Site Discussions

You have answered a question I’ve had for some time, “What is that bird I hear in the fall but never can seem to see?”  The second I read this article I had my answer!  Thank you.

I´ve long known the American way of burying and funerals is all about an industry to make money for them and for the church.

I´d like to `shed the body´ out there somewhere with an acorn in my navel. Thus, hoping to start and grow a mighty oak!

I have been seeing an opossum/possum out on lawn under apple tree after dark. I was unaware they came this far north.

Thanks for mentioning the menthol smell of the black spruce, I was perplexed as to what tree I had been looking at.

As a hiking trail maintainer in the New Hampshire mountains, hobblebush is the bane of our work.  On neglected trails in the deep forest woods, it grows unrestriced in and around trails previously cleared.  We spent an entire day clearing 1.5 miles of hobblebush.  The trunks we large, as much as one inch, and the plants were tall, about 8 feet.  We learned a lot about how to quickly rremove hundreds of them, though the reader of this article will want to do the opposite.  They are strong.  Once mature, they resist puliing, cutting, and quickly can right themselves even after being stepped on.  We have so many hobblebush on the trail that hikers complain it is difficult to find the trail.  Rightly so.

Fantastic article. Thank you for publishing.

I did not know any of the combinations and its such a blessing. I am afraid of creepy crawling things. But I saw the small green tiger swallow-tailed caterpillar and took pics of it and was so excited to find it was going to be a butterfly and was no longer afraid. In fact it is quite cute and looks more like a fish with big yellow eye. Thank you so much for sharing your gift. Enjoy your blessings.

Being from Jersey I can put your doubts to rest and confirm the Jersey Devils are in fact named for a real creature that lives in the Pine Barrens.  He may also occasionally be seen at the Great Swamp.  Any real Jerean can attest the Jersey Devil is alive and well and busy haunting our natural areas!

I’d let it be, Jeannene. It could still have decades of life left in it.

Just noticed my 18 year old has Canker,  what should I do?  Let grow, cut down? If I cut down should I harvest nuts, let critters have?

I have a solitary male turkey who thinks that my mirror glass at my foyer is maybe another turkey he keeps picking at it incessantly. The last one was very aggressive. He was looking for his flock or something. This one is younger more docile and clucks softly when I talk to it and he’s not aggressive. Aside from barricading the doors with my wicker furniture I don’t know what to do about this problem.

I stumbled on a few giant grape vines a stones throw from my house. I came home with a bag full of grapes and mom and I have already enjoyed a few.  But I washed them really well before we ate them. Gotta watch for ants and spiders and do be cautious of yellow jackets. Yeah, they like those.

Interested in your story because Cyril Hessenauer was my Uncle, My mother’s brother. I only met him once when I was probably 4 years old.

Interesting article.

Thanks for your article, Mike. It sounds like how and when to scarify are multivariate decisions that depend largely on the case at hand. Can you suggest any good reference texts or case studies to help managers approach this decision?

Richard, shriveled grapes early in the season are usually a sign of Black Rot disease.  http://grapeseek.org/blackrot.htm

The Butternut nut I planted in front of our house 20 years ago for shade has yielded it’s first single nut this year.  The original seed came from Ash street in WRJct. I will plant the new seed here on our farm in Bridgewater along with seeds from a huge Butternut from my husband’s childhood home.

As a woodworker by trade for the better part of my life, Butternut is one of the most satisfyingly beautiful wood to work. The term “Chatoince” (sp?), pronounced sha twance refers to the shimmering effects caused by Buttenut’s natuarally curvy grain.

As a homeowner, it’s a beautiful shade tree with the convenient habit of dropping all of it’s leaves at once come the sunshine after a hard frost…....making fall cleanup chores a one shot deal.

I encourage everyone to plant as many Butternuts as they can find. .....and put it where you want it…..a long fast-growing taproot makes transplanting problematic after the first year or two.

I don’t think it would hurt to trim off the dead matter, Morganne. But I’d be careful not to cut into any living tissue. Trees compartmentalize their wounds, so re-wounding the tree will just add stress.

I am wondering if lose, cracked bark and wood bug-riddled under the bark should be left on the tree or finely trimmed away close to the adhering firm bark of an elderly cherry tree. Much of the lower bark is lose and cracked up to two feet, with a third intact. The foliage right now(Sept) seems plentiful, but don’t know if it had fruit or not.

I just saw a giant swallowtail today August 29th. No mistake.