Whether you know them for their delicious berries or as a painful obstacle in the woods, everyone probably has some relationship to raspberries and blackberries. These incredible plants are often referred to by foresters and ecologists collectively as Rubus, which is the genus they belong to.
Thank you for outdoor recreation! The nicest thing anyone can do for a volunteer is to say, Thank you!
As we wind our way toward the end of a year that we will look back on as one of the toughest we have endured as a species, I am inclined to draw some metaphors from the natural world. First, let me say that this is not meant to minimize the tremendous loss of life that we have experienced as a species.
This holiday season, Christmas trees laden with cherished ornaments and twinkly lights evoking a sense of wonder, peace and warmth will adorn our homes.
I often talk about encouraging diversity in our forests. The reaction of most people is that they want their forest to be diverse, but they might not know what that actually means or why it’s important.
Champlain Area Trails hosted a volunteer trail project at their new Essex Quarry Nature Preserve on Friday, Nov. 20. Volunteers helped staff cut brush and fallen trees along two separate paths that are part of a network of trails going in around the quarry.
Amaryllis, a popular holiday plant, is cherished for its showy flowers in hues ranging from stark white to dazzling red.
Did the garden understand what a tough year 2020 was going to be for us humans?
My father was born the eighth child in a family of 10 children that subsisted from week to week on a coal miner’s solitary income. He would climb 200 feet down into a mine shaft to help his one-legged father extract enough chunks of coal to bag, walk into town and sell in order to purchase food for the evening’s dinner.
The Trails Committee is taking the lead in helping the town decide what portion of the Town Link Trail should be built next. The Town has $57,000 to build the next section of the trail, thanks to the generosity of Charlotte voters.
In the fall of 1621, the colonists joined the Wampanoags to partake in a thanksgiving celebration of the harvest. Historians believe that they shared cabbage, carrots and parsnips from their home gardens and native plants such as walnuts, chestnuts, Concord grapes, cranberries, garlic and an unsung hero, the Jerusalem artichoke.
With most of our foliage now decomposing on the forest floor—or your lawn—we’re entering what is euphemistically called Stick Season or the Quiet Season. There are still ample opportunities for outdoor expeditions and plenty to observe in the animal kingdom.
On the morning of Oct. 21, I got the call I have been expecting and dreading. Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) has been detected for the first time in Chittenden County. State forestry officials positively identified characteristic serpentine EAB larval galleries below the bark of infested trees on private property in Richmond.
After a dry summer/fall, recent rains and warm spells have brought on a widespread mushroom fruiting here in the Champlain Valley. For those interested in gathering and eating wild shrooms it’s a great time of year. For beginners there are two tasty ones currently fruiting that are particularly easy to identify, quite distinctive in appearance, and safe/good to eat, as well as many others.
Twenty years ago, I was 41 years old. My experience as a professional waterfowl guide was at its zenith. I had wealthy clients from big cities and fancy gun clubs that never seemed to have the time to scout and practice calling ducks.
As someone who loves forests, one of the hardest and strangest parts of my job is to figure out how to cut trees in a way that supports the healthy growth and development of these complex ecosystems. While some forest management is primarily focused on economic value – growing valuable timber – modern forest management often targets a wider range of objectives.
Many of us have had the experience of walking through the woods when suddenly the raucous sounds and green-tinted light of a deciduous forest become dark and quiet. If this has happened to you, you have already had the unique experience of entering a hemlock forest.
While birdsong no longer wakes us in the early hours, there’s still plenty happening in the great outdoors. A great horned owl recently filled the night with its haunting call; critters are preparing for the long winter ahead; and early foliage has turned the local canvas from green to red and yellow.
It is dusk on a glorious October evening. I am sitting quietly in my tree stand 15 feet above a well-worn deer trail. When I was younger, I would breathe the thinner air 25 and 30 feet up, but now, as I have ripened to the age of 61 years, I find it almost masochistic to climb up to even 15 feet.
Depending on where you live, there can be a month or more after the snow recedes in spring until we see flowers. Planting spring-flowering bulbs shortens this window and packs a ton of color, contrast and liveliness against a backdrop of the slowly awakening earth. Spring- flowering bulbs are an incredibly hopeful presence in a time of cool temperatures and unpredictable forecasts.