Springtime celebrations would not be complete without some forest confetti. One of the first trees to bloom in springtime, the red maple has tiny, vibrant clusters of flowers that put on quite the show. [Read more…] about Signs of Spring: Red Maple Flowers
Maple Trees
When Two Dutchmen Tried To Create A Maple Sugar Industry
The Holland Land Company is known for its role in settling the western part of upstate New York by acquiring land grants and selling off lots to prospective settlers in the early nineteenth century. Yet its activities in the last decade of the eighteenth century were of a different nature, as the stories of Gerrit Boon and Jan Lincklaen show.
In the last decade of the eighteenth century, two young Dutchmen, Gerrit Boon and Jan Lincklaen, traveled through the densely forested lands of Upstate New York. They eventually identified locations fit for the founding of the new villages of Oldenbarneveld (now Barneveld in Oneida County) and DeRuyter (in Madison County). [Read more…] about When Two Dutchmen Tried To Create A Maple Sugar Industry
Banner Year for Northeast Maple Syrup Makers
The stock market may be down, but maple syrup production is up.
New York produced 845 thousand gallons of maple syrup in 2022, breaking the state’s own 75-year-old record from 2019, when its maple industry produced 820,000 gallons of syrup. [Read more…] about Banner Year for Northeast Maple Syrup Makers
Striped Maple: Food & Shelter in the Forest Understory
Beneath the forest canopy, or overstory, of towering trees is a second layer of vegetation known as the understory. It is composed of shrubs, saplings, and understory trees that grow in the dappled shade of the overstory.
One understory specialist is striped maple, a small tree that seldom grows more than 20 feet high and 8 inches in circumference. Despite its moderate stature, striped maple plays an important ecological role in the forest, providing shelter and food for a variety of wildlife. [Read more…] about Striped Maple: Food & Shelter in the Forest Understory
Maples on the Move
Unless trees are wondrously furtive, I’m pretty sure they can’t migrate. Yet a report from the US Forest Service’s Northern Research Station indicates that 70% of Eastern tree species have already begun to shift their ranges to the north. [Read more…] about Maples on the Move
This Weekend In A New York Sugar Shack
It’s that time of year. The sap is running and the buckets and tanks are filling. Backyard syrup makers large and small have been taking advantage of the recent sugaring weather to fire their arches and settle into the ancient and accepted rite of watching the boil.
Whatever you call it – a sugar party, sugaring-off, maple days – people will gather this weekend in old sugar shacks across Upstate New York around rising steam for one of the great revelries of the season. [Read more…] about This Weekend In A New York Sugar Shack
Sugaring Season: Maple Sap Runs On Gas
Some foods give you gas, but March is the time of year when gas gives you a delicious food. Maple syrup, which is nutritious enough to be listed by the US Department of Agriculture as a food, is carbon dioxide-powered. If it wasn’t for a bunch of little gas bubbles in the wood or xylem tissue, maple sap would not flow.
Who knew that trees were carbonated? [Read more…] about Sugaring Season: Maple Sap Runs On Gas
What’s Behind The Changing Leaves
For many, including myself, autumn is a time to accept the ever-changing climate of our lives. This metaphorical billboard reminds us that in life, change is not only necessary, but inevitable.
The change begins in early autumn and can last for several weeks into October. Although correlated to the change in temperature, the process is actually triggered by the shortening length of the days as the northern hemisphere moves further from the sun. This process is referred to as photoperiodism. [Read more…] about What’s Behind The Changing Leaves
New York’s Native Red Maples
With fall officially upon us, there’s no better native to highlight than one of the first trees to showcase its autumn colors – the red maple (Acer rubrum). [Read more…] about New York’s Native Red Maples
A Fall Leaf Color Conspiracy
Conspiracy hypotheses (or theories, as we like to call them, since “hypotheses” cannot be uttered without a lisp) seem to multiply unfettered these days, so I feel awkward birthing yet another.
But you may be intrigued to learn that the wide spectrum of color in the region’s fall foliage is largely the result of a Depression-era project implemented by the Hoover Administration. [Read more…] about A Fall Leaf Color Conspiracy