Site Discussions

Very much appreciate this new web addition to Northern Woodlands!

Thank you for your nice comment Nancy, you can click here to browse several articles he has written for us over the years.

Warmly,
Emily
Northern Woodlands

I loved the way this was written. It was entertaining and funny. I can just picture him. I am going to look for more articles written by Michael Caduto.

I appreciate the fact that you used good old fashion snap traps instead of the harmful pesticides commonly used in today’s home. Often times, critters that ingest harmful chemicals inadvertently pollute the bodies of the creatures that feed upon them. With all those critters around, you must have a healthy owl habitat nearby.

Thanks so much for writing this incredibly helpful piece. My husband and I are looking at buying an existing farm (neither of us have grown Christmas trees before,) and the thought of starting from scratch seemed both daunting and fraught with peril :) You brought up several points that we hadn’t thought about, as well as some we had, but with great perspective. I’m bookmarking this for reference!

I loved your pics of the owl, excellent! Whenever we have a snowy winter, we usually get a Barred Owl that will hang around our feeders all day. I started saving the mice I would catch in the mouse traps, in our basement,and freezing them.
( my wife was not very excited when she found them in the bottom drawer of the freezer!) Whenever the owl would show up, I would throw a mouse out in the snow underneath him, and he’d swoop down and snatch them up. Thanks for sharing those great pics!

Lots of them on my property! I note that their bark preferences are the same as the beavers’. Probably the whiter barks just taste better and are easier to digest. Sort of like people liking white bread!

Answer to Sarah Thorne:

Thanks for your question. I’m almost certain I asked Terry Delaney that question, but a check of my notes shows I don’t have anything on that topic. I’d be surprised if various species of jelly fungi didn’t have preferences for particular tree species. For instance, my “Mushrooms of Northeast North America” by George Barron notes that witch’s butter fruits on hardwoods while orange jelly prefers conifers. Some jellies, like white coral jelly fungus, fruit on the ground under hardwoods, other species fruit on debarked logs, others on dead twigs and branches, some through cracks in the bark. Every species has their niche.

Best regards,
Joe Rankin

I believe in the picture the entrance is a hole and the rest of the house is solid.

Snowshoes seem to have had a population growth in our area. Seem to be taking areas back from Cottontail rabbits. Is this the same story otherplaces as well?

Thanks for the interesting article. Do you know if species of jelly fungi prefer particular species of tree? Is there a website to check for the most common jelly species for the northeast? I’m a high school ecology teachers and would enjoy sharing more about jellies with my students.
Thanks!

I do love old skidders with Detroit diesels. This cold dry winter air is the best to be cutting and skidding wood in. As you say after the reluctant start these old machines just purr and keep on going. Woods work is ideal in my mind at +20 but it takes below zero to keep skid roads hard and free of mud. I use chain chockers too kinda old school but I like them.

Hello Joe, Nicely written article. I am interested in mushrooms for harvesting and just because I find them interesting.  You might try getting in touch with Dr Rick VanDerPoll over in Sandwich, NH. He is always out in the woods for his work and his doctorate is in mycology. he has found mushrooms in the northeast that were thought not to exist here.  There might be some great photo ops involved.  The best—Dave Coulter, Northfield, NH.

What we need are genetic studies that show whether or not the distinctively-different downy and hairy woodpeckers did not simply retain the coloration of their common ancestor, and for this we need DNA from fossil specimens - such as what is being done to trace human lineages.  Naturally, along the way, the other woodpecker species mentioned (ladder-backed, Nuttall’s, lesser spotted, Arizona, white-headed, red-cockaded) could have followed the usual evolutionary example of geographic isolation leading to their particular appearances (including coloration), and the Central American hairy woodpeckers - by their relative isolation - are apparently heading in that direction.  Also note that the three-toed woodpeckers are also in the genus Picoides.
I might add that in bacteriology, such discussions of species relatedness and genetics are accompanied by a genetically-based phylogenetic tree which at least shows degrees of similarity which tend to suggest relative relatedness.  Indeed, such can show how phenotypically identical strains can belong to separate species and also how the strains of disparate biogroups can be genetically similar enough to identify as one species.

Thanks for sharing this, Cindy! What a great video. -Elise

Here is a link to an “explosion” triggered in our lab!

Cindy

I have operated my OWB since 2004.  While the amount of heat actually wasted can be debated (and it all depends on your install). The savings over non-renewal fuels such as oil and propane is tremendous.  My old farm house is as well insulated as it can be, but in the hills the wind is constantly blowing.. In 2004 my heating bill with oil ran roughly 3400-3600 per year.  Since then I pay roughly 1200 -1600 for log length firewood , I cut and split myself (good exercise by the way).. Paid 7500 for the boiler, with plumbing ( I did myself) etc. I estimate a 10K investment.  You can do that math.. considerable savings and that was with 2004 home heating oil prices.. I estimate today it would cost me 6000-6500 if I heated with oil alone…. So YES they are a good thing.  You save money and you are using a renewal resource.  Burn hardwood, aged minimum of 6 months, but I can burn some green if I need to.. Only time it smokes up is the initial load in the AM.. after that hardly any smoke…  Used responsibly and installed correctly they are great.  New gasification boilers are out, though considerable more expensive , they do have very different operational cycles..So you must be sure you understand how much heat they are capable of producing and how they fire.. With planning , proper placement, and operation OWB’s are a good source of heat.

That recovery information is really interesting and encouraging.

Drying butternut nuts is quite easy…put them in a container that has good air flow.  I use old plastic milk crates, the kind used to deliver milk bottles.  No need to take the outer sticky husk off especially if it has already started to turn black.  You can inadvertently stain your hands a lovely nicotine brown by handling them at this stage without neoprene gloves and it is impossible to remove. Shake the container of nuts every day or so for the first few weeks to ensure they aren’t sticking together and developing mold.  If you see small white worms falling out of the container don’t be alarmed.  It’s the walnut maggot and has no effect on the soundness of the nut.  It is strictly in the soft husk and encourages the husk to soften and break down.  If you have chickens they love these delicacies otherwise leave them for the chickadees and sparrows.  The nuts take about 3 months to dry in the shell and can be stored in a relatively cool area (basement or garage) in the crates almost indefinitely.  Cracking them requires good aim and a number of blows with a hammer to get the shell to crack but the nutmeats are buttery and delicious and well worth the effort.  A vice can also be used if you’re no good with a hammer.  The nutmeats store well in jars in the fridge…eat them straight out of the jar or in recipes you can scarf off the internet.

As it seemed there are more beech trees with leaves this year than I have seen, I wanted to learn why.

Wonderful article. I learned a great deal.

I appreciated that you explained that we are still learning about these trees and do not have all the answers. Too often these days, we are given junk science lectures (especially from government officials) claiming they know everything and ordering us to take actions which may do more harm than good to nature and the environment.