WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST? This cool, rainy spring has been great if you’re a leaf fungus. Casualties of leaf diseases can be seen by early leaf-drop and die-back upon sycamore trees. Noticeably bare sycamores can be seen while driving state route 28 or through most large valleys in theContinue Reading
WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST? I have been watching this large ash tree across the road from CFA’s office for a few years now; It is one large ash tree. Unfortunately, strong symptoms of emerald ash borer have now revealed themselves in Arkville/Margaretville area of Delaware County as theyContinue Reading
WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST? Well, it’s pretty rainy & wet out in the woods these days. Hopefully not a repeat of last year’s growing season. I guess the one good thing lots of rain is good for is mushrooms & red efts. My daughter–Metta Mae–found these little redContinue Reading
WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST? I’m hoping that this year’s flowers on our grafted apple tree in front of the office actually produce this year; We’ll see. This tree was grafted about 6 years ago, and first bore flowers last year, which died soon afterwards due to frost damage.Continue Reading
WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST? We’re full-swing into the APPLE TREE GRAFTING season here @ CFA. Kind of excited about this one tree near Margaretville; Put 4 different varieties upon it, making 5 if you count the original tree. Now, I’m just hoping for good growth and that theContinue Reading
WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST? One of my favorite spring flowers just made its arrival here yesterday in Ulster County–Serviceberry (Amelanchier spp.). Serviceberry is also known as shadbush, shadblow, bilberry, and Juneberry. It’s a kind of non-descript little gray tree that goes unnoticed until it flowers, making a strongContinue Reading
WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST? The Apple Tree Grafting season has now begun. Although the first day out brought snow in Ulster & Sullivan Counties, the weather quickly warmed up. The best time to graft is when the bark begins to slip or becomes pliable. Hopefully, this April willContinue Reading
WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST? Every tree is a little different and you never know what peculiarities one might find. While pruning some apple trees today, I came across this funky ash tree; If you look closely, it’s not actually touching the ground! This tree profoundly exemplifies a tree’sContinue Reading
WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST? The 2019 maple sugaring season has ended for me in central Ulster County. The season finished as one of the best with high sugar contents and the most syrup I’ve made/tap as of yet. I’d like to take credit for it, but really itContinue Reading
WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST? Sometimes a seemingly perfectly healthy tree can begin to die & then a perfectly damaged tree survives; This is one example I saw the other week off the side of the road. This maple tree had been damaged by livestock and burned near itsContinue Reading