Three for 2018
Monday, December 11, 2017![]() |
Morning sunshine burns off the moisture from yesterday's rain |
After an 'everything is possible' 2017 ... 2018 will be more focused:
![]() |
There is something special about a Hardwood Forest |
1 - Project
There is a small hardwood stand at the front of our property. Less than 5 acres with a diverse population of Oak, Ash, Birch, Ironwood, Aspen/Poplar along with Service Berry, a variety of Hawthorns and a surprising amount of wild life given that its beside a travelled road.
It always been a favourite.
So this year it will finally be 'developed'. And the process I use will become the template for the rest of our forest. What's there? What's it capable of? What do I want? Where will/should it go? I expect it will take most of the year.
![]() |
Is a forest walk the same without your companion? |
2- Maintenance
a. Hemlock Woolly Adelgid is coming. 'Profound' is an understatement of the potential impact on our forest. We have volunteered to be a monitoring site and will closely follow the developments
b. We have a network of walking trails. Two more this year will give us complete coverage.
c. Big strides with our boundary lines in 2017, near completion in 2018
3- Education
a. The Biodiversity Course I started in November 2017 has been an excellent primer on a very large topic. I'm a 'big picture' guy so the details of taxonomy have been a challenge. Definitely outside my comfort zone.
b. I'm pretty comfortable identifying birds around our feeder. Not so in the woods. Cornell offers a course for identifying birds by their calls.
c. I'm looking for a Forest Ecology course. Why things are the way they are and where they're headed. If you know of one, please let me know.
![]() |
Bedroom in the tree tops |
Finally, my wife and I are building a house in the trees. 'Pretty' hasn't been part of our forest work but I expect it will be on this one.
0 comments