Cookies and birches

Two great Christmas traditions in Northern New Hampshire:  Decorated cookies and shining young birch groves

Last sunrise of autumn

The sun rose through the eastern line of trees and over the Kilkenny range this morning.  Tomorrow morning's sunrise will be in winter.  This panoramic shows the sun at its most southerly in our morning sky.  The timeless and incessant rotation of the earth starts bringing our favorite yellow orb back to the north for the next six months.  Then, in the third week of June next year, we'll have almost 8 hours more daylight compared to today.  The sun will be rising that day much further to the left in this photo, and three hours earlier!

Great suppah

The menu for tonight's suppah included two homemade items:  venison beer chili (the main ingredient made possible by a hunting neighbor) and cocoa pumpernickel bread.

Holiday baking

The second thaw of the season is happening this weekend.  Lots of rain and wind today, with temps not getting below freezing again until later tomorrow.  It's a good day for some baking! Pictured below are chocolate fudge, peanut butter fudge, and candied fruit peel.

Spring pole cutting

The hill has now received a foot of snow already! Warmer for a few days, with rain tomorrow, so much of the snow will go away, hopefully without ice forming.

Recent work in the woods included taking down some spring poles with the bow saw.  The biggest was a large white ash (fraxinus Americana).  Permanently bent, spring poles create a lot of shade, limiting growth potential for smaller trees to the north.  Here's a pic of the ash prior to cutting.

After about 15 minutes of work, the felling cut (on the right) continues to open as the lean of the spring pole pushes the left side of the trunk downward with growing pressure.  The diameter of the tree at the cut is 9 inches.

This picture was taken looking in the opposite direction of the previous picture.  Continued cutting led to the demise of the spring pole.  Notice how the energy of the drop pushed about two feet of the tree backwards while ripping several feet of bark off.  The wood remaining above the cut is known as a barber chair, a frequent condition created when dropping spring poles.  Barber chairs make predicting the exact direction of the drop difficult.  That means getting out of the way before the big drop occurs.  Remaining in the cutting spot for this tree would have resulted in being hit by a tree weighing 40-45 pounds per cubic foot, with the energy of the fall to go along with it.  As in all felling operations, a clear work area is absolutely vital.  The advantage of the bow saw is the much slower drop compared to a big and powerful chainsaw.

In the spring, 22" cuts will be made and some splitting will occur here, then the future fuel heads up the hill.  White ash is one of the greatest firewood species in northern New England.  Because the wood retains little water, decay is inhibited.  If the tree remained on the ground and uncut for five years, almost no wood would be lost due to rotting.

2 inches of snow

A few flakes fell the other morning, but melted within a couple of hours.  Two inches arrived yesterday.  Most of this should be gone by the end of the weekend.  Cold and windy today, with sun and warmer conditions tomorrow, then 40 degrees on Sunday.  Only a little snow is needed to transform the relative drabness of mid-autumn into epic beauty.

Autumn windstorm

As happens several times a year, winds whipped across the hill late last week, with some tree casualties (softwoods, as expected) throughout the property.

This double-trunked fir almost took out a young oak as the wind ripped the root ball out of the ground.  Loppers were used to get rid of the fir branches suddenly in the oak's way.  The young survivor will benefit greatly because the fir created a lot of shade.  This is located in "The Jut" on the east side of the parcel.

A pine, about 70 feet tall, also took a dive in the recent winds, another big root ball that couldn't stay grounded.  The top few feet of the pine was across one of the walking trails until cut with the bowsaw.  Another oak, perhaps 12 feet tall, stands to the left of the photo, gaining sunlight thanks to the storm.

With most remaining leaves on the ground now after the windy days, things are settling down with the drop in temperatures.  Even as color season ends and lows below freezing are common, scenes are rather inviting.

Before/After color

This old sugar maple has transitioned to its fall splendor.  The first pic was taken eight days ago, the second was captured today.  The orange and yellow flowed down the leaves.  The color season was perhaps the best ever this year, and much remains looking grand, even if prime viewing has passed.

This is the same tree from the perspective of looking straight up.

Blasts of color

Harvest time

From the garden shared with the neighbors:

From the forest, ready for splitting:

Forest management case study

With work possible everywhere, a forest manager must prioritize based on personal preferences.  With bowsaw and lopper this morning, work was done to help a paper birch and red oak get some more sun.  The two trees, both about 20 feet tall, are seen on the left and right of the first picture, with a view to the north.  The pin cherry in the center, as well as a red maple off the screen a bit to the right, were doomed.

