After the annual publication of the Big Tree list in the September 19 issue of The News, we received four requests to identify and measure contenders for champion tree status. Of the four, however, only one measured up: Kim and Alex Shifrin’s box elder on Ferry Road, coming in at 121 inches.
In recent years sandhill cranes have been observed in Vermont. So, what’s the big deal? Well, among other things, sandhills (Antigone canadensis) are the oldest species of bird on earth; fossil records date them to about ten million years. And cranes can dance!
My woodlot in Bolton was logged in the 1980s. Through a practice known as “diameter-limit cutting,” all trees above a certain diameter (probably 11 inches or 14 inches) were cut. My land is a good site for growing red and white oak, white and red pine, red spruce and hemlock, but this harvest removed most trees of these species, creating a forest of mostly unhealthy beech and red maple.
The first indication I had that there was a “hussie” in the garden was the intoxicating scent of perfume as I was drifting off to sleep. How sweet it was. Could it have been the Stargazer lily or perhaps Casa Blanca? Maybe clethra rosea, aka “summersweet”?
As we drift through the last Dog Days of Summer, my attention turns to preparations. And Squirrel Season. There is wood to be stacked, elderberries to be picked and processed and chicken of the woods to seek out amidst the muggy evening mists.
Tour de Farms is coming to Charlotte on Sunday, Sept. 16. The 11th annual fundraiser supports local agriculture and food-centered poverty programs.
In Vermont we are blessed to have amazing forests and many people that value them. For most Vermonters, hiking, mountain biking, hunting, fishing, rock climbing and other forms of recreation are the primary ways that they appreciate these resources. While our forests can support these uses, the interactions between them and forest ecology can sometimes get complicated.
Now in its sixth season, the Diamond Island Regatta, hosted by the Royal Savage Yacht Club (RSYC) and Point Bay Marina, will for the first time be a certified Clean Regatta, helping educate and mobilize sailors to protect the world’s lakes and oceans.
Having just completed the efforts of preparing the garden for hundreds of visitors (that is not a typo; we, along with other local gardeners, hosted hundreds of visitors for the recent Flynn Garden Tour), I am painfully aware of all that can go wrong, even when we are responsible and diligent planners. Having a year’s notice helps, and one would think that gives one a wide window to prepare. Well, stuff happens.
Many of our lawns are turning brown as we endure day after day of unusually high summer temperatures. But as you might guess, when the Energy Committee uses the word “greener” we’re talking about energy use, not color!
There is some good news betwixt and between the grim tales of drought, wildfires, starvation and war that populate our media. Good news right here in Vermont. Listen up!
Lately life has been offering me so many opportunities to learn how to be present and embrace the great variety that it offers. I have been blessed to have found my true soul mate with whom to share my time here on earth. I have been blessed with 49 years of learning to hunt, fish and forage and learn life’s lessons through the teachings of the outdoors.
A shelter for beach attendants at the Charlotte Beach was being built last Saturday by members of the Charlotte Recreation Committee and the Charlotte-Shelburne-Hinesburg Rotary Club. In the coming days the project will be finalized with siding, roof structure, windows and doors. The shelter was designed by Charlotter, Rick Ahern and funds for this project were made possible by the Charlotte-Shelburne-Hinesburg Rotary Club.
In 1996, I was a recent college graduate with a degree in Ecological Agriculture and Sustainable Community Development from Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. I had just moved to Vermont. I was working as a baker at Klinger’s Bread Company in South Burlington, looking for an opportunity to farm and waiting for Nate—my long-time friend and new boyfriend—to finish his last year of studies in Plant and Soil Science at UVM.
Sometimes, when life is particularly challenging and I feel consumed by troubles—bills to pay, family squabbles, an illness with my loved ones, the loss of a job or comparing myself to others—I need to step back and get outside for a fresh perspective. And once in a while the universe conspires to throw all of these at me at once.
Foxes
Are there bunnies in your garden this summer? In our neighborhood at least one family of foxes seems to be keeping the bunny population in check. Several recent evenings we have spotted as many as three kits scampering about. Morning walks to the strawberry patch have revealed heaps of feathers, fur and bones, as well as ropes of intestines strewn across the yard. But the lettuce crop remains robust!
In walking the woods of Chittenden County, landscape-level trends become increasingly apparent. One surprise has been evidence of an over-abundance of white-tailed deer on the landscape and the negative influence of deer on young trees (“regeneration”) in the forest.
In the past few columns, we’ve visited the finer and perhaps more colorful of the garden’s inhabitants. These are the icing on the cake, so to speak. But there needs to be structure and strength before you add icing. This is what gardeners refer to as the “bones” of the garden.
When I was growing up near Buffalo, New York, I had a friend who loved snakes, and we would…
By the time the ink dries on this issue of The Charlotte News, hiking in Vermont’s higher elevations will be open for the season. The Green Mountain Club (GMC), steward of Vermont’s Long Trail, offers numerous walks, hikes, paddles, birding and workdays in our region through the upcoming hiking season. A June sampling: