Tenacious Tree, Rock On Roll'n

Pictures are worth more 

than the words I could add.

Pictures taken about here.

oxygengrowsontrees

Nature invented interlock flooring

INTERLOCKING LOG

I guessing this where the idea for interlocking flooring comes from.

White birch interlocking firewood.

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White Birch Bonsai - Update

Established 2005

When will the bark turn white?

I think I need to re-pot it next year. It did not get much T.L.C. this year.

Here is an album of all the pictures of this tree click here. It has looked better. It will be back in all it's glory next year, I will have more time for the tree.

The leaves are becoming stunted so it will really look more of a bonsai then too.

I have blogged about this tree before want to read more, more, more, more, more. one more

White Birch Bark Tubes.

The Birch fell in the Forest

No one heard it fall

It did not make a sound

This tree I would think has been laying on the forest floor for at least 20 years.  

The wood on the inside has disintegrated, rotted, just poured it out when I picked up the pieces.

These are very cool. I wish I could come up with some use for these.

They are great for fire starting!

I am sure an artist could make something great.

Thought someone would buy these, but there has been a bunch on the Millson Webstore look now for years and no one has ever bought one. Many have asked me for one, but they are no easy to carry out of the bush when you have your hands full with work. 

map of find

read similar post

Art of Fire - Forest Fire Leaves Art

ART

in the eye of the beholder

Walking in the smoke all day, may make my photographic eye a bit foggy.

No, blame the camera, it just could not catch the interesting forms left after the fire moved through the area.

I also did not have time to stand around thinking about the shape, the background, the lighting.

Branch of the birch tree burned well into the truck of the tree.

This stump in the cutover was hollowed out, leaving the burned roots exposed.

This white pine seems to be well protected by the thick bark. This may be the white pines first fire, and it may not be the last one it sees. 

Usually the white cedar swamps do not burn. This fire the wind was high, the temperature was high and the relative humidity was low.  This swamp burned in the trees and the ground remained untouched in some places.

Looks like the fire burned fast over the ground. Some areas were missed and  it did not burn very deep.   Ferns continue grow, some even had the tips burn off and then just re-shoot.

This location was burned maybe a week before  I took this picture.  The little yellow needles on the ground are the dried needles off the tamarack.  When you walk the needles continuous fall.

 Fire a natural part of the forest ecosystem.

Earth Day Timmins

2012 EARTHDAY TIMMINS

Karl Habla organized an Earth Day walk at Gillies lake this year.
It was a wonderful day and the great ball of fire in the sky provided heat!

While the walk was not well attended it is the thougsht that counts. My kids laying in their beds said they were thinking of me.

more info from the Daily Press

Half of my Earth Day was spent at the 65th annual Sportsman Show. Again more info.

I really love to chat with the people that come to the Wintergreen display to talk about sightings and trails and being outdoors.

Plenty of people bought the Bird poster, only a townie!

For the first 2 hours my wonderful daughter joined me. She really only came for the candy floss.

I enjoy talking to people about the trails, the Timmins Honour Roll of Trees, Observations Naturally and interesting sightings around the area.

Nice!

Seeds of Diversity

Timmins Horticultural Society

This year I was asked if I could again talk about trees.
Well I guess so - that is all I really talk about anyway.
Trees and turtles and birds and orchid and trees.

Read about the event here

Kees and I discuss the importance of leaves on trees. It is the leaves that produce oxygen.

The bonsai white birch that travels with me every where is a great example of the importance of trees.

Oxygen Grows On Trees

Day after Early Earth Day 2012

Green House turns green 

early in the new year. 

CTV Jill Colton (@CTVJillColton ) and Mark check out the greenhouse before they leave for Sudbury after spending yesterday at Timmins Honda for Early Earth Day.

It is early April and already the green house is full of green conifer seedlings.

I just love coming in here when it is -30C outside and it is +25C inside. To watch the benches turn to green in a matter of days is just incredible!

Yes Jill, there are millions of tree seedlings here - and every one has a home!
These trees are the forests of tomorrow.

