Site Discussions

We found the Chaga on our yellow birch trees. We used a ladder as Chaga is usually pretty high in the trees. Cone shaped Chaga is easier to saw off than the wider mass type we also found. Once this is dried and broken up for grinding, I put the fine powder in a tea infuser, and set that inside the coffer maker on top of the fresh grounds, so we could benefit from it’s magical properties. I save the Chaga stuffed infuser leftovers, using it each morning for about a week before either throwing the used wet powder into a nut bread recipe or soup. Today I am cutting up the polypores and will use them as a tincture or make a salve for my face or for a wound cream. My sister threw some slices in her vegetable soup and said they smelled so good cooking. Then she tried a bite of the polypore, and she instantly puckered up stating it was very, very bitter, similar to ear wax! lol

What a hoot!  Very well done. Laugh-riot comes to mind.  :>}

Hello, I found a garter snake basking in the heat of our wood stove in the basement. I left out water but am unsure of what else to do. She or he hides in the 3 cords of wood down there. Can I just leave her be or should I provide some nourishment like earthworms? Thank you for your time.

We saw what we assume is this, but it was high up on the small branches of a living tree. Is that the same stuff?

Michael - not sure if you are still following up on these comments - so here goes.

Do you have information on how long it takes for a temperate tree (conifer or deciduous) to achieve dormancy prior to winter? I ask with respect to the particularly warm winter we are having in Europe and N.America right now and the effect that might have on bonsai trees which are kept outside during the winter.

Thanks in advance.

If the trees count chill hours which don’t reach their target until sometime in January, why are our maple and box elder trees in full bloom now just after Christmas?

I’ve heard of this subspecies many years ago… in fact I am pretty sure I saw foot prints in the snow when I was 8… and I forgot about this animal for decades.

Very informative paper, thanks!

For an interesting view on the shamanic origins of flying reindeer and other aspects of Christmas check out this link.  You might not look at red mushrooms the same way.

Love this article!  Merry Christmas!

My home was built in 1908 and my staircase and downstairs trim is completely covered with burled Pine. I can only imagine how long it took to gather enough to decorate my home.  Just makes me appreciate it even more!

Very useful article, having spent the last several months on my farm rewalking the forested boundaries with my survey. I saw all of the things you wrote about. Now is my chance to do some blazing.

My Dad showed me how to split wood when in my early teens. We used an eight pound sledge hammer, we called it a “maul” and steel wedges.We had a couple of 30 foot Chinese Elm trees to work on, felled by high winds. Some of the larger pieces took three wedges.

I thought I was a latter day Abe Lincoln, or Jethro Bodine!

I looked out the window on my parents farm and saw what looked like German Shepherds crossing the field. I watched carefully because it is unusual to see neighbors’ dogs loose on other people’s property. They raise cattle in Mid-Missouri and loose dogs are not welcome. There were 2 of them, probably mates, and as they got closer, they looked more like coyotes, with a somewhat gangly gait. As they walked right across from the porch, I couldn’t tell if they were wolves or coyotes. They were clearly just passing through. My father told me that he had seen what looked like wolves there too, but in theory, they don’t exist in Mid-Missouri.

Really nice article!  Great that you gave more depth of info in the article.  Mushrooms really do seem to be a kingdom of their own. Very informative.  Nice job.

First:  great article, practical and nice tips, e.g. the fan in frig.  We have five decades and can add a tip or two.  Avoid sun, but don’t worry about daytime temps above 40.  Even 50-60, for a few hours won’t be a problem.  We hang the carcass, letting it air dry for a week or more, basically, until it is convenient for us.  Washing the gutted carcass is fine and wise.  With some moderate pressure, we wash off all blood and vestiges of entrails.  Just let it dry.  Butchers wash their USDA meat, so can you.  But be sure the ground is porous or you will be in mud. Hang from the hind quarters, and be sure the neck is fully open, to allow draining. Cut off head and hooves to reduce hair falling off an on to your meat.  If careful, remove hair with a lighter. Smell test is correct.  You will learn to trust it, more than sight.  More later, if time permits.

I have one that hangs around my yard/shop that seems to have been here this summer and last winter. Very curious as he pops in and out of my shop to say hi now and then. In the summer he/she looks out from under the deck. Good natural food here as I’m in a rural jack pine blueberry area. I think mice and chipmunks are part of its diet.

Not that pieces of lead bullets may not be contributing to lead levels in these birds but shouldn’t the study have indicated what levels of lead content those 500 pieces of lead bullet were raising the sheep carcasses to and if those levels were harmless or not?

Excellent article, thanks!
I will teach it to my kids on our next hike :-)

Fascinating! Thanks.
❤️ chickadees

Dave,

Having personal experience both as a midnight-stoker and recently a medium-rare wiener, I woke my dog up and nearly fell out of my rocking chair laughing! All great character building exercises that you represent perfectly.

All the best Sir.