Red oak spring pole

Because the wood is so heavy compared to many other trees, a bent red oak is a rarity.  How sad, too, because the trees can live much longer than red maple or paper birch, two species more prone to becoming a spring pole.  But this young oak has been bent for years, likely the victim of an ice storm.  Taken down with the handsaw this morning, the tree will get cut up in the spring, then hauled quite a long way to burn in the 2018-19 season.

When the cut was being made on the bent trunk, a "barber chair" was created, which is a split down the length of the tree.

One benefit from a spring pole is kindling.  Or, walking sticks.  These two branches from the red oak served as extra legs on the walk back up the hill.

Starting win-tah with a walk

Happy Winter from the birch groves of Hardwood Hermitage

Little saw blazes trail

A balsam fir fell on the driveway in yesterday's fierce winds.

But never fear! The little saw was ready for action.  Starting readily even on a really cold morning, the saw made a few cuts to get the useless roadblock out of the way.  The smell of balsam was nice for the season as the softwood quickly gave way.

Here is the corpse of the fir, with remnants on either side of the driveway.

Winter still a week away

Seven inches of snow have fallen since the weekend walk.  Scenes from late autumn often make one think of winter though.

Oh, those shiny birches . . .

A young grove of the same fabulous paper birch, a few years away from being all lovely and white.

Because of the blowing snow that's cold enough to stick, this yellow birch is performing its best paper birch impression.

The spring approaches winter

Winter is still more than a week away.  During a cold late autumn walk this morning, our spring, way out in the Jut, was still at work, creating an endless supply of water.  The spot supported the pasture animals that lived on the hill.  The forest has taken over where pastures once were.

Later in the walk, about 1,500 feet from the Jut to the west, the hills of Vermont were cast in some very rare sunshine.  We've had lots of clouds lately.

We expect about five inches of new snow tomorrow.  Not that much on the ground now, but we'll remain cold, so whatever we get sticks around for a while.

Four inches of snow

Our snowfall for the season doubled yesterday with four new inches.

Bagging birch bark

Three bags of birch bark, the best firestarter in nature, were gathered this morning.  We've been using it exclusively to light the wood stove this season.  The quick, intense heat really gets kindling, even some branch pieces an inch thick, burning right away.

The rule our readers may remember:  Never take bark from a living tree, like this lovely yellow birch.  There's plenty of downed and dead trunks where the bark can be gathered. 

Lopping of stump sprouts is another recent activity out there.  Here's a bunch, from several different species, gathered in the last few weeks.

First snow

We received two inches of snow overnight.  This was the tail end of a big rain storm that started on Friday afternoon.  Here are three pics from a short walk this a.m. in the windy cold.

Sugar Maple: Star of the foliage show

A grand species any time of year, sugar maple really stands out in October.  The burnt orange contrasts so beautifully with the yellows and reds throughout the forest.

And, of course, the state tree gets to take a bow this month, as well.

Follow the Yellow Birch Road

Paths of gold always appear this time of year, thanks often times to yellow birches shedding leaves.  They were falling so fast yesterday it sounded like rain, even with blue sky in abundance.

Color really filling in now

This red maple looks spectacular every year at this time.

Striped maple likes to turn yellow each October.

Many paper birches still have a fair amount of green leaves, but they are much more yellow than just a few days ago.  Here are two young ones getting into the spirit of the season.

And baby red oaks, which might still be alive in 400 years, are never in a hurry to do anything, including change color.  Just a bit of red on those so far, if they want to change at all yet.

Autumn backyard

Enjoy autumn in the backyard of Hardwood Hermitage!

Of the many reasons to love northern NH . . .

Perhaps the best is seeing birch groves in Octobah!!!!!

Color season so far

Red maples and white ashes are the main trees to turn so far.  Birches, sugar maples, and red oaks will start the annual color show in earnest soon, with oaks the last to go.

This red maple is near the house

These two younger red maples are showing the variety of color the species displays in October.

One of our great ashes has lost many leaves already

Another red maple not far from the house, perhaps the best of the species on Hardwood Hermitage, has a crown looking truly grand against the totally clear sky.

Another tour of birches

Not having a good day? Need something to pick you up? How about a walk through Hardwood Hermitage to see some splendid birches? If you can't make it here that easily, we can bring some of our birches to you through the magic of technology.  Behold the peeling white and yellow beauties of various sizes and shapes!

A neat feature of late afternoon and early evening walks on a sunny day is the sharp contrasts between brightness and shadow possible on the same tree.  This is the property's largest paper birch, near the spring in the jut, showing the bright/dark contrast on Sunday.

Some other trees farther west were showing the same shadowing tendencies yesterday

Then there's the bliss of seeing small and gigantic trees within just a few minutes of walking.  First are two baby paper birches along the west walking trail near the house.  They are followed by a truly massive, very old, triple-trunked yellow birch.

Even with so many birch-heavy walks, the debate continues:  which of the two species is more beautiful? There's just something about yellow birch that edges out its cousin, the state tree of NH.  This yellow birch is one of the greatest trees on the whole parcel.

Sawdust ocean

We added to the sawdust ocean that is Hardwood Hermitage.  Large pieces of red oak and red maple from recent sessions were cut to stove-sized lengths, and then stacked.  The first pic shows some of the new sawdust the big saw created today.

After the cutting, the pieces were added to a pile near our wood shed.  None of this will burn for more than a year!

This is a close up of red oak, prized for its many uses and cool grain.  The wood does a great job in the stove -- the species is perhaps the best firewood that is common to New England.

Some of tomorrow's victims, branch pieces and some thinned trees, will also burn.  The small saw will do this work.