Most of the millions of trees do have a home, but some are still looking. If you want to buy a tree seedling, forestry size (small) or home owner size ( 6" pots) contact Millson Forestry Service and they can let you know what is available.

White Birch Bonsai - Update

Healthy and Happy

Spring has come to the greenhouse.

I had not been in the greenhouse for some time. I missed the birth of the first buds bursting on the branches.

I missed all the leaves growing big and strong. Hey wait, you are suppose to be a bonsai.

Next for the tree is to have at least 50% of the leaves removed and trim the branches back to keep the shape. I started to do it but I did not have a shape enough knife or my good secateurs.

This tree went into this pot May 2009, it was 2 or 3 years old at the time. So now the tree is 6 years old. I wonder when it will get the white bark of a White birch. That is really what I am waiting for. I want to see the paper birch that makes this tree famous!

Hopefully this year.

In the bush it looks like trees get the white bark before they are 5 years old, but they are not stunted. I will leave the tree in this pot for one more year and remove it in the fall. It will go back in the same pot, but 1/3 of the roots will be removed.

 The photo history of the tree can be seen here

Past blog entries :  Jan 23, 2010      Nov 01, 2009     May 10, 2009

Spruce Loves Birch

This is a great picture of a Spruce Tree hugging a White birch.

These two land locked lovers will stand for many more years.

Wood Burning, Renewable Energy Source!

Warms the cool damp basement

Wood Warms Twice 

at least

Pick up the wood, carry it to the truck - makes me warm

Carry the wood from the truck to the cut and split pile - makes me warm

Cut and split the wood and carry to the wood shed - makes me warm

Carry the wood from the wood shed to the basement  - makes me warm

Finally, having a fire makes me and the whole family warm

Wood is a renewable resource, so is a great substitute for natural gas and electricity.

I burn white birch and dry jackpine.

 Great BTU (heat) from both.

I am lucky to work in the forest around Timmins, Ontario for Millson Forestry Service.

The best deal on Cut and Split dry white birch wood is Millson's

You can visit the webstore and webpage to see what is available.

What is great is you can buy a box full, pickup load or dump truck full.

Woodheat.org

Heating with Wood

The Engineering ToolBox

Wood Energy Content and comparison

Ontario Wood Lot

In Favour of Wood Heat - The Facts +++

Ecole Secondaire Theriault Class come to Learn

Future Environmentalist 

Learn the IMPORTANCE of our Forest Resources

The grade 12 class from Ecole Secondaire Theriault came for a tour at the greenhouse complex to learn what we do at Millson Forestry Service.   

Map of school location and street view of the entrance

École Secondaire Theriault

oxygengrowsontrees

First Flower on the Floor of the Forest

First Bloom in the Boreal

Finally, a colour other than white snow and green trees, now the subtle pink and purple of a flower. The first flower I have seen this season in the forest.

I took a picture, as you can see, but it is not great. The camera I use, Sony DSC-W350, is not the greatest camera I have ever used, but it is the smallest camera that can come with me everywhere. It is in my pocket in the rain, the snow, the 40 below.

The camera will fit in a plastic peanut butter jar. When we go kayaking the camera is in the jar, sealed and water proof. Need to take a picture? Let me just throw it at you. Soft landing in the water, you retrieve the camera and get a wonderful picture of me with the loon in the foreground.

Nice compact camera, but one day I would like to be able to afford a digital camera similar to the SLR I used to have.

This little flower, I am not sure what it is. My guess is Carolina Spring Beauty (Claytonia caroliniana), but if you have another suggest I am interested.

See more information at

eNature

Ontario Wildflowers

I'm looking Good!!

oxygen grows on trees Oxygen G.O.T.

Nature Deficit Disorder - have you been touched?

Are you Suffering?

Have you hugged a tree this week?

While driving into the forest the other day a story on CBC radio suggested we suffer from nature deficit disorder. We are are doing well as a species being taken out of the forests. They cited a study that proved young people did better if they were exposed to pine trees. I was driving past a Jack pine plantation with the window open at the time. Lucky me.

