WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST From roughly late May into August, this was once a commonplace scene in the mid-19th century. Bald hemlock logs gleaming on the forest floor, made so by the peeling of their precious bark. The bark was grinded up to make a “liquor” or tannicContinue Reading
WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST? This was certainly a historical find. One of our members in Otsego County has existing on his property, perhaps the last pile of hemlock bark leftover from the barkpeeling days of the 19th Century. Hemlock bark was used to extract tannins to make leatherContinue 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