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WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST? Earlier this winter I had to cut down a hazardous sugar maple at someone’s property near Margaretville. The tree was part of an old sugarbush that I knew had been tapped for many decades. When sawing up the tree into “cookies” it revealed aContinue Reading

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Ideas for Dealing with Coronavirus   Remembering that all CFA members have the same thing in common leads me to put out this note as a way of dealing with the day-to-day humdrum.  With today being the first day where there was no coffee break at the Bun ’n ConeContinue Reading

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WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST? I pass by these two old apple trees on the way to work most mornings. You can see from the photos that the branch-union on the right side  of both trees had failed and half to one-third the tree is now mortally wounded. IfContinue Reading

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WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST? Just got back from a training near Boston at Harvard University’s Arnold Arboretum. I had some time before the class to walk around. If you like seeing different trees, this is the place. I couldn’t cover the entire arboretum since it’s 281 acres. TheContinue Reading

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WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST? Temperatures are fairly good for maple sugaring this year; Highs in the 40s and lows below freezing create good conditions for sap flow. However, my notes tell me that I’m definitely getting less than prior years. The only thing I can come up with–andContinue Reading

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WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST? Had to get something done on my truck over in Kingston, leaving me some time to go for a walk in the city. I look forward to those walks, since there are normally unique or abnormal trees that I don’t get a chance toContinue Reading

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WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST? Just got done pruning our apple tree last week. As you might recall, this tree was an ornamental apple that was beheaded & grafted onto back in 2014. Saw some flowers 2 years ago that didn’t fruit due to frost. Last year, we didContinue Reading

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WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST? After more than 6 years of pruning mature apple trees, the winner–for me–for the best hand-saw goes to Silky. These blades are tough, razor sharp and ergonomic. I wish I was being paid to say this, but am not. So, if you want anContinue Reading

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WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST? Last week I posted how the 2020 maple sugaring season had begun in central Ulster County (for me). Well, the first few days were giving that old “sap snow.” Sap snow is when it’s snowing, temperatures are in the mid-30s or so and theContinue Reading

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WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST? Well, I tapped my trees on Monday, January 6th. Later that night, they ran over 1 gallon per tap at about 2.6% sugar content or 32 gallons of sap to 1 gallon of syrup. I realize it’s awfully early, but the forecast later inContinue Reading