We are losing touch with nature, but more important we are losing contact. The smells and fell of the forest is important to human growth. The smell from the pines triggers something in our brains that just makes us more in-touch with our surroundings.

You need to plant a tree close to you, one every year. Why not plant a bonsai, then you can have a tree in your living space year-round. It is not hard. You can order a tree from Millson Forestry Service store in Timmins.

Nature Deficit Disorder links

Nature Canada - blog entry from 2008 describing the disorder
Best Health - What is nature deficit disorder?
PhD in Parenting - Cures for Nature Deficit Disorder? Help for our Planet?
Canadian Living - Quiz: Is your family suffering from nature deficit disorder?
Human Well Being and the Natural World - Just some facts
Canadian Institute of Forestry - Summer Outdoor Camps:  The best remedy for nature deficit disorder
Child and Nature Alliance - Get outside!!
Evergreen.ca -  they need contact with nature
Psychology Today - Exploring the natural world's psychological effects on human beings.
Education.com - The Critical Role of Environmental Education for your Child’s Future
An Interview with Robert Bateman - increasingly popular term among educators

Frogs are Green - definitely what the doctor ordered.

National Environment Week - Take the Nature-Deficit Disorder Survey Here

Trees we see plenty. It is green grass we do not get to see or smell for many months. So every year we grow our own grass in the house. A different container every year. When the kids were smaller we grow a big tray of grass to hide easter eggs in. It is wonderful to smell the grass after a trim with scissors. Looks like my grass is due for a trim this weekend.

Oxygen Grows On Trees

White Birch added to the T.H.R.T.

White Birch added to the

Timmins Honour Roll of Trees.

I do not think this is the biggest white birch I have seen on the Timmins area, but I figured I would just grab a tree to compare to others.

This tree should not be very hard to displace from the Honour Roll.

Timmins Honour Roll of Trees

Hiking Day in Timmins

What a great day.

Great turn out too!

Hiking Day at Hersey lake Conservation Area.

The trails offer smooth walking trails and signs to make sure you do not get lost. Distance at each sign means you can plan the distance you want to walk.

Great event, hope you can come out next year.

Biggest Balsam Poplar in Timmins Area

Balsam Poplar added to the Timmins Honour Role of Trees.

I have added a large, old Balsam poplar to the website that has all the large trees in the Timmins Area.

This tree is 210.3 cm circumference and 66.9 cm diameter measured at 1.3 meters above the ground (commonly known as breast height).

The Ontario Honour Roll of Trees is up again. Take a look. 2 trees on the Timmins list are bigger then the Ontario giant. I will need to get the height of the trees to see how they stack up points wise.

We are still looking for the biggest White birch, Black spruce, Balsam fir and Red maple. I will find a representative before the end of the summer. If you can help please let me know!

Ontario Honour Roll of Trees

Ontario Honour Roll of Trees - Updated!

For the longest time the Ontario Honour Role of trees has been a broken link. The Ontario Forestry Association has updated their site and the honour roll is once again front and center.

Take a look at the Ontario Honour Roll.

Take a look at the Timmins Honour Roll.

The Timmins Honour Roll needs your help to be completed. If you can fill in a blank with a big tree please let me know. Maybe we even have the biggest in Ontario!!

Sudbury Earth Day Event at Rainbow Concrete

Fantastic Earth Day Event at Rainbow Concrete in Sudbury!!

Monique and I left Timmins at 6:30am for Sudbury. We arrived at Rainbow Concrete a little before 10am.

There were people there waiting for their free tree seedling. Some had come earlier and had come back to make sure they did not miss out. Trees really are important to many more people then just Muddy Mark.

We set up in the front of the main office complex. It was a little windy, so we had to make sure everything was well anchored as we constructed the backdrop and display items.

Boris was a gracious host and was on hand to make sure we were able to serve his customers. There was a very steady steam of people all day. We had to leave extra trees, knowing people would still be coming even after we left. I am sure people came the next day to see if there were tree seedling left.

