What's Your Nature?
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Just Our Nature - news, updates and insights
Maples in Peril
By Paul J. Hetzler on
Blog: Just Our Nature
Remember that kid at school who was good at everything? Smart, athletic, popular, usually in a higher income bracket—seems like there was one in every class who must have taken more than their fair share when luck was handed out. And didn’t you find them annoying some days?
I imagine that’s how the rest of the forest community feels about sugar maple, Acer saccharum. Also known as hard maple,…
A Winter With Everything
By Paul J. Hetzler on
Blog: Just Our Nature
“Make me one with everything.” If you had to guess, you’d probably say that was either a request to a short-order cook at a diner, or else a supplication to the Divine. This winter, I think someone whispered that line in Mother Nature’s ear, because even though it is not yet half over, she has already made us a winter with everything. It’s as if she glanced at her weather playlist and hit the…
Moody Weather Tricks Local Species
By Paul J. Hetzler on
Blog: Just Our NatureThis winter took a long time to wise up. Snow lovers lamented, but I was among those who enjoyed the break from snow shoveling and firewood hauling during our pseudo-September. However, I noticed some less positive effects of the tropical weather. For one thing, the buds on my currant bushes decided it must be spring and began to open. Coltsfoot, dandelions, and Johnny-jump-ups bloomed. Buds on…
Porcupine Trails
By Paul J. Hetzler on
Blog: Just Our NatureWhat fearless animal has an adorable face, plows snow all winter and has a six-million acre park named after it?
One of 29 species worldwide, the North American porcupine is the largest New World species, growing to 36 inches long and weighing as much as 35 pounds. That makes it the second-largest North American rodent (behind the beaver), but still only half the size of an African crested…
Late Season Tick PSA
By Paul J. Hetzler on
Blog: Just Our NatureIn northern New York State, autumn temperatures have been between seven and eight degrees above average, allowing us even more time to procrastinate fall chores. This has been welcome to those who have to work outside, and anyone concerned about their heating bill is loving the warm weather too. Obviously, skiers and other winter enthusiasts aren’t happy, but I think the rest of us should get…
Natural Holiday Decorations
By Paul J. Hetzler on
Blog: Just Our NatureNot that long ago the winter holiday season started after Thanksgiving, but it seems like every year it inches closer to the middle of the calendar. Now Santa just barges in the day after Halloween, presumably to take advantage of half-price candy, but still it seems a bit rude. I blame the insidious “holiday creep” (not to be confused with the Grinch) on global warming. Or maybe it’s…
Nature Up North Christmas Tree Guide
By Jacob Malcomb on
Blog: Farmed and ForagedWith the holidays upon us, ‘tis the season to revisit the great Christmas tree debate: real vs. artificial? According to the American Christmas Tree Association, 80% of American Christmas tree buyers chose artificial trees in 2013. But did they make the greenest choice? Turns out it’s complicated. Artificial trees last longer, but most are made from unrecyclable, petroleum-based plastics that do…
Spotted Lanternflies: A New Forest Pest
By Paul J. Hetzler on
Blog: Just Our NatureChinese lanterns, bright and cheery, can lend a festive air to an evening out on the patio. As far as I know they are harmless. Chinese spotted lanternflies are also bold and colorful, but they do cause harm, and a lot of it.
Spotted lanternflies were unknown in North America until 2014 when they showed up in Pennsylvania on a shipment of stone from China. Who knew the Keystone State was that…
Cranberries
By Paul J. Hetzler on
Like the political process, cranberries can leave a sour taste in your mouth. But unlike politics, whose bitter aftertaste cuts through any amount of sweetener, the flavor of cranberries is readily improved with a little sugar.
To say a fresh cranberry is sour is like saying Paris is a nice town. In fact it (the berry, not Paris) can have a lower pH value than stomach acid. It’s almost a wonder…
Multi-Purpose Milkweed
By Paul J. Hetzler on
Blog: Just Our NatureAfter the cloud-like flocks of blackbirds have departed, swarming like giant amoebas toward points south, and the broad chevrons of geese have mostly disappeared over the horizon, another momentous fall event begins. Yes, it’s time for one more native species to take to the air—the great milkweed migration is on.
By late summer, milkweed pods are bursting with mature seeds affixed to bundles of…
