AND THEN THERE WERE MAPLES

Many of the beeches on my tree farm are infected with disease (cyrptococcus fagisuga /neonectria spp) and it appears to me to be as bad as it sounds.  Blemishes, warts, pimples and white spots that look like a fungus are easily spotted on the bark of the tree.  At first, I would wait until these symptoms appeared and then would harvest the tree for firewood for my use and my many friends who also burned wood.  Then the situation got worse as the beeches would seed themselves in clearings and on my woods roads.  As they grew at what seemed like a rapid pace the branches would extend as if they were searching for sunlight as a way of healing themselves.  Anyone who has been slapped on the face by a beech whip on a cold winter day while walking or skiing in the woods will realize my grave concern about my woods being taken over by this problem.

My research showed the problem could be solved three ways – chemical, biological or mechanical.  Being a fan of the physical, of course, I chose cutting the whips with a chainsaw.  It amazes me how much area one man can clear in a few hours.  The sight of healthy maples and ash made my project very worthwhile.  At first, I was concerned that new growth from the stump would grow again and I might need to use an herbicide like glyphosate to control any new growth on the stumps.   But to my amazement the deer have kept the new growth completely at bay and we have a win - win situation.

Yes, Deer! Baby it's cold outside -

AMERICAN TREE FARM SYSTEM Mountain Mead Farm has been a member for 25 + years!
Being a good steward of land means being involved in WOOD - WATER -

RECREATION - WILDLIFE in many ways throughout the year.

When the first snows arrive we use our 4X4 tractor with a back scraper and chains all around to open roads connecting two deer browse areas on either side of the Christmas Tree fields. We do this to insure good movement for food and escape paths if needed.

When apples are abundant our white-tailed deer will have abundant food supply early on. As we are situated near the northern extreme of the white-tailed deer's range, functional winter habitats are essential to maintain stable populations of deer.

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This red maple bud may not seem like much to us, but after being hungry for three months the deer are excited to have fresh food. We have marked red (soft) maple for next year’s fire wood for friends and we will cut them down for deer food. The small deer will come running when they hear the chain saw and immediately start to feed. As their hunger is stronger than their fear it is impossible to get them to run away.  So, we simply move to the next area and wait for the deer to catch up.

We wait until late summer to brush hog our fields making sure the ground birds are all flying and we are not disturbing their nests. But in early summer we do brush hog around the perimeter of the fields for paths and escape routes, but only after I have walked the path to make sure our new critters are not in the way.  Occasionally we see a treasure like this new born fawn and hope that in some way that our love for animals has somehow helped them be healthy so we may enjoy them for years to come.

www.vermontlandbroker.com

DAVID JAMIESON, REALTOR BROKER

802-522-6702

Time to Know Vermont's Trees

“Do not be afraid to go out on a limb….That’s where the fruit is”

One of my favorite stories involving my son Jake happened when he was in the eighth grade.  His teacher decided it was time for a test on Vermont trees and to see if any of the students had any knowledge of the forests that surrounded them.  As he handed out the test the teacher explained that there were pictures of twenty trees and their leaves that he would like identified to the best of the student’s ability.

Almost before the groans had stopped Jake had turned the test in.  To the teacher’s surprise Jake had identified all of them 100% correctly.  Now here was a student that usually was not the star of the class who had magicly answered all the questions correctly in a very short time.   While the teacher did not accuse Jake of cheating, he started a discussion to determine how this miracle had happened.  Jake told him that anyone who had spent as many hours in the woods as he had following his father who would point his axe at a tree and ask “what kind of tree is this” could have passed the test also.

Although that was one way to learn about trees you might consider one of the following publications to learn about Vermont’s trees.

“A Beginner’s Guide to Recognizing Trees of the Northeast” by writer Mark Mikolas and published by Countryman Press in October of 2017 includes just 12 deciduous and 8 conifer species that represent almost 95 percent of the trees in the northeast.  So, it shouldn’t take that long to become an expert.

A more comprehensive book by www.ForestryPress.com is the #1 selling guidebook to Vermont’s 82 native forest trees, written for ages 10 through adult and is printed in full color with species data about: Bark, Twigs, Leaves, Fall Colors, Flowers and Buds.

There are many sources of information about our wonderful Vermont trees and I certainly hope you decide to get started soon.