Theory of Language

I’m amazed how communication, more complex than a spider web and far more fragile, actually seems to work from time to time. Even among those who share a common tongue, each has an internal dictionary, none of which entirely agrees with the next person’s. My wife is francophone, which adds a layer of complexity to the challenge of sharing ideas in a relationship.

But an even bigger issue can arise when folks fail to notice they’re speaking different…

Nuts are good for your health; they are truly super foods.  Like anything else worthwhile they do require a bit of work to grow, harvest and make use of.  However, doing so can be rewarding and is a way to add some healthy, locally grown food to your diet.  The best adapted nut species for NYS are black walnuts, butternuts, chestnuts (depending on your hardiness zone,) hazelnuts, and shagbark hickories.

Hazelnuts are easy to grow and come into production in roughly 4 to 5 years…

Dean:  "David, how many logs are left on the landing?"  David:  "Only a few.  I think there are 4 or 5 face cords.  An easy day." 

Eleven face cords later, and the team is still ready for more!

When our partners at Wagner Hardwoods deliver logs, they do it very carefully and stack the pile well off the ground on "stringer" logs so that there is plenty of room for air to flow.  In addition, having the logs off the ground keeps them clean and dry and makes it easy…

Let Them Eat Wood

Nearly all historians agree Marie Antoinette probably never coined the phrase “Let them eat cake,” a saying already in popular culture before her time. The phrase was ascribed to her by opponents to bolster her reputation as callous and arrogant. She would have seemed far more benevolent if she had said “Let them eat wood.”

From remote villages to five-star urban restaurants, people around the world consume all manner of delectable dishes featuring second-hand…

(Note: This is by Joe Hovels, a longtime forester and proponent of good silviculture from Wisconsin. If you like this essay, consider signing up for his newsletter Wisconsin Partnerships in Forestry at logcabin@nnex.net)

Water:A Tragedy of Responsibility Joe Hovels, Wisconsin Partnerships in Forestry Environmental problems place great constraint on all societies. The response of the society, its leaders in particular, determines the…

Trap Trees

When I hear the phrase “trap tree,” an image of Charlie Brown’s kite-eating tree in the Peanuts comic strip comes immediately to mind. But trap trees, or sentinel trees, are meant to nab a much smaller airborne object, the emerald ash borer (EAB).

The idea is to make certain ash trees more attractive to EAB, to serve both as a monitoring tool and as a means of slowing the rate of ash death. Early in the growing season, a chosen ash tree is…

(Note: This is intended as a resource to pass along to general audiences as an introduction to the issue. Peter has loads of detailed information on beech thickets on his blog and elsewhere, so the only thing Forestconnect members will gain form reading this is possibly a smile.)

Beech Gone Wild

The sturdy, long-lived and stately American beech, Fagus grandifolia, has been slowly dying out since 1920, when a tiny European insect pest was accidentally released…

This is the best time of year for finding EAB infestations. Several localized ash trees with woodpecker damage is a good sign to followup. Take pictures, gps coordinates and report new infestations (especially finds not mapped by DEC) to: https://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/72136.html

I found this tree while out walking my dogs, I would have been skiing if there was enough snow. I returned to peel and verify using a draw knife. Then…

Winter continues in full force and the need for firewood is relentless.  Our partners at the Rotary of Walworth-Ontario continue to raise funds for Camp Onseyawa (https://www.onseyawa.org/) through the sale of C4C firewood.  Camp Onseyawa is a special place for children with special needs and our region's Rotarians make it all happen.

While I was sitting by the fire on January 26 and 27, the C4C team worked hard on the fine, seasoned ash…

New Online Tool Helps Producers Estimate Carbon Stored in Soil --- https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/national/home/?cid=STELPRDB1119532 ;

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New Online Tool Helps Producers Estimate Carbon Stored in Soil ---…

Many of you have visited Cornell's Arnot Teaching and Research Forest over the past year and noticed some big changes, namely several large regeneration harvests aimed at replacing aging stands with new ones that are as good or better as the old ones in terms of future quality and value.  For those of you who won't make it back there anytime soon but are interested in following the progress, I'll provide periodic updates here.

Cradles and Cables

We are a clever lot when it comes to helping our kids settle into bed at night. Apparently, the story of how Jack broke his head fetching a pail of water, with Jill falling down the well after him, or the charming bubonic plague ditty “Ring Around the Rosie,” is supposed to calm small children. The veiled threat about abandoning an infant in a tree on a windy night always made my kids hush up. “Rock-a-bye baby, in the treetop; when the wind blows, the cradle will…

We're short?  How can that be?  We were way ahead of schedule for this year! 

With the recent cold snap, the need for firewood is relentless.  The Rotary of Walworth-Ontario needed an additional eight facecords and the Canandaigua Rotary needed two more, all to help Camp Onseyawa.   But.... we only had six stacked and ready to go.  So, a Flash Mob was called for High Noon on January 10 to make more heat!  Fortunately, thanks to Wagner Hardwoods, we have material that is ready…

Decline of Garlic Mustard  @ 5:14

Timber Theft

Only the crunch of gravel mars the predawn quiet as a truck, headlights off, rolls to a stop. Working quickly, professional bandits round up your unsuspecting timber. As your herd of prized trees is prodded toward the tailgate ramp, their soft mewling is barely audible amidst all the rustling…

While it does at times parallel cattle rustling, with skilled thieves whisking away a few exceptionally valuable trees in an early-morning or weekend raid, timber theft…

All of us are using more heating fuel this season than in recent winters, and there is still plenty of cold weather to come. It’s bad enough that our wallets are thinner, but those who heat with wood have the additional burden of more time spent lugging in fuel. And to add insult to injury, uninvited guests occasionally show up with the wood.

Firewood, I’ve been told, comes from “trees” which seem to be covered in “bark,” under which insects can hide. As the wood we bring inside warms…