Sustainable Forestry lesson: lumberjacks & tree taps

For today’s “Edible Schoolyard” lesson, students could choose to visit a local creamery or  learn about sustainable forestry on the NCS campus. Adelaide and Chris chose to join NCS faculty Carter and Katie to learn about how NCS “farms” it’s sugar maple forest to sustainably grow maple syrup, fuel wood, and saw timber.

Geoglyphs drawn into the snow on frozen Round Lake

 

Camp Treetops campus and Mt. Algonquin in the background, 2nd highest peak in NY state (5,115 ft).

 

Forester Carter explaining why they are thinning trees to improve the sugar bush

 

 

Explaining how to safely cut the tree down

 

One pole down (beech tree). It will be burned to help heat the school and it clears space around chosen young maple trees. 25 of these will make a cord of fire wood.

Chris sizing up his tree.

 

Handsaws are fun!

 

Adelaide and Carter cutting down a “weed” (young beech tree that is blocking young sugar maples from growing). This beech will be burned to heat the school.

 

Adelaide, getting it done.

 

Learning how maple syrup is made.

 

Katie helping Chris pick a location to tap a sugar maple for sap.

 

Chris drilling the first taphole of the 2017 Maple Syrup season. Katie and Adelaide offer encouragement.

 

Adelaide hammering in the first “spile” (tap) of the 2017 sugaring season, to let the maple sap flow.