Site Discussions

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.

I have small bunches of green grapes with one or two starting to purple up. If i pick them, will they continue to ripen. There aren’t a whole lot, so I want to beat the birds! Thanks.

Richard, sounds like you have a male vine. It produces pollen but will not produce fruit.

Thanks for writing this.  I am trying to promote birds, butterflies and bees.  I grow dill, parsley, and milkweed for the butterflies. I have had more this year than last, so maybe its helping.  Information is always extremely valuable, so thanks again.  And good luck in the cold north.

It might help, Rosemary. I don’t think anyone can know for sure, though.

I have a pack that have decided to migrate at the end of my property. I assume the blue cut fire has displaced them since I would always hear them off in the distance. 
I’m concerned about my dog since I think they are looking for new territory as curious watchful eyes were located less than 100 yards from my fence.
Can I use motion detection lights as a deterrent from my property?

Yeah, it’s very necessary to take precautions in spraying pesticides. When choosing a pest control company, choose one with experience and a company that is certified and has trained technicians.

Great piece and very interesting!  Sadly, I haven’t seen a bat in years.  Decades ago, they could be seen flying through the night sky skimming across the lake water eating pesky (and now dangerous mosquitoes) and old lake camps would get their share of bats flying around inside - not now…

@Steve Steiner nailed it…

Carbon is sequestered through deep roots, not the dander added to the top which primarily feeds the soil microbes, and thereby services the soil health.  Thus, in agriculture, it is important for roots to be driven deep by removing the practice of surface watering or drip irrigation to build soil carbon and nitrogen stores (thereby rely upon stable moisture in carbon-dense soils with moisture pulled upward), and covering the ground for soil health, which will then lead to more nutrient-dense cells in all life produced from it, as well as a more stable micro and then macro climate.

So I wonder how countries or states compare when we consider surface area?  For example, Colorado is ranked 8th in size.  But with all of it’s mountains, maybe in surface area it’s ranked 3rd?

Interesting that honey bees and some flowers brought to here are considered or shown to be beneficial as opposed to most other insects,trees and plants that become a nusance to both humans and the environment.  I still meet a number of folks that don’t realize that bumble bees,birds, the wind and wild animals also contribute to the pollenation process. They believe only honey bees do.

Just ran into some wood nettle today up on Mount Hor. Holy crap did that BUUUURN and then got crazy itchy! At a stream I put mud and wet leaves on and that helped. My bro went off trail with his dogs to avoid a couple with two more dogs and went through a patch with bare legs. He was almost in tears it burned so much. He ran down the rest of the trail (as we had already passed the stream, he wasn’t going back) grabbed the water jug that we bring for the dogs and dumped that over his legs. I could not believe how much that stuff burns! Now I know what to look for on the trail and this is a great article.

Last Saturday I had driven my car about 5 miles from home when I pulled over to make a phone call. As soon as I stopped the car, a Red Squirrel ran out from under my car and headed for some nearby trees. It was at that very moment that I realized he had been riding under my hood. The squirrels are always jumping up on my tires in the driveway!

So it has seemed that hunting coyotes or not hunting this brilliant animal makes little or no difference. These dogs know the holding capacity of any area, and breed or move around accordingly to keep it stable.This means that their table-fare is very flexible as well. Pretty much, live with them in harmony, enjoy the occasional sighting and know that they are masters of population control.

I noticed a week or so ago a brown bird different from the others (house finches).  I realized it was a young cow bird.  It goes to my feeder but only eats a couple of sunflower hearts and flys to the ground where it just hops around possibly looking for food.  I have not seen any other bird come to feed it, possibly abandoned?  When it goes to my feeder the other birds leave. It will let me approach it and talk to it and not fly off.  I don’t touch it of course.  Is this a behavior you have ever observed?

The notion that our petroleum and coal are created by peat bogs is debatable at best. Though it is under-reported and completely untaught in the public school system, abiotic fossil fuel origin has been a theory since the 16th Century.  It has been widely disbelieved, but was pursued by Russian and Soviet scientists. As recently as this year, serious research has been reignited: “Fossils From Animals And Plants Are Not Necessary For Crude Oil And Natural Gas, Swedish Researchers Find.”. ScienceDaily. Vetenskapsrådet (The Swedish Research Council). 12 September 2009. Retrieved 9 March 2016.

Ha! Red squirrels have always impressed me as little demons, glad I’m not in those crosshairs! Great reading here, thanks for sharing this story.