Site Discussions

Hello Mark,

1,600 Wow!
I planted 100 three year bare root from Miller Nursery 12-13 years ago. Years later I planted another 75 bare root and have taken nuts from the largest Black Walnut tree in VT and planted in pots and nursed them until ready. I have also planted nuts directly in the woods.

Some of the trees have done very well and others not so good. I have had trouble with deer and weather. My first 100 were doing really well the first few years until we had a wet summer and they bent over. Insects here early on. overall I only have one regret, not planting more 12 years ago on my forty acres. I’m a traveling salesman and I go to the Barre area here and there. I sure would love to visit your grove.

Nice general review.  Good to have someome with real time experience do a review under real use conditions.  Thank you.

Another great article from you folks.  I am glad to see you mentioned the need for wildlife corridors.  Our roadways (especially the higher speed ones) are an extreme danger and with fall being a high movement time for wildlife in search of mates and food, even more so.  Thank again.

The deer had been cleaning up apple drops in our yard for weeks, then abruptly stopped for the past month. The drops were piling up fast in their absence. Then, abruptly, the other morning every shred of apple was gone (aside for those still lingering on the tree). I assumed the deer had come back, but perhaps this time it was a bear.

I have forty acres in Hartland and wood like to get some butternut nuts from healthy trees to plant in my woods. Does anyone know where I could find 50 or so?

We have several beaver lodges in our wetlands here.  One beaver lodge seems to have disappeared.
It was there one day in the middle of the pond and a few days later, not trace of it at all.
Do they ever sink?

Thank you.  I did a Google search for black timber rattlesnakes to see if the snake that crossed the path of my brother’s wedding party was indeed a rattler.  (I had never heard of a jet black rattler with no markings but this snake had the head and a very audible rattle.  Probably 4+ feet and well fed.  Since I assume this comment is visible, I won’t say where this was beyond a hillside in central Massachusetts not too far from the Connecticut River.

That snake was sunning itself on a rock table beside the path.  We were a little too noisy, many and close and after about the first 5 of us passed, it announced its presence and crossed the path between me and my brother; the groom, rattling away.  The good thing is that we were raised in New England woods and while we hadn’t seen one before, we knew what it was and to just make no sudden moves.  (The excitable members of our party were further behind.)

Yes you can tap them. There’s no difference in boiling technique. I’d recommend two taps maximum for tree health. The amount of sap you’d get out of an extra tap hole is not generally worth the stress on the tree.

I was recently hiking and came across a bunch of apples in an open area where it’s fairly coniferous and where there were absolutely no apple trees.  Do bears hoard apples?  Would they have transported the apples to this place - there were several apple trees about 1/4 mile away but no where around where I saw the distribution.  There was plenty of orange bear poop around so clearly they were eating apples.

We live on a 100 acre farm and I put scraps/food out in the evenings for our skunks (most I’ve counted was 10 during summer) 2 gray foxes and an opossum.  I have a “critter cam” set up where I put the food and then upload pics to my computer.  It becomes very addicting to see what goes down outside in the middle of the night. 

All species get along great, even though I’ve read fox urine will chase off skunks because they prey on them…. NOT lol.  The foxes are petrified of the skunks (and their own shadows).  Also, I’ve read a lot that skunks don’t drink much but that’s not the case here.  I have a birdbath on the ground out by their food.  If it gets dry they will revisit it 10+ times a night to see if more water magically appeared. 

There’s a small opening under an old corn crib here and I’ve caught the skunks, opossum, groundhogs and rabbits all going in and out of there.  There’s plenty of groundhog holes under there so I’m sure that’s where they are.

I haven’t seen the foxes in about 2 weeks and the skunk numbers are dropping every day.  Last night was the 1st time I’ve had nobody show up to eat…. so crows took advantage this morning.  Last nights’ temp was the coldest and with 12mph winds.  So I guess they are hunkering down for the winter.

Hmmm, I wonder if that is why one of my apples suddenly (like overnight) lost all of its fruit. I thought there might be a bear in the area. And I didn’t think deer would clean out an overladen tree so fast.

I have a bunch of Norway maples in my yard…not so many Sugar or Red’s about my area…can I still tap the Norways?  I have been getting a wide variety of mixed responses to this question from the all-knowing google.