Why? Like the oak and birch, the pin cherry and red maple are hardwoods. Shouldn't they keep their spot?  Why take down trees in the name of helping other trees? Several reasons:

1.  Because Mother Nature is quite prolific in making trees grow.  There are far too many across several acres.  Thinning helps surviving trees grow faster and healthier, especially in relatively shaded spots.  There is only so much sun, water, and minerals available as trees fight to survive.
2.  The pin cherry isn't helping creatures by growing lots of cherries.  Due to the shade, few if any cherries grow on the tree in the picture.
3.  Although red maple and pin cherry can be aesthetically pleasing, they can't top a paper birch, and the shiny grey bark of the young oak looks splendid.
4.  The birch and oak have a much better chance of a longer life.  The pin cherry won't last long, and red maple is much more prone to dieback than the two preferred species about to get more sun.

Here's the after pic, looking east.  Two pieces of the red maple are on the ground, beyond the downed pin cherry.  The paper birch, shaded and young enough to be brown, is a few years away from being its trademark shiny, peeling white.  The red oak, now on the left, is now more likely to get 200 more years, something none of the other three species in this case study can expect.

Bear in tree

Humans are not the only berry pickers in the woods.  A bear was startled by the activity caused by one of those walking upright, non-hairy creatures also looking for berries today.  Quickly climbing a tall pine, the bear hoped for the best from about 30 feet up.  He returned to the ground and undoubtedly berry eating after the human departed the area.

Another oak rescue

Some work for the bowsaw was discovered this a.m. while brush cutting.  A tremendous young oak needed some help.  We all know paper birch is a sublime species, but they are a dime a million out here.  So three of them were dropped to help this shaded oak -- bending slightly right a bit to the right of center in the pictures.  The crown space for the oak is wide open.  Hopefully she'll make good use of it for about 250 years.  This spot is north of the house by about 300 feet, in the last terrace, a relatively flat area before the big north slope starts.

Before

After

Much of the biomass in the 3 deceased paper birches will live on in the wood stove.  About 25 feet of length went up the hill to a cutting pile.

Great soup

What could be better than homemade tomato and pepper soup with home grown ingredients?

Processing black cherry log

Work continues on a large black cherry log taken down about a month ago.  The tree had been dying back for a while.  It's only about 250 feet from the house, so this is a relatively easy batch of firewood.  Here are two photos, the first of which shows the log after some initial cutting.  The second pic displays the outcome of about 25 minutes of splitting the bigger pieces.  After going up the hill, some of the log will still need to be split.  Then, the final two steps are cutting each piece in half, then stacking as part of the 2020-2021 heating season.

Berries looking great

Raspberries are at their peak a bit late, but they are looking wonderful.  Some blackberries also coming in, with a bumper crop expected.  The land and woods just never keep from giving around here.

This batch was picked in 45 minutes this morning, without being more than 100 feet from the house.

Four bags of birch bark

Very pleasant weather has prevailed since a heat wave broke over the weekend.  Birch bark was brought up the hill in the day's pleasing sunshine.  An old dead double trunk was the source for the bark today.  The new bags of the wonderful fire starter will dry out in the strong sunshine after being taken up the hill.

Work never done

Lots happening before the big warm up this weekend.  It's a beautiful morning today, and the high temp won't get too bad -- yet.

With the neighbors on vacation, there's plenty to do in the garden lately.  Three bushels of peas!

Scouting future wood work continues.  This might be the most interesting broken tree ever, a red maple.  It will be a chore to process safely, but this future firewood will eventually be near the house.

Weeding and wood moving

Happy Independence Day! Temps have been rising this week, but humidity hasn't been terrible yet.  Mornings remain cool, so work such as weeding the neighbor's garden and moving some wood closer to the house have progressed very well.  Here are five pictures.  First, three from the garden down the hill . . .

And then two of wood moved closer to the house.  The big pile the moose was fascinated by four weeks ago has become much larger.

Here are 50 split pieces from the diagonal paper birch downed last week.  Lots more from that tree will be up in the next few days.

Plenty of summer work

Shade creates some nice spots to work during the summer.  A diagonal paper birch was dropped recently, with pieces lined up for splitting near the house.  Even during a hot, sunny day, the splitting work would be bearable.  Some of this was split this morning in relatively cool temps.

Trail trimming and forest management, other work that can be done in some shade, is again on the agenda for later this month.  Stay tuned!!

Moose by the house!!!

In tonight's fading light, a moose decided to investigate the area around the house.  He sniffed a wood pile and seemed interested in the wheelbarrow before walking up the hill.

Another June fire

The cool and damp spring is almost over.  It was a lovely a.m. yesterday, with some stump sprout cutting completed.  Today started rainy and cool, so another fire this June is the rule of the morning.  Temps to reach into the 70s for a few days, with plenty of sun, starting tomorrow afternoon.  So maybe the heating season is over today?

Looking more like spring

Leaves and blooms have been weeks behind schedule, but it's really looking like spring, finally.  A paper birch and pin cherry along the driveway are grand together.

Work on the south hill led to this nice pile of red maple.  Note the lovely tulips in the upper part of the pic.

Large quantities of red maple stump sprouts cut down last year continue their journey to the house.  Pieces in this big pile still have about 450 feet to go.