by Cathy Bell (originally posted on vtdigger.org) Back in the middle of September, a headline caught my eye. “Northeast Faces Devastating Pumpkin Shortage,” I read, with a mixture of amusement and trepidation. Devastating? Really? Pumpkins are cheery and plump and orange. It’s tough for me to take them seriously enough to believe that anyone could [...]
Archive for October, 2011
Enough Pumpkins in the Patch?
Posted in Seasons, tagged Cathy, Cucurbitaceae, fall, Halloween, pathogens, pumpkins, Vermont on October 31, 2011 | Comments Off
Rock: The Best Thing about Vermont
Posted in Earth Science, tagged Becky, calcium carbonate, dolostone, Gleason Brook, Vermont on October 31, 2011 | 9 Comments »
by Becky Cushing I’m not a geologist, but recently I learned a thing or two about Vermont bedrock that bumps it above maple syrup or cheese on Vermont’s “Best of” List. By nature, I ask a lot of questions: What trees are those? How deep is this soil? What bird lives in that nest? Turns [...]
Winding Through the Path of Least Resistance
Posted in Earth Science, tagged Fluvial geomorphology, Lamoille River, Oxbow lakes, Ryan, Tropical Storm Irene, Winooski River on October 27, 2011 | Comments Off
by Ryan Morra “Slow down, you’re moving too fast, you’ve got to make the moment last.” Simon and Garfunkel phrased it well. If you look at aerial photographs of the Winooski or Lamoille Rivers in northern Vermont, you’ll notice how dramatically the rivers snake through Champlain Valley with one horseshoe-shaped bend after the next. Launch [...]
Hare-y Transformations
Posted in Seasons, tagged Camouflauge, Claire, Snowshoe hares on October 25, 2011 | Comments Off
by Claire Polfus It’s about that time. The leaves hug the forest floor rather than whisper to the wind in the canopy. The nights scatter a frosty pattern across my windows. The cool breeze tantalizes my toes with the anticipation of snowflakes and skis. And, it is dark. It is dark as I wait for [...]
A Closer Look at Cones: Norway Spruce
Posted in Botany, tagged Burlington, Doug, Norway spruce, ornamental, Vermont on October 22, 2011 | Comments Off
by Doug Morin Thwack……thwack…… What was that, I wonder? Never mind, I have to focus. thwack…clunk…bang……… Bang? Was that a bang? thwack…bang……thwack…thwack I couldn’t help myself. I opened the window and look down to the garage and driveway. Nothing moved. The neighbors weren’t even home. Back to work. thwack…thwack…thwack I raced over to the [...]
The Sensual Slug
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged apophallation, gonopores, great gray slug, hermaphrodite, leopard slug, Limax maximus, slug reproduction on October 18, 2011 | Comments Off
by Danielle Owczarski During the first cold days of fall in Burlington, I had a chance encounter with a handsome slug on my way to catch the bus. As I hurried past, it glided effortlessly across the moistened slate walkway, its black leopard-print pattern catching my eye. The image of the mysterious figure drifted through [...]
Blue jays and bird colors
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged blue jays, feather color, Nancy, peanut lady on October 16, 2011 | Comments Off
by Nancy Olmstead The woman who lives downstairs from me feeds the pigeons almost every morning. I know she’s out there when I hear a great swooshing of wings: dozens of pigeons flutter down to our driveway to greet her. She’ll also put out peanuts for the squirrels. Sometimes a crafty blue jay slips in [...]
Fern Surgery
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Carly on October 15, 2011 | Comments Off
by Carly Brown The hand saw sits on the disinfected countertop. Fresh fern-appropriate soil waits in a bucket next to my workstation. I wheel the ferns in on their ‘gurney’, a garden cart that I pull through the greenhouse to the office. I pass by the succulents, the lipstick tree, and finally the cacti. I [...]
Witch-Hazel: The Honeybee’s Last Forage
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Leah on October 11, 2011 | Comments Off
by Leah Mital-Skiff We extracted honey this weekend from our backyard hive. The late date of this final extraction is evident in the density of the deep-amber goldenrod-dominant honey. Its slow movement through the series of filters on a cold day reminds our family that we should be out apple picking rather than forcing our [...]
New Life Storms into the Forest
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Liz on October 9, 2011 | 1 Comment »
by Liz Brownlee The roots stretch high into the sky – ten feet, maybe fifteen. Soil hangs midair, clinging to the roots. A tiny white pine sits in the depression, reaches for the warm, gaping hole in the forest canopy. The red maple once towered ninety feet tall, spreading its arms wide into the canopy. [...]