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Hurricane Irene’s Aftermath At Wolgast Tree Farm

September 8, 2011 by Leave a Comment

It’s been over a week since Hurricane Irene hit New Jersey and although many areas are still dealing with serious problems caused by the storm, and now even more rain, Wolgast Tree Farm was very fortunate to come through virtually unscathed. 

Honeybees bringing nectar & pollen back to the hive after Hurricane Irene.

Our bee hives stayed upright and “the girls” (worker honeybees are all female) were out and about looking for pollen and nectar by 10:30 am Sunday the day after the storm.  

To our amazement, none of the trees that line our driveway blew over.  

Cutting a blown over tree for firewood

Some of our maple trees that we’ve tapped in the past to make maple syrup lost many branches, and one had the top broken off completely, so syrup production will likely be lower in 2012.  

One cherry tree by our house had blown over, but missed power lines and other structures so it wasn’t a big deal.  We cut it up for firewood.

White pine seedling with "donut hole" around its base.

So far, the only storm-related problem with our Christmas trees involves the seedlings we planted this past spring.  The heavy rains saturated the soil and that combined with the severe winds to whip the seedlings around which created “donut holes” around the base.  These openings are a problem because the roots are more likely to lose moisture when its dry, and during the colder months the roots can be exposed to freezing.  Both can stress the seedlings and hamper growth.  We’ll need to walk the rows and check each seedling for any gaps and close the ones we find. 

Rains from Hurricane Irene caused our Shiitake mushroom logs to fruit.

One tiny positive that came from Irene was that the rain she brought caused many of the logs we inoculated last year with shiitake mushroom spawn to fruit.  Sautéed in butter and garlic, or prepared a zillion other ways, shiitake mushrooms

Headed for the frying pan!

are a tasty treat. Having produced them ourselves brings a sense of satisfaction, and puts a little twist on the adage of making lemonade when life hands you lemons.   

Wolgast Tree Farm feels very lucky to have made it through Hurricane Irene with so little damage, and we keep in our thoughts the many others who had, and in many cases continue to have, great difficulties as a result of the storm.  We hope everyone is safe and that life gets back to normal as soon as possible.

Filed Under: Beekeeping, Christmas Trees, Farm Life, Shiitake Mushrooms, Weather Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Battening Down The Hatches And The Bees!

August 27, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Like everyone else across New Jersey, we’ve spent the last few days battening down the hatches preparing for Hurricane Irene at Wolgast Tree Farm.  We’ve stocked up on supplies, made sure emergency equipment is in good working order, and done our best to secure things that could become flying hazards in the impending winds.  We don’t think the severe winds and rain will present a big problem for our Christmas trees (unless a non-Christmas tree or branch gets blown onto them), but our bees are another matter.  The hives are pretty heavy, but the predicted severe winds could topple them over and expose the bees and brood to rain and wind which would likely kill the colonies. 

To guard against this Cathy used ratchet straps to help make sure all the individual hive bodies in each colony would stay together in the event the wind is able to blow them over.  If the winds are able to knock over the hives, the bees won’t be happy about it, but they’ll do better than if all the hive bodies flew apart. 

Now all we can do is settle in for the storm and hope our precautions were enough.  Hopefully we and the rest of the east coast will be able to come through the storm unscathed.  Let’s all keep our fingers crossed!

Filed Under: Beekeeping, Christmas Trees, Farm Life, Weather Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Sprucing Up Wolgast Tree Farm

August 3, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Len using the SAJE machine to shear a Norway spruce.

If June is “Pine Time” at Wolgast Tree farm, then mid-July through August is when we are “Sprucing Up.”  That is, shearing spruces and firs so they have the tidier look of a real Christmas tree. 

Just like pines that are grown for Christmas trees, when spruces and firs begin to grow more than a foot a year they need to be sheared once a year in order to maintain a “Christmas tree” shape.  But unlike pines which must be sheared during the month of  June (see June 13, 2011 blog post), spruce and fir species just need to be sheared once year in between growing seasons.  That’s

Spruces and firs have buds along their twigs.

because spruces and firs have buds that form all along their twigs so there is always a source for next year’s growth. 

Pines have buds only at the ends of their twigs (see left of thumb).

Pines on the other hand, only have buds at the ends of their twigs.  The tender new growth that was sheared begins to harden off into wood and set buds at the end of June, which is why pine shearing is more time sensitive.

Theoretically, we could shear all our spruce and fir species in November (or even December) and it wouldn’t make a difference in terms of them being grown as Christmas trees, but we do them during the summer in the searing heat and blazing sun, and when it seems like every gnat in the County wants to investigate our eyeballs.  That’s because it gives the trees a longer time to heal over and not be all sticky with sap by the time the holidays roll around.   Plus, we have plenty of other farm work to do come autumn and its just the two of us doing the work!