The Norways that I have are very large, so could I triple tap them in order to get the amount of raw sap i would need to make up the difference to sugar maples?  Also, I have read that the sugar content is lower (depending on the source) but if I tap a Norway, is there a different or special technique to boil it down? 

I would love to tap my own trees for a fun family hobby, but also don’t really feel like wasting my time with A LOT of work if the end result will be less than worth the effort! 

Any insights would be appreciated!

Thanks.

s.

I wouldn’t say the tea is undrinkable. It does have an odd flavour, and it is my least favorite of the polypores I’ve tried. But I find it fairly easy to drink. Definitely worth doing. Fomes Fomentarius is probably the most pleasant.

I have just had one of your original bookcases re-furbished and am absolutely delighted with the result. Many thanks to your predecessors.

Loved reading this! In the late 1980s I interned at the Washburn-Norlands Living History Center in Livermore, Maine. My main project, and what became my undergraduate history thesis was to transcribe a diary from the 1870s. Looks like life didn’t change much over the next 30-40 years, at least for northern New England farmers. Thanks for sharing!

Thank you Michael for an excellent article. I had a discussion with a fellow sewer/drain cleaner last night on this very subject. I was amazed that we understood root growth activity so differently.

I have been cleaning sewers for 30 years. I’ve cleared an awful lot of roots in that time.

I will address the question that Charla asks: As a professional I would have cleaned that sewer again - AT NO CHARGE. I have never seen roots grow back that fast, however I have seen lots of poor workmanship require a call-back. Many plumbers run a small cutter through the line, which pokes a hole in the stoppage and the water goes away. Yay! Everyone is happy. But a good cleaning requires the largest cutter possible in the pipe in order to remove as much debris as possible. Also, many plumbers clear the stoppage and think they’re done. Not so.

If a sewer is - say - 75 feet from the house to the city main (or the septic tank. The actual distance doesn’t matter, it’s the point of what I’m saying) and I “break” though the stoppage at say 40 feet and cal lit good then I take a huge risk. How do I know that there is not another root intrusion 10 more feet down? I don’t. It is my job to clean your sewer - all of it - that’s what you’re paying me for. If I left some roots behind, then shame on me. I get to come back and finish the job - free.

My comments here are far too late for your mother, but perhaps will assist someone in the future with the same problem and questions.

In the near future I will write my own article on my website on the subject of roots in the sewers.

Peter and Garland, you both ask good questions. I will address those soon along with the tree root article. My site is brand new, so be patient. I’ll get this done.

Michael, thanks again. I will link to your article.

Jonas

Dave, you hit the nail right on the head, from the hundred degree loft, to the reading of Sam Magee, and yes, the cherry red stovepipe. Great story as always.

I fell asleep on a bus and woke up with one of these little fellas on my neck.

Thank you so much for this wonderful article that is full of so much excellent information. I too have a few different locations inside my home where cellar spiders reside. My shower area being one of them…the lil miss’ recently had a couple of babies and I figured I had better look into a little more information regarding this type of spider to decide whether or not to evict. After reading your article I have decided that she may stay!!

Well, I wish we could all get together.  You are all like me in your love of birds.  One doesn’t meet such sensitive types everywhere.  I just rescued a hornet this morning and put him in the bathroom downstairs with the window open a little.  This is mid-November and I think he should have passed away by now.  He seemed so all alone. 

But, anyway, I just wanted to say I feel and agree with everything each of you has said.  Here in Idaho we get only a few Mourning Doves.  Everyone hunts here, many of the women.  It took me at least a year to adjust to the hunting culture here…..I still haven’t entirely but do my best to help the birds, quail and doves.  We used to have turkeys visiting but no more.  And I haven’t seen a pheasant in about 18 years on our property. 

But, I did want to note, pardon the pun, that when I fill our feeders, even after not filling them all summer, it’s always a Chickadee that announces the happy event….and within a day or even less the other birds show up, ones we haven’t seen sometimes in months.  I’m beginning to wonder, after reading above about the Chickadee, if there is something special about them.  Are they somehow announcing to all birds that dinner is finally on?  How do they do that??