Site Discussions

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.

I have to wonder about the wisdom of this approach. I can see why it would be appealing to farmers, but what about the health of the forests? Would people begin clear cutting so that they could grow these plantations instead of maintaining the health of the forest for the entire ecosystem and not just our human needs?

I’m a student. I tap trees at home and we do some tapping at school. I do about forty trees and my school does about twenty.

I like your writing. I have enjoyed reading your two blogs with my teacher this season. (he’s typing this for me)
Our season is slow, too, but I have boiled three pints and sold one of them. This is disappointing because I was really geared up for the first time to do a lot of sapping!  I built my own barrel stove and cut my own firewood and was ready to go. If like you said April 1st is the average end of a season, this is going to be a wasted one! 
I’d really like to hear from you. Hope things get better.

Anthony

Thank you. I’ve been curious about this and you answered my questions about ferns in winter very well.

It’s also interesting to look inside the emerging plant. There is a spider species which awakens and is there to catch the insects which are attracted to the flower.

Y does water leak from from this particular tree?

Thank you for this well written and informative article. Trees are truly amazing.

This came in as a Letter to the Editor:

Dear Friends,

Just a note to tell you how much I enjoyed the winter edition, especially the six page article by my grandson Ross Caron. It was kind of Ross to mention me a few times. The piece was well written and the photos were excellent. I would grade it as an “A.”

Sincerely,

Donald Enman
Berlin, NH

March 16th and we haven’t even sweetened our pans yet. Tapped out slowly, like Dave, though we only have 250 taps total, all gravity. Cold week ahead… Hoping to have enough to be boiling for next weekend’s open house.