Right now we’re finishing up the spruces (mostly Norway spruce), and will move on to the firs (Douglas firs, Canaan firs, Concolor firs, and Nordmann firs).  With any luck, we’ll have all the shearing done by mid-August, so we can start to get ready for the autumn chores.  There’s always something to do on the farm!

Filed Under: Christmas Trees, Farm Life Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Monarch Magic At Wolgast Tree Farm

July 23, 2011 by Leave a Comment

We’ve been seeing Monarch butterflies flying among our Christmas trees here at Wolgast Tree Farm.  The Christmas trees probably aren’t of much interest to the Monarchs, but what we have growing in between the rows of trees is: Common Milkweed.

A Monarch butterfly goes through four life stages: egg, caterpillar, chrysalis, and butterfly.  Monarchs lay their eggs on the leaves of milkweed because when the eggs hatch that’s what Monarch caterpillars will feed on.  Special chemicals in milkweed are absorbed by the caterpillar when  it eats the leaves which makes the Monarch poisonous or taste very bad to birds and mammals.  It is thought that the bright orange color of Monarch butterflies serves as a warning to predators that they are poisonous and taste bad, and that it would probably be a good idea to find their next meal elsewhere.

Milkweeds are a key feature of Monarch butterfly habitat, so we like to do our part to help make our farm a place that Monarchs would like to visit as part of our wildlife-friendly, sustainable farming practices.

Earlier this spring we marked the locations of milkweed plants with bamboo stakes and flagging so we wouldn’t accidentally cut them down when we mowed between our trees. 

It’s definitely less convenient to mow around milkweed, but we enjoy the trade-off.  Having Monarch caterpillars and butterflies be part of Wolgast Tree Farm’s wildlife menagerie is one of the things that makes our farm special and we’re very proud of that fact.

Filed Under: Christmas Trees, Environment, Farm Life, Sustainable Farming, Wildlife Tagged With: , , , , ,

Bee Cool At Wolgast Tree Farm

July 22, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Like the rest of New Jersey, the weather has been extra hot and muggy the last few days at Wolgast Tree Farm.  The searing heat and humidity has not only altered our behavior (we’ve been getting up at 4:45 am to work on our Christmas trees until 8:30 am), but also the behavior of our honeybees.

The temperature and humidity within a honeybee hive influences the development of bee brood (baby bees still in the comb) and the making of honey.  Beehives aren’t outfitted with electric fans or air conditioners, but they have other ways of controlling the temperature and humidity within their home.

When it’s hot and humid, bees can be seen outside the hive facing the entrance and fanning their wings.   Positioned in this way honeybees are able to use their wings to draw warm air out of the hive.  Usually there are bees on the inside of the hive on the bottom board that are also fanning, but they are out of sight unless you were able to kneel down in front of the entrance and used a flashlight to look inside.

Circulating the air inside the hive by fanning keeps the level of carbon dioxide and other harmful gases from building up, and keeps the hive’s humidity at 50%.  It also helps prevent beeswax from melting and removes excess water from nectar that was collected by the bees to help make honey.

Fanning also causes water that honeybees have gathered and placed in  empty cells within the comb to evaporate which will cool and ventilate the hive.  When it gets extremely hot honeybees collect more water than they do pollen or nectar from flowers.  This is to prevent temperatures in the hive from getting so high that it would kill bee brood.  The average lifespan of a worker honeybee during the summer is six weeks.  Dead brood means no adult bees are coming along to replace those that die after six weeks.  This would eventually lead to the death of the entire colony, so the bees do whatever it takes to keep the brood alive.  This is a picture of a frame from one of our hives that contains different stages of brood development.   There is capped brood (the tan covering over the round cells that is mostly to the right of the picture), bee larva (white “C” shaped, grub-like brood in the uncovered cells mostly in the center of the picture) and to the left of the larva are honeybee eggs, which look like very tiny white grains of rice at the bottom of the cells (click on the photo to enlarge it).  Having different ages of brood and eggs means an ongoing supply of adult bees for the future.

Another way that honeybees try to control the temperature inside the hive is by “bearding”.  This is when bees gather on the outside of the hive in order to reduce the hive’s temperature and congestion.  This activity is usually seen during late afternoon.

We are constantly amazed at how the 30,000 honeybees that live in a hive are able to work together and do what needs to be done, when it needs to be done, in order for the hive to survive.  Whether they are foraging among numerous flower sources in search of different types of nectar and pollen, or gathering water and fanning their wings to control the temperature within their hive, honeybees are wonders of nature and a special part of Wolgast Tree Farm.

