Blog Posts

  • Forest Farming and Aspect: regional