CTV was also on hand to ensure maximum exposure of the event. Muddy thinks it makes him look good when he is seen between two pretty ladies.

CBC radio also came by to talk with Muddy Mark about his emporium items he had brought with him. Burl pedestal, hollow tree truck planter and hollow birch bark.

Stewart was also a great help. He and Forester Moe worked hard to keep up with providing tree seedlings to the steady stream of fellow Earth Day tree planters, while Muddy just talked trees. Once you get Muddy Mark talking about trees it is hard to get him back to work!

Rainbow Concrete, CTV and Millson Forestry Service provided many trees to help the people of Sudbury participate in Earth Day and help green the environment one tree at a time.

Hope they invite us back again next year!

The Making of Muddy Mark

Mark walks in the forest most days. On one such walk a school group tagged along to learn more about the forest. Mark wears big high rubber boots and enjoys walking through the mud.

The kids would call "wait up Muddy Mark".

When the group returned to safe dry roadside they had seen seedlings, rocks, orchids, birds, squirrels, burls and mud.

A typical little boy who loved to ware his rubber boots as much as possible, camping was the norm for Muddy most summers. This sparked his interest of the forest.

At 10 he joined the Boy Scouts to expand his exposure and knowledge of the forest.

He helped his father fix cages and feed birds at the Roy Ivor Bird Sanctuary and this triggered his love of birds.

Muddy’s family was recycling before the term curbside was ever invented and he participated in the inaugural Pollution Probe litter pick as well as many more that would follow.

His first job was at The Camp of the Woodland Trails as a park warden. The next three summers he spent learning and educating campers. He developed a skill for photography and has had a camera close at hand ever since.

He spent three more summers at Sheridan Tree Nursery, doing everything from trimming, transplanting, digging and transporting seedlings.

He saw some of Canada with Katimavik. He got a much closer look at more of Canada when he hitch-hiked the scenic route from Vancouver British Columbia to Fortune Newfoundland via Dawson City, Yukon and Tok, Alaska.

Eventually he went to school in Sault Ste. Marie and studied forestry.

The Ministry of Natural Resources in Timmins saw his potential while he worked for them as a student. When he was finished school he was hired on to work with the Science and Technical Unit, the Fire Unit, the District office and Ontario Parks.

He bought a house, married a gal who would put up with him and started a family.

He enjoys his free time to be able to put more time into his community endeavors. These included the Timmins Naturalists, the Wintergreen Fund for Conservation, participating in a Local Citizens Committee and the Porcupine Watchful Eye, creating the Timmins Honour Roll of Trees, coaching for the Timmins Soccer Association, Timmins Select Basketball and the Timmins Minor Hockey League, he was a board member for the Timmins Public Library, lead the tree plants for local Scouts Canada and was chairman for the Public Liaison Committee for the Waste Management plan.

He left the MNR and did a two year stint with a mining company in their environmental program and photographed and documented species as he went about his work.

When gold lost it’s shine he went looking for a new employer so he could continue to support his growing family.

His wife told him to get a job and that’s when he met with Sue and Dave Millson to discuss possible employment options. They had worked together on tree plant projects when Muddy Mark was with the MNR. Muddy has been with Millson Forestry Service now for over 10 years.

At Millson Forestry Service it is Earth Day everyday. Muddy has been involved with many different aspects of trees. Seeding the next generation of forests in containers. Growing by watering, weeding and watching the seedlings. Site preparation to prepare a site for tree planting. Tree planting as part of the regeneration of crown forests and the reclamation of mining properties. Forest tending to ensure the health and vitality of the new forest. Road building, harvesting and product transportation completes the forest management cycle.

Muddy enjoys talking to private land owners that want to ensure the best use of their forested land. He is involved with mining companies that want to add trees as part of their progressive reclamation efforts.

He takes pictures, he gets dirty, he loves to walk in the forest with his best dog pal, Roll’n. He always loves to talk about trees!

He likes to GPS his finds and take digital pictures to share on his blog, Oxygen Grows On Trees . Oh and he does get work done too!

What do you remember? Leave a comment.