Filed Under: Beekeeping, Christmas Trees, Farm Life Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

On The Grow at Wolgast Tree Farm

July 5, 2011 by Leave a Comment

It’s been a banner growing season so far this year here at Wolgast Tree Farm.  All the rain we’ve had coupled with just enough sun has really helped to bolster the growth of the 800 seedlings we planted this past spring. 

Usually during the first year after a seedling is planted, most of its energies are directed towards establishing a strong root system with very little growth in the branches.  But this year has been different.  We’ve noticed lots of new growth along the branches, which means that the seedlings not only have strong root systems, but that they have extra energy to devote to green growth as well.  This bodes well for seedling vigor in future years.   Here, Len is admiring all the new, light green growth on a Canaan fir that was planted this past April. 

We grow nine species of Christmas trees and each one has special needs in order for it to grow healthy.  Some seedlings, like white pines, can grow well on wet sites.  Others need to be on a site that is high and dry.  We plant each individual seedling according to the microsite conditions where it will grow best.  Healthy seedlings are better able to fight off insect pests and other environmental stresses (like drought), which is part of our Intergrated Pest Management program (IPM).   

We can’t predict what the future holds, but if we continue to have favorable weather during the growing seasons, coupled with being on the proper soil site, this Canaan fir seedling could be ready to be someone’s special Christmas tree in six or seven years.  Things are really “On The Grow” at Wolgast Tree Farm!

Filed Under: Christmas Trees, Environment, Farm Life, Sustainable Farming Tagged With: , , , , ,

Brookdale Environmental Science Lab Visits Wolgast Tree farm

June 26, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Students taking the summer session Environmental Science Lab at Brookdale Community College went on a farm tour of Wolgast Tree Farm this past week to learn about wildlife on our farm, River-Friendly farming practices, beekeeping, Integrated Pest Management and how we grow Christmas trees.

One of the things we talked about was the different types of manmade nesting structures that certain kinds of wildlife will use. To the left of Len on the ground is a roofed nesting platform that can be used by Eastern Phoebes, American Robins and Barn Swallows (far left), and a larger nest box for American Kestrels, which  can also be used by Eastern Screech Owls, Gray Squirrels or Flying Squirrels, depending on the habitat where it is placed. 

Of course, no farm tour at Wolgast Tree Farm would be complete without mentioning one of our favorite cavity nesters, the Eastern Bluebird. 

A few minutes before the class arrived, Len checked a nearby nest box to make sure the fledglings that were inside weren’t old enough to be flushed from the nest box.  Confident that the nestlings would stay put if students took a peek, he placed the roof back in place, but accidentally left behind the screwdriver that he used to open the top.  It certainly didn’t keep the adults away as they returned with food to offer the nestlings.

When the class arrived and it was time to look at the nest box everyone was instructed to quietly walk up to the box and take a quick look at the nestlings.  Many of the students had never seen an Eastern Bluebird before, let alone young bluebirds still in the nest.  It felt good to be able to provide a new experience with nature in this way. 

The same thing goes for tree farming.  Many people aren’t aware of what goes into producing a Christmas tree so we provided an overview of some of the things that must be done, including shearing.  We had finished shearing our pines a week before the class visited, but we saved two so we could demonstrate how our shearing machine works.  Here Len shows how he uses a SAJE shearing machine to trim back extra growth and produce that perfect “Christmas tree shape”.  The backpack that he’s wearing has a motor with a flexible drive shaft that comes around the front and plugs into two 8-foot long blades that are sandwiched together and move back and forth to cut excess growth.  It must have made an impression since several students took out their phones and recorded his demonstration.

Said one student when Len had finished shearing, “There’s a lot that goes into growing Christmas trees.”

Indeed, there is!

Filed Under: Beekeeping, Christmas Trees, Environment, Farm Life, Farm Tours, River-Friendly Farm, Sustainable Farming, Wildlife Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Pollinators On Parade At Wolgast Tree Farm

June 24, 2011 by Leave a Comment

In honor of National Pollinator Week, we’d like to show a tiny portion of the many pollinators that make Wolgast Tree Farm their home.  

Pollinators are creatures (bees, butterflies, birds, etc,) that move pollen around either within flowers or carry pollen from one flower to another.  This causes fertilization which leads to the creation of seeds and fruit.  Producing seeds and fruits is how a plant reproduces, and without pollination the plants would not be able to reproduce as well or provide the seeds, fruits and other products that we depend on.  Around the world, about 1000 plants are grown for food, fiber, medicines, spices and beverages, that need pollination in order to produce those goods.  Many popular foods that need to be pollinated include apples, strawberries, peaches, blueberries, coffee, chocolate, almonds, pumkins, tequila, vanilla and many others. 

