Site Discussions

Hi Mark, great article! I am really set on starting my own black walnut plantation and your article was one of the few that provided some valuable insight! I have a five acre property and if it’s not too personal, did you ever calculate roughly how much money the trees will yield per acre, or per tree at harvest time? Could you possibly share this information with me? I would be very grateful. Also, how large are your trees now (in terms of height before the first branches, and circumference) have you estimated how much larger your trees will be when they are 30 years old? Because I read that they are first ready for harvest around then. If you don’t have this information in your head or written down, don’t worry at all about answering that question. And finally, how many trees will be good, veneer quality wood compared to how many you first planted? Thank you so much!

I just photographed a Snowberry Clearwing at my front porch.

I was picking green beans in my garden a couple days before this article appeared in the Burlington Free Press on August 17, 2015 when I heard the buzz of a bee.  I watched the bee move from flower to flower (at least 6) never returning to any of the earlier flowers.  I wondered how the bee did that.  Did it remember?  I thought “no” but then the bee remembers how to tell other bees where the food was found.  Was it a pheromone?  Probably a short duration pheromone if it were or else no other bee would visit the flower.  This article provided another possibility: perhaps the bee temporarily removes the electric charge from the flower and the bee won’t visit a flower that isn’t charged.  This could be tested using something like the mock flowers mentioned in this article.

My friend saw one recently while mowing a field abutting a large wooded area.  It stopped, stared at her, then disappeared swiftly into the woods.  Appeared to have a limp and hurt back foot or leg. She was sure it was not a bobcat, lynx, fox or anything other than a large catamount.

I also have frogs and tadpoles in a small shallow pond. Did Victoria in Northern MN ever get a solution? Would a deicer help? I read sweeping snow off and letting sun reach the plants and algae helps. I will start with that. My pond will freeze solid top to bottom, can the tads and frogs take this and survive?

Many thanks, Mike, for yet another thoughtful and well written piece. I always enjoy them and appreciate the knowledge I gain that helps me see this remarkable world of ours more clearly—even if we don’t necessarily have “the answers!”

Elise, I appreciate reading about this and having your perspective. Thanks!

Great piece! Helped me identify the White-Marked Tussock. The caterpillar is crawling by us at our campsite right now…awesome! Thank you!!

I have found that if I tightly wrap a good Ponderosa block with seven or eight wraps of heavy wire, soon the working top of the block is weathered and pounded and expands into a rather tight mass that no longer acts like splitting wood.  This will work for years of splitting.

I learned to split with a double-bit Kelly.  The two bits are different; one narrow for cutting a tree down, one a bit thicker with more shoulder behind the bit—for splitting.  I learned to swing that axe with speed and to SNAP it as it impacted the wood.  In some cases I would let the axe-head snap to one side to help split more brittle wood.  I did this into my 60s.  Not long ago someone got me started with a splitting maul and now I’m rather spoiled.

Why not charge every person in America one dollar per year for our woodlands and animals? Even urban areas should pay, the homes they live in destroyed woodlands. Plus we all add to pollution. Lets keep our woodlands and animals supported! There are many beautiful parks and preserves we can go to and enjoy. Lets all SUPPORT this, so we can continue to enjoy these preserves and endangered animals. Its time to stop making species extinct! We have lost enough! I would love to see a dodo bird, or thylacine! So many gone! STOP NOW and give one dollar per year to help our woodlands and animals, so we can always see what our states looked like before we took over! Please watch the movie “Soylent Green!” You will cry if you have a heart, but you will WAKE UP! Charlton Heston and Edward G. Robinson(older movie 1970’s?) See how horrible life will be if we we don’t help!
Reverend Jackie’s Wolfpack

Michele Patenaude:  Have watched mourning doves for awhile, and noticed they build very small nests, where their tail feathers and heads extend beyond the nest, though their bodies fit perfectly.  Why do they build such small nests?

Apparently from my own research, Hemlock bark harvesting preceded the major commercial timber harvesting at least in north central PA. Hemlocks that still stood stripped or were downed and yet not rotted were harvested for crate and cheap reconstruction lumber during and after the civil war.  My interest was none of this but I was led here because of a writer named J. C. French who wrote in some detail about the (extinct?) Passenger Pigeons preference for nesting in hemlock stands in north central PA. I have often heard about how the early railroads brought the market hunters to the nesting sites. But the decline preceded somewhat the deforestation of mast trees. Destruction of favored nesting may account for this disparity. This also explains why there are some fairly old hemlock stands in comparison to the age of more commercial timber stands in the same vicinity. I have spent many days hiking and hunting thru vast hemlock stands in PA on a particular property of 50,000 acres formerly owned by a paper company. It appears the only trees unharvested thru the 20th century until today were the hemlocks. Alas, I have yet to see a passenger pigeon there, but you never know. Thank you so much for this informative site.

I have a pile of white pine firewood sitting in the yard and recently noticed the shavings that these bugs produced. When I go out at night now I can hear up to a dozen of them sawing away. If you listen close enough you can identify where they are under the bark. Peel it back and there they are. Very interesting.

I put pieces of yarn out last spring, and was not sure if it had been used in any bird nests, but this spring when pruning my gardenia shrub, I found a nest made of coir strands (probably pulled out from my hanging baskets), with pieces of the yarn interwoven, and some of it actually “glued” on. What species of bird builds a nest like this?

Good article. I was trying to explain self-pruning to our grandson. We have American Basswood that are 120’ tall – and nary a branch for 60’!! Obviously they DID once. They drop “firewood” pretty regularly. We have Burr Oak that are old enough to have seen Lewis and Clark go up the Missouri 200 years ago – and they have “dead” under branches that have been there for all the 30 years that we’ve owned the property (E. Nebraska. And yes, there are forests in Nebraska). They may last the life of the tree??

What ratio of linseed oil/turpentine do you use?

Nancy, from the description given above, it sounds like a shrew! My dog caught one this afternoon. My shrew had black teeth and a pointed head as well. If you managed to hear the capture, it gives out high pitched squeals.

I am new to growing shiitake mushroom and was wondering, how many lbs of mushroom can you expect off of a log? I know it depends on temperature and moisture, but from all I read, the ideal temp is between 50-80 f and not to over water your logs. If anyone could help me please let me know. Thanks.

Hi,
Do you eat the root, stock, or both?

I am 52 years old I have lived in a house heated by only wood all but 5 years of my life. When I can’t split wood by hand anymore my time will be up. I believe whether I am swinging an axe or a maul the most important factor is reading the wood. The second most important factor on a tough piece is to be able to hit the same spot on the second swing! Master these two factors. And the average mechanical wood spliter does not stand a chance. My favorite days are spent splitting wood in the crisp Wisconsin fall air.