By Kat Deely As the maples put on the fireworks above, witch-hazel (Hamamelis virginiana) buds are ready to pop open their spindly, yellow flowers. Given a basic understanding of seasonal growth, it is curious that this plant is flowering in the fall. Is this some invasive plant, out of sync with this ecosystem? Witch-hazel is where it… Continue reading Seeking The Witches
By Ben Lemmond “Be not concerned,” Dr. Cathy Paris advises us, in a soft, lilting voice that could outsparkle Glinda the Good Witch: the twenty-page packet on graminoids that she’s just handed us is “mostly diagrams.” In it we see the somewhat archaically-classified “tribes” of grasses. One can imagine them roving across the land in waves,… Continue reading Graphite Terrarium
By Mike Blouin Last June I tore my Achilles tendon playing basketball. While playing one-on-one with my friend Chris, who is not exactly Michael Jordan, I jumped to take a shot and heard a POP. Next came searing pain and lots of swear words, and the slow realization that my left leg wasn’t working properly. … Continue reading Walking
By Bryan Pfeiffer On a crisp, sunny day in September, after what was probably a typical summer for a dragonfly (which involves flying around, killing things and having sex beside a pond), a Common Green Darner took off and began to migrate south. As it cruised past the summit of Vermont’s Mt. Philo, with Lake Champlain below… Continue reading The Nuclear Option for Dragonflies
By Laura Yayac It flavors creemees, cotton candy, and liqueurs. It’s poured over pancakes and snow, and is used in countless recipes. And right now, the raw sap is running from trees into buckets and webs of tubing then onto sugarhouses, where it's boiled into maple syrup in all its amber glory. Sap runs when… Continue reading The Paradox of Sugaring
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