick up. So having it trapped all up top would be great!  Otherwise simply splitting nice dry wood is actually healthy for your back. Can’t do it as continuously as pre injury, but can still do it.  I’m one who swings the axe when splitting rounds in almost a 360 with speed/momentum and let the axe do the work. Really helps to loosen even a bad back up if I can get away with an axe vs a maul. The Fiskars seem the best to me. Great article.

The word merchant delivered several cord of product there in the few seconds between question and answer.

Hi Cory,
Thanks for your interest in the article—the long lead time between planting and harvest (and income) is definitely a challenge in the industry. The best resource for additional information would be your state Christmas tree growers association (for you that would be http://www.indianachristmastree.com)—go to a meeting and talk to other growers, I bet you’ll find them willing to help answer any questions you might have. One other resource is this book (http://www.storey.com/books/growing-christmas-trees/), which offers more technical growing information than this article (full disclosure, I helped to author the book, but have no financial incentive in its sale). Hope that helps.

The short answer is no, Todd. I usually trim up any meat on the hams that was exposed to the body cavity and has globs of fat or clotted blood or anything else that looks unappealing to eat on it. But otherwise i don’t worry about the exterior. As you cut the meat the darker exterior portion will be relegated to the outer edge of your finished cuts, and so will be exposed to direct heat as you cook it. Any surface funk will be killed in the cooking process.

That was such interesting reading. I have loads of toads visiting my garden in the summer months and they live under the sheds in my garden. I did wonder where they went when it got cold and now I know. It’s funny to think that whilst us humans are trying to keep warm during the winter months, all these creatures are now fast asleep all over the world. Roll on spring.

This article is very helpful. I have been thinking about a change in jobs for a while and have wanted and been planning a Christmas tree farm with also a pumpkin patch. I’d like to do it full time, but the drop in salary until the farm is completely up and running is daunting. Are there any other resources you would suggest for getting started in the business?

Thanks for the great information. I have been aging some venison in my garage fridge for about 7 days. I went to check on it yesterday and noticed the darker jerky-like appearance that you described. I plan on butchering and packaging the meat tomorrow. Do I need to trim that darker exterior off the meat?

Another eye catching attraction of tamaracks is the brilliant red female cones, when they first “blossom” in Spring. They look like little compressed roses, in ranks along a branch. Unfortunately that display is on upper branches of mature trees, so one needs to search saplings to enjoy that visual treat.

Amen!

This information was very helpful Thank you very much.

Dave, you said more in a few paragraphs than I could say in a lifetime about being in the woods in November.  Bravo

Replying to Charles North

Thanks for your kind comment!

Water scorpions certainly occur in Ohio. I find them in pond vegetation and they are easier to net from reeds (less tangling…not sure if they are more common in reeds or not). They don’t seem too picky about water quality. I get them in a VT pond that drains parking lots.

Hi Charles -

Thanks for the compliment on Declan’s article. Yes indeed, water scorpions are present in Ohio. Here’s a link to one photographed in Hocking County.

http://bugguide.net/node/view/179429

Your post brought back nice memories, Charles. Unfortunately Ed passed on two winters back. I wrote this piece in Northern Woodlands as an homage to him—I miss him a lot, especially this time of year: http://northernwoodlands.org/articles/article/editors-note15

Your article on the water scorpion was interesting. Are these aquatic insects native to Ohio? I also appreciated the manner in which you ended the article with “out of the box thinking.” Thanks again!

A splitting axe and maul are two different things. They are not interchangeable like you suggest. An axe used for splitting wood prevents the wood from flying 6ft away. I never comment on anything but your article suggest someone using an axe doesn’t know what they are doing if they use it to split, it’s just an odd thing to say if you’ve actually used a real splitting axe like fiskars…also, you never strike the center of the wood, it splits by striking all around the center.

You are definitely correct…I have a tree farm here and have 4 acres of trees mostly Frasier and white spruce..it is a lot of work but rewarding….I love the people that come back every year and comment how nice my trees are….there were 2 other farms in my area and they are long gone….I am a small operation but have trees year after year…....

Almost as good as “Old Deercamps Never Die” years ago in Field and Stream…wish you would submit more to F&S !  Ed still around?

It’s a good question, Alane. And I don’t have a good answer. My guess is that because there’s so much land and a low enough human population density, hunters may play a smaller role in the overall deer population swings than they would in southern parts of NY and VT. If there’s less of an effect, the deer population can tolerate longer seasons. The real people to ask would be the NYDEC. As for feeling safe, I’d wear orange but otherwise go about my business without concern. There are about 4 “incidents” per 100,000 hunters in the U.S. each year, and almost always the accidents feature self-inflicted wounds or 2-party wounds (one hunter accidentally shoots his partner). Here’s the source of that info: http://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/wildlife_pdf/nyhrsi2015.pdf. The bottom line is that you stand a much, much greater chance of being injured colliding with a deer in your car than you do getting shot by a hunter. There’s no reason not to enjoy the woods and feel safe.

Well done Mr Mance! I enjoy your always informed, often poetic articles but this one was beautiful, and a compliment to your art. The ADKs sound idyllic but my recent hunt on opening day in the Northeast Kingdom simply reminded me of how fortunate we all are to revisit old trails and stands ( like old friends ) here in most parts of the Northeast. Thank you !