Site Discussions

Thank you for sharing, I wanted to try making birch tea but did not know where to start.

Read all with joy. And was a good read. As I was young back in the 50’s, I knew everthing lol.

Just to teach me that muscle is different from knowledge my dad would give me a tip in the art of spitting wood every time I thought I knew it all.

1) Use a dull axe or maul, your bit will not become stuck as often , your not splitting fibres and the blade will not become sticky from sap or resin.
2) As mentioned before that slight twist as the tool strikes the wood.
3) Place the wood upside down , that way you are splitting with the wood grain instead of against, back to #2, you are not splitting fibres.
4) By placing it upside down you are splitting with the curvature of the knots, splitting vs chopping against the grains.
5) Use a good splitting block that is cut to you heights, it allows you to use your arms, shoulders ,back an hips to your advantages,  you loose force it to low or to high, and it allow you to maintain balance.
5) Always use a spitting block the ground is like sponge and absorbs the shock wave/energy.
6) If you can not advoid a knot, split just to the side so the curvature of the wood will peel around the knot.
7 ) ’ IF’ the axe becomes wedged in the block and you decide to lift it above your head and bring it down on the butt of the axe, try to bring it down straight, vs a swinging motion, more control, and less chance of it breaking handle or the handle kicking upward hurting your wrist an loosing control.

Many more but it’s a start!

(Responding to Brian Hagey) I understand your question, it is an understanding of iron. A nice Swedish built axe from quality steel and not overly thick and heavy will have a ringing noise when you tap it or snit it with your finger nail.

A heavy axe or maul or one that has a less quality of steel vs iron will not have a ring to it. So the old joke of going to the store to buy a nice axe that has a ring to it.

I saw a small porcupine in my neighbor’s yard that seems to have this fungus.

Hi Elise,

Just received winter 2020 issue and all I could think of was my grandson and my daughter who gets him out in the woods quite often. I grew up in the city but have been lucky enough to be a bird watcher and nature lover for 40 years during which I’ve been lucky enough to visit all 7 continents. I want him to enjoy nature just as I have so I’m signing him and my son (I think the 15 month old twins are a little young for the mag.) although we watch the feeder birds. Keep up the great work, it what our younger generation needs.

Thank you
Kevin Ryan

You could have written this about me. Loved the short story.

The picture of the woman with the baskets, her name is Philomena (Solis) Nelson. She is my 3rd great Grandmother on my fathers side.

I very much enjoy these articles - for new infromation and for refresher lessons. Thank you.

Great article and even better comments - my thanks to all.

Just started splitting my own firewood. Initially chainsaw’d 14-16” Length / up to 8-10” dia. logs of downed tree branches (and some smaller trees) from around the house and was splitting up the Logs with a hatchet. Yup. Pretty funny watching me try to slice up a twisted, knotty holly tree log… but by goodness, I did it. My wrists didn’t appreciate it.
Anyway - I just bought an 8 lb splitting maul… and giggle every time i slips these logs weather pine, oak or maple (and also those gnarly holly tree logs - which burn faster like birch) .

Been great reading everyone’s wisdom - hope that sharing my beginner (at age 52) experience would either be a good laugh for most, or provide a beginner an ‘ah-ha’ moment. Either way, cheers and good splitting!

I loved your reading your piece on Mourning Doves. I have been watching them for several years now, ever since they laid their eggs on the beam under our eaves. That first time, I found two eggs smashed in the driveway. I looked up to see three twigs on the beam. My husband quickly tacked pieces of wood on either side of the beam, so they might be more successful in their next attempt, and they have had many hatchlings since then. I’ve never heard the cooing sound of doves, except in the spring and summer, signaling their return to the nest. Imagine my surprise when I heard it again last week—in the middle of winter. Since then, I saw them mating on a telephone wire, and they are now back, taking turns on the nest. During this difficult time for our country, it is a very bright spot for me.

I have participated in Polly’s Way of the Wabanaki trip and it was amazing.  I loved spending all that time in the woods, time with Jason, Ryan, Jennifer, and Polly and Jean.  I also love to be quiet in the woods.  This was a special trip, so I am going this winter too.

I enjoyed the article on red spruce and had two comments on the story. “Spruce trees take three decades just to bear cones” is mentioned and I assume this includes red, white, and black spruce. In my experience as a forester I find that three decades better describes peak production of red spruce cones. Red spruce can produce cones as early as 15 years of age. My reference is at this link under botanical characteristics:
https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis
/plants/tree/picrub/all.html

My other comment is that spruce-fir stands are being impacted by the balsam wooly adelgid eliminating balsam fir competition and allowing more light to the red spruce. This may help increase red spruce reproduction.

Climate change is certainly impacting red spruce and I appreciate the efforts that researchers at UVM are taking with red spruce.

My wife and I paddled 99 miles down the Green River in Utah with Polly. She is such a capable guide that you feel like you are the one making decisions.

I have made suet for the wintering sparrow’s but they have vanished. I normally had 15-20 around all year. None….birds are gone.

Last year I noticed wooly adelgid on my trees for the first time.  I cut off some branches that were infested but realized that I would have to take off too many branches.  We spent $1500 treating some of the trees around our yard (they also had the scalar issue) but I noticed that in the woods behind us many of the trees had already succumbed (some were huge trees and it was incredible sad).  I started scarping off the white areas on the branches of some of these trees in an effort to stop the spread.  Is there anything else I can do?

I enjoyed your post it brought back the simple things of nature, being a boy and growing up in the woods.

Thank you Mary for this article. Tonight I saw three grouse up high in poplar trees eating. It was a gift to see. I watched them for a while until I think a fourth grouse saw me and made a warning call so I left before I caused further disturbance.

Most Maine wooden boat builders have uses red oak for many years.  Plentiful and available in big sizes for backbone pieces, and straight grain for timbers (frames or ribs in lay terminology) it was sometimes referred to as Christmas tree wood — red & green was what was wanted for steam bending.  But the combination of global warming and the Clean Water Act have brought Teredo worms to Gulf of Maine waters, and ship worms look on red oak as candy.

My old friend, now passed, planted hundreds of Red Spruce and now 75 years later they are everywhere in our corner of the state.

Hi from over the Atlantic! Been reading about late leaf fall on Oak trees and we have had our house built on the edge of a wood containing many oak trees in the area and fields around. We have one oak which must be 200 plus years old in our garden which is still in nearly full leaf and yet the 3 oaks in the wood next to it lost their leaves about 2 months ago. Just wondering if the main tap root to our tree is deeper and larger thus keeping the tree in leaf much longer? Thoughts on that please from the expert arborialists out there….