Site Discussions

Well done Ross! Very enjoyable. I see RLP is also a kindred spirit for you. I have quite the collection of his “stuff.” I actually prefer the raw journals. Good to see you still enjoying what the north country has to offer.

The krummholz is such a visually fascinating part of the alpine landscape. Magical for children; interesting scientifically for adults. Thanks for the tidbit about horizontal growth due to killing of the apical buds.

Let’s not start throwing negatives at folks whose experience with the land is plenty sufficient for them to judge the actions of would-be troublemakers.  Forget this thoroughly false stuff about quotas for policemen, prosecutors & judges - the same bad actors already give them enough to do.  And the only reason to be afraid of a “cop car” is if you’ve done something to cause that fear.  A brighter perspective on life is what sustains us all.

David,

You hit very closely to an issue that Vermont does not like to talk about, the poverty that is more common then we care to admit or address. I have always said you’ll never see a rusty trailer on the cover of VT Life. The second point is that as we lose the ties to the land, the true working landscape, opportunities to address these cultural shifts become more challenging. We see lots of lost souls in in the Kingdom. The drug problem is very real and very evident in some of our local communities. The police are not being alarmists these are real and sadly deep seated social problems. Despair, poverty and lack of good jobs tied to our cultural history are not the sole issue, but it is certainly a component of these terrible circumstances. The working landscape needs to be better understood and appreciated as to what it can and previously provided for a community’s foundation. We have lost that connection to often in our looking at the aesthetics of the forest and farmland without appreciating the need to maintain a viable economic base to the working landscape

This is by far the best article that I have ever read about the maple syrup industry.

Love your blog, but disappointed that it included the heroin issue.
I understand mentioning the rolling stone posting.
We can open the morning paper or turn on the tv to read about the disturbing news. I read Northern Woodlands for just the opposite.

We had morning doves,  two, that use one of our hanging planter for there nest. In short they had a baby dove which died two days later, should I remove the dead baby? And will the doves try again? And use the planter again? The weather in Chicago has been very, very cold with strong winds and sometime 0 degrees We are very sad of the lost, of the morning doves.

Your analogy is brilliant. Heroin is an invasive species along with the dealers who spread it. The drug patrons are the birds that feed upon the availability of the food more readily available. How do you solve it? Do you deal with the supply or the demand? The fight will always be there.

I am fascinated by hands, my own and others. Anaxagoras had said that Man is the wisest of all animals because he has hands. An animal that has hands much more human-like than the raccoon’s is the possum. It is nowhere near as smart as the raccoon, but still there may be some sense to Anaxagoras’ thinking. We human learn best when our hands are engaged. By making things we learn about our material culture in greater depth and with greater enthusiasm than can be found in the laziness of books.

I suspect that the raccoon will learn how to open the latch sooner rather than later. And once that knowledge gets passed on, rangers will have to lock up the garbage with combination locks.

I write about hands in my blog, wisdom of the hands.

Hi Pete,

Your question is a good one, but it’s very hard to explain in writing. My advice would be to take a walk out there with someone who understands this sort of thing and get their professional opinion. Or, selfishly speaking, buy our book More Than a Woodlot—it’ll explain everything you need to know.

Short answer is that veneer trees don’t have major defects. Blemishes, knots, branch stubs all degrade the value of a log.

And how did he know they were “up to no good”? Gotta be careful that FEAR doesn’t take over rationality. Lotta fear mongers out there. And remember these cops got to have numbers to support their jobs. Along with the Prosecutors and Judges, too.
Which is more scary, the kids, or the cop car?

I’m a sugarmaker and I have to say that this is probably one of the best articles I’ve ever read on the span of a season relative to syrup color and taste.  It also helps explain a lot about how this season started in with darker syrup and is staying that way.  No Fancy here this year.  I noticed reddening of the branches a week and a half ago - the trees are responding to the longer days, despite the cold.

I have a120ac. wood lot that was last cut in 1968. Would like to go in & take out firewood trees. What configuration should I look for vs. a log/veneer etc. tree?? Does a multi limb and crooked tree always label it in a pulp or firewood category??
Pete in Camden, ME

I wonder why a bird like the Goshawk that is such a powerful predator, is so low in population? Why don’t they out compete the sharpies and Coops and increase in numbers?

You forgot to mention that Black Bears love skunk cabbage. I once saw five big blacks all together in a skunk cabbage patch around the end of April.

My family operated at least one tannery during the mid - 1800’s on property that is now known as Peck’s Lake, near Gloversville. The remains of a fairly large tannery remain along the bank of the stream exiting the Lake that flows into the Garoga Creek. Do you have any information?

Thank you.

Not true. When syrup is boiling in the evaporator, sugarmakers use a defoaming agent to keep the bubbles from getting too high. Organic producers use a certified organic canola oil. Conventional producers use regular canola oil, or a dairy-based product. That’s the only tangible difference between organic and conventional syrup. There’s been research done on fertilizing a sugarbush with calcium, but i’ve never seen this done outside of academia—it’s cost prohibitive. As is spraying, except in extreme cases. My family has been sugaring for 60 plus years and we’ve sprayed once, during a forest tent caterpillar outbreak. We used Bt, which is an organic pesticide. But again, this was a once-in-a-generation thing. Nobody sprays regularly; there’s no need.

Need help on a question. My son in law believes that maple syrup that is not labeled organic comes from trees that have been fertilized and sprayed. True or not?

Yeah me too, I never really thought about it until I saw a moth in my home when it was snowing. Great, interesting info.

Hi Anthony,

Nice to hear from you—and keep the faith! The long range forecast has it getting warmer by the end of the week, and we still may get a season yet.

Great to hear you’re carrying on the sugaring tradition. Stick with it.