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Managing Small Woodlot Parcels
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In New York and most of the Eastern states, the greatest proportion of woodland owners have relatively small parcels. A “small” parcel size is not defined, but often considered to be less than 10 acres, or less than 50 acres. The USDA National Woodland Owner Survey (NWOS) offers a feature to make tables and charts about owner attributes and…
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Managing Small Woodlot Parcels
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In New York and most of the Eastern states, the greatest proportion of woodland owners have relatively small parcels. A “small” parcel size is not defined, but often considered to be less than 10 acres, or less than 50 acres. The USDA National Woodland Owner Survey (NWOS) offers a feature to make tables and charts about owner attributes and…
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Nuts for Nuts: Seeding a Nut Industry in the Northeast
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In the Spring of 2017, 35 people gathered at Back the Lane Farm in Stephentown, New York, for a workshop with Mark Shepard, author of Restoration Agriculture, to witness the design and implementation of a permaculture inspired chestnut and hazelnut orchard. As the founder of New Forest Farm in Viola, Wisconsin — a commercial scale, perennial agricultural ecosystem that mimics the native…
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Vermont’s Forest Products Industry: In Transition and Hopeful for the Future
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Vermont prides itself as the Green Mountain State, with nearly 80-percent of its land mass covered in forest. Healthy and productive forests are inherent to Vermont’s culture and heritage. Yet, the industry responsible for bringing us countless valuable forest products: high quality furniture, specialty wood crafts, lumber and firewood, as well as services such as…
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Stinging Nettles: Not Just for Breakfast Anymore
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Every farm needs a patch of delicious, nutritious, pain-reliving and mood-enhancing nettles. One of my favorite plants is either highly versatile, or very confused. On the one hand, professional herbivores like rabbits and deer refuse to even touch it, but many people, myself included, will gladly eat it every day it is available. While contacting…
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Chainsaw Safety, Part III: Unsafe Practices
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Chainsaw Safety, Part One Chainsaw Safety, Part Two This is the third installment in a series on chainsaw safety and operation, as part of our CCE Chenango grant project done in collaboration with the New York Farm Viability Institute, “Increased Farm Profitability and Diversity through Value-Added Forest Products Initiative”. We have been encouraging farmers and woodland owners to develop…
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Call the Dogs Off the Lions
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Be nice to dandelions, “the official remedy for everything.” April showers bring May flowers, but not all posies are a welcome sight. Although it is quite possible they arrived on the Mayflower, dandelions do not get the esteem they deserve as plucky immigrants that put down firm roots in a new land, vitamin-packed culinary delights,…
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Low-Cost Fence Designs to Limit Deer Impacts in Woodlands and Sugarbushes
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The white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) can significantly influence the diversity, longevity and sustainability of rural woodlands, forests and maple syrup sugarbushes. As selective browsers, deer will eat some plants more readily than they eat other plants. Many of the tree species deer prefer to consume are valued by owners as sources of timber, maple syrup, …
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Black Locust: A Tree with Many Uses
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In early October this past year, a devoted group of foresters, farmers, extension educations, students, and others gathered at the USDA Plant Materials Center in Big Flats, NY to discuss a common, yet underappreciated tree that has great potential for farms across the Northeast: Black Locust (Robinia pseudoacacia). This tree, which has often been given…
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Working with Little Reverse Osmosis Units for Syrup Production
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One of the biggest drawbacks of making maple syrup for a back yarder or small maple producer is the time it takes to boil the sap into syrup. The idea of using a small reverse osmosis unit to assist with the syrup making is very interesting to many small maple producers. There are many little…
Forestry & Agroforestry
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