WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST? Something I wish I knew more about was how to age barbed wire. I bet someone out there can look at how the wire is put together and decipher when it was made. This would be helpful or interesting to me since so manyContinue Reading
WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST? I constantly look for reasons or excuses to be in the woods. I find “shanging” a good one. This plant likes to hide like no other, but I tend to believe that one needs to be almost over it to notice it. It likesContinue Reading
WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST? One thing I value more each year are the abundance of springs in our forests. Not only for drinking of course but as “healing waters.” Any pain in your wrist, hands, or feet can be alleviated by these cold waters. Inflammation occurs while hiking,Continue Reading
WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST? I hear it’s been hot as hell in other parts of the US, but this summer in the Catskills hasn’t been too bad. In fact, my family only visited the stream once to swim; It just hasn’t been balmy & in the 90s tooContinue Reading
WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST? Been talking quite a bit about fire in the forest recently on CFA’s radio show program–FROM THE FOREST. The remnants or legacy of fire–though dwindling–can still be seen today in some forests of the Catskills, especially near the Escarpment or front range, where theContinue Reading
WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST? Finding these little golden nuggets is truly a treat that’s “from the forest.” Golden chanterelles are emerging right now in the woods; One benefit of all the rain we’ve received recently. These aren’t large mushrooms. Sometimes they barely raise their “head” above the forestContinue Reading
WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST? Finished 1 of 2 deerskins into leather last week. This hide was from a doe down in the Wallkill Valley. Doeskins are normally thinner than buckskins. Making leather reveals in some part, the lives these deer lived. Scars from tick bites, barbed wire, andContinue Reading
WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST? Well, I never seem to have luck with my planted serviceberries. Serviceberries–also known as Juneberry, shadblow, bilberry, or shadbush–seem to grow well in the Catskills, but just as they really begin to fruit, they “fall apart.” Before fully ripening, they often get a rustContinue Reading
WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST? Had to go down to New Jersey for the day in search of a new mini-van for the family. Got bored at the dealership and took my hungry kids outside in search of something to eat. I thought I might find some volunteer mulberryContinue Reading
WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST? Now is the time–from Memorial Day to mid-August or so—to peel hemlock logs. As a hobby, I like to use hemlock bark to tan deerskins into leather. Seeing these “naked” logs was once a common thing in the forest back in the early 19thContinue Reading