I'm happy to report that 2018's hard work is paying off for Camp Onseyawa (https://www.onseyawa.org/), The Rotary and NYFOA.  The team from the Walworth-Ontario Rotary came to work on Saturday October 13 and picked up another six face cords for their patrons in and near Wayne County.  I asked Jonathan Wordingham, the team's leader, to take some pics:…

Evolution, Just for Fun

Every time I make primordial soup, it tastes terrible, but maybe some element is missing.

Roughly four billion years ago in the original batch of soup—or possibly it was a stew or even a souffle; that detail is a bit hazy—single-celled organisms first made an…

If you enjoy working in your woodlot and struggle with the undesirable trees that you may not have time and skill to safely fell, this study is designed to find a solution for you.

Many woodland owners have a large number of undesirable trees, or large trees, they would like to kill, yet they lack the skill or time to safely fell these trees. Felling also may not be desirable because of the risk of damage to nearby…

Plant a Tree or Rental It: Your Choice

Planting a tree isn’t rocket science, which is good thing. If it were that complex, I’d wager we’d have a lot fewer trees lining our streets. It may not take a scientist to plant a tree correctly, but a lot of money is spent each year to buy and plant trees which may as well be leased, because they will only live a fraction of their…

Porcelain Berry

A total lunar eclipse is likely more common than the swift removal of a novel invasive plant infestation, but fingers are crossed that such a thing happened in St. Lawrence County this summer. The plant eradication, I mean—we all know about the celestial event this past July, the first central lunar eclipse since June 2011. Thanks to the sharp eyes of Dr. Tony Beane, a Professor of Veterinary Science at SUNY Canton who is also an avid naturalist, an exotic vine capable…

Cornell's ForestConnect program is facilitating a network of forest vegetation practitioners to identify research needs and collectively build knowledge of safe and effective techniques. This network will focus on vegetation management in forest and woodlot environments using herbicide, mechanical or livestock methods. …

The fall meeting of the NY Nut Growers Association will be held on Saturday, September 15th at the Albers Tree Farm, 6499 Wilbur Creek Road, Bath, NY and the Lisbin Tree Farm, 3361 Parker Road, Avoca, NY.  This will be a walking tour and discussion of new plantings of chestnut, hazelnut, hickory and walnut trees.  The meeting is open to the public.  For more information and to register please visit nynga.org.   

From the New York Growers Association website:  nynga.org, Professor Thomas Molnar, a hazelnut breeder at Rutgers University, would like to obtain seeds of the American hazelnut, Corylus americana for use in their breeding program. The goal is to select superior individuals for Eastern Filbert Blight resistance, for cold hardiness, and for boosting genetic diversity available in hybrid hazelnuts. The nuts will be grown out by a team of researchers, and the best will be propagated and…

I'm in here typing when I should be out there thinning my contest plots!  Since the days are getting cooler, I wanted to post a few notes on the Northeast Timber Growing Contest so that interested folks can consider joining in on the fun in 2018.

The Northeast Timber Growing Contest is designed to help improve the long-term productivity and health of small…

I'm in here typing when I should be out there thinning my contest plots!  Since the days are getting cooler, I wanted to post a few notes on the Northeast Timber Growing Contest so that interested folks can consider joining in on the fun in 2018.

The Northeast Timber Growing Contest is designed to help improve the long-term productivity and health of small…

Tom Molnar the hazelnut breeder at Rutgers University and Shawn Mehlenbacher the hazelnut breeder at Oregon State University would like to obtain native American hazelnut, Corylus americana seeds/plants from across NYS.  American hazelnut has good resistance to Eastern filbert blight and has good cold hardiness, unfortunately the nut quality isn't as good (size, shell thickness) as with the European hazelnut.  The breeders would like to increase the American hazelnut genetic material they…

A dramatic turn of events caused the Chainsaws for Charity work area to become the HOT place to be last Saturday.  Attendance looked like it might be on the lite side, but changing schedules created plenty of activity.  Thanks to Dave Keebler, Dana, and Greg, we have excellent photos to tell the story.  Here's a nice shot of Dave (in yellow) and David (in blue).  It was Dave's first time out with C4C and we really enjoyed his company!  Dave's a hard worker and has a great sense of humor. …

Just a quick update on the midweek C4C sessions at David and Celia's and a reminder about future events.  With the summer heat at the firewood landing, we've been solving more of society's problems through jabberjaw-ing and stacking less firewood!  But that really is the fun of C4C....raise some money for a good cause and have some laughs in the process. 

Greg, Bill, David, Keith, Jim, others, and I have been sharing donuts and sawdust on the second and fourth Wednesdays of…

Another great day at the C4C landing!  Lots of action, lots of wood chips, and thanks to Eileen, lots of donuts!  Gary worked with Kathy at the splitter and also took a bunch of great pictures for us.  Here is a sequence of pics of Kathy, which demonstrates the emotions of operating a fine logsplitter.

Fierce Determination…

Just a quick post to show some pics from last Wednesday and as a reminder to mark your calendar for the next bimonthly event on June 9 at David and Celia's place just outside of Avon, NY.  More on that below.....

Here's Jim whittling logs down to size:

And here's David…

The NYFOA C4C Team operates like a well-oiled machine and it just acquired a new....well-oiled machine!  With special thanks to Runnings - Brockport and John Schumacher, C4C purchased a brand new log splitter complete with Kohler engine.  Runnings gave a big discount and had its team assemble and prepare the splitter for C4C's service. 

NYFOA's Greg Lessord was key to this acquisition and mentions, "It's a Black Diamond 25-ton vertical and horizontal splitter on a tow-behind…

Black locust is one of the most rot resistant woods native to North America.  Straight black locust posts and poles are in demand by grape and hop growers, and organic farmers who wish to fence in livestock or fence out deer.  The heartwood of locust trees is the most resistant to decay so larger diameter material will be the longest lasting. 

NYS-DEC considers black locust to be invasive and there are restrictions on planting black locust in certain areas of NYS.  Before considering…

Ticked Off

The downside of nice weather is that ticks like it too. Blackflies and mosquitoes can take the fun out of a day of hiking or gardening, but a single deer tick can ruin a whole summer if it transmits Lyme or other serious disease. Fortunately, there’s a relatively new tool in the battle against deer ticks: mice.

As recently as fifteen years ago in northern NY state it was rare to find a single black-legged tick, commonly known as a deer tick, on your person even after…