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WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST? The maple sugaring season is full-steam ahead right now. I better enjoy it while it lasts. Looking at the 10-day forecast in central Ulster County shows the day-time highs creeping into the upper 50s/lower 60s and evening lows above freezing. Freezing nights are aContinue Reading

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WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST? Well, I’d say judging by my woodpile, winter is at least 2/3 or more over. As soon as April hits, I’ll be cutting to refill the lost stock. Back in spring, I commented on using discarded green carpeting someone threw over the road andContinue Reading

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WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST? Spring is fast approaching. Now is the time to gather cuttings or “scionwood” from your favorite tasting apple or pear tree if you’d like to use them for grafting in April or May. We have scionwood from both named varieties as well as olderContinue Reading

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WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST? Finally tapped into the 2021 maple sugaring season. The weather later this weekend into next week is beginning to warm up. Temperatures will be into the upper 30s/low 40s in central Ulster County while freezing at night, and that means sap should be flowing.Continue Reading

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WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST? A tree is only considered “hazardous” if there are “targets” nearby onto which it can fall. “Targets” are considered people, property, etc. The more permanent or frequent targets are near trees likely to “fail”, the more hazardous the condition. This white pine recently failedContinue Reading

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WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST? Sometimes it might just be better to cut down a tree. I saw this sugar maple the other day in Delaware County. “Topping” like this attracts and enhances decay into the tree. If the tree does somehow re-sprout, many of these new unions willContinue Reading

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WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST? One of our members emailed this photo to us yesterday morning. It appears to be a bobcat “thinking” about going after a deer. Not sure whether the deer is concerned or not in the next frame. Bobcats are all around, yet they are rarelyContinue Reading

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WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST? Soap that’s “from the forest.” Just got done mixing some deer fat (about 37 oz.), coconut oil, olive oil, balsam oil, and lye in order to make some soap. We’ll see how it comes out this time around. Deer fat isn’t known to beContinue Reading

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WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST? If you want to add some variety to your established apple trees, you can by “top-working” or grafting other varieties on to them. However, now is the time–during the growing season–that “scionwood” is gathered for future spring grafting. Scionwood are last summer’s growth thatContinue Reading

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WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST? Alright, so the Christmas tree came down on New Year’s Eve, now that Santa is all finished this year. Our tree was a balsam fir, and I love the smell of those needles. At the same time, I’m in the process of making hand-soapContinue Reading