Having a wide variety of pollinators is needed for a healthy ecosystem, too.  

Unfortunately, it seems pollinators of all kinds are declining for a variety of reasons. 

Here on the farm we try to help pollinators in a number of ways.  We allow a variety of flowering plants that provide pollinators with nectar to grow among our Christmas trees, in our our River-Friendly stream buffers and in our hedgerows.  We also made brush piles to provide various native bees with nesting sites.  We never mow the whole farm all at once, but rather do small sections at a time so pollinators have a better place to hide from predators, forage for food and reproduce. 

All of these farm practices not only benefit a wide variety of native pollinators, but benefit our own honeybees, as well.

Everyone can help create a better environment for pollinators.  Visit Pollinator Partnership at www.pollinator.org to learn about the many ways you can help reverse this trend to help these important and interesting creatures.

Filed Under: Beekeeping, Christmas Trees, Environment, River-Friendly Farm, Sustainable Farming, Wildlife Tagged With: , , , , , ,

The Bluebird Bonanza at Wolgast Tree Farm

June 22, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Among our most favorite species of birds seen here at Wolgast Tree Farm are Eastern Bluebirds.  Their gentleness, heavenly color and soothing song guarantees a smile.

It’s been a banner year for nesting bluebirds on the farm.  We’ve seen bluebirds foraging around our Christmas trees that have fledged this spring, and have at least two other nest boxes with nestling bluebirds that are getting close to fledging.  Just yesterday we saw another female bluebird bring nesting materials into another nest box.  Bluebirds usually produce two broods of young, though sometimes they’ll produce as many as three in a nesting season.

Although a variety of bird species will build nests tucked in the branches of our Christmas trees, bluebirds are one species that doesn’t.  They are known as cavity nesters and build their nest in an enclosed structure like a wooden fence post or tree with a hole that had been excavated by another bird species (like woodpeckers), or in nestboxes created by people.   We’ve put up at least ten bluebird nest boxes on the farm like this one.  They are used by bluebirds, as well as American tree swallows, tufted titmice, Carolina chickadees, and house wrens. 

Bluebirds usually build their nests by weaving together grasses or pine needles.  Most of the bluebird nests on the farm are made with needles from the white pines that we grow.   It feels good to not only give bluebirds housing by putting up nestboxes, but to provide the “furnishings” by growing Christmas trees.

Here’s a look inside one of the bluebird nest boxes that we put up on our Christmas tree farm.  Because the birds are snuggled close together in the nest it may be hard to count, but there are four nestlings in this box.  These birds will fledge in less than two weeks, and then spend the rest of the summer flying among our Christmas trees, eating insects and berries, and charming us with their sweet song.

PS. Learn more about Eastern bluebirds by visiting the Cornell Lab of Ornithology at http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Eastern_Bluebird/lifehistory#top .

Filed Under: Christmas Trees, Environment, Wildlife Tagged With: , ,

It’s “Pine Time” at Wolgast Tree Farm

June 13, 2011 by Leave a Comment

June is “Pine Time” at Wolgast Tree Farm.  That means pruning the pine species to produce beautifully shaped Christmas trees for the holiday season. 

The pines have put on lots of new growth this spring so they look a bit wild and woolly now.   All species of pine trees must be sheared in the month of June if we want the pines to have the classic “Christmas tree shape.”  This is different from spruces and firs which can be sheared later in the year.  If you shear pines in July, they will have poor bud set which will affect their growth next year.  Shear too early and they’ll continue to grow and have a lousy shape.   With Christmas tree farming, like all farming, timing is everything!

Shearing pines starts at the tops of the trees.  The top must have a straight center leader.  Some leaders will be naturally straight, but sometimes they will have a slight angle, or a bird (usually an American Robin) will perch on the top and cause it to lay on its side, like in the picture on the right.  Sometimes we just want the leader to have a little extra support.  We use a special hand-held device to attach a bamboo stick to the center leader using plant ribbon (see below).  This helps keep the center leader straight and give the soft new growth extra support if a bird lands on it. 

The new growth of the center leader is cut to 12 inches long, and the side branches that are right around it are cut to 8 inches.  This helps create the correct taper for the tree.   All the tops are done by hand, one by one.

When all the pine tops are done, we come back with a machine that shears the rest of the tree.  See how that’s done a little later in the month.   All the shearing is done by Len and Cathy.

June is definitely “Pine Time” on Wolgast Tree Farm!



Filed Under: Christmas Trees, Farm Life, Wildlife Tagged With: , ,
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