Blog

How to bottle your maple syrup

Now that you have boiled your sap down into syrup, it is time to put it in containers for storage. If you bottle your syrup correctly, it will be shelf stable indefinitely. However, if you do it incorrectly, you can get mold growth in your bottles or crystals forming.  Here are some tips to help […]

How to tap trees for optimal sap production

Now that February has arrived, many of us are itching to get outside and tap some maples for sap.  One of the critical parts of this process is getting the tap hole right. It is easy to do it incorrectly and this will impact the quantity and quality of your sap. To make sure you […]

Wind damage to trees

When powerful storms move through the state, we get a lot of questions about damage to trees and what folks can do about it.  I put together some information on how trees are affected by high winds and snow/ice loads, how they respond, and what you can do to try and get your trees back […]

Why do I need a forester for my timber sale?

It is a question a lot of landowners have, and one I hope to help answer here. For those who feel like they can run a timber sale on their property by themselves, I have some questions for you: What are the mills paying for oak? Maple? Aspen? Pine? Other species? What are your trees […]

Check your chainsaw checklist before heading out to the woods

I don’t know how many times I have headed out into our woods to do some chainsaw work and had forgotten something. It is usually something critical like water, or my hatchet, or I brought the wrong fuel mix.  After maybe the fourth or fifth time of this happening (and yes, I am a slow […]

Make sure your planted trees survive and thrive

If you haven’t yet, check out the first two parts of this tree planting series here and here. I returned to Julie’s property some weeks after they had completed their tree planting to see how things looked.  Julie greeted me with a smile as she proudly led me through their brand-new forest.  And she had […]

Tree planting – It’s all in the details

A few weeks ago I had a conversation with a landowner named Julie about some tree planting her family was planning for this spring.  We talked about making a plan for where and how to plant the trees they purchased (see that conversation here) and reaching out to her local DNR forester for some advice. […]

Do I really need a plan for where and how I plant my trees?

I was talking with a landowner (Julie) recently about the tree planting her and her family were doing this spring, and she seemed a bit apprehensive about the whole thing. It turns out they have planted a few trees here and there in the past, but nothing compared to the scale they had in mind […]

Myths surrounding the Managed Forest Law Program

I have talked with many woodland owners about the financial programs available to them, and I learned that there are many misconceptions surrounding the DNR Forestry’s Managed Forest Law (MFL) Program. There is so much fear and misinformation surrounding MFL that, at times, I feel like I am defending it rather than touting its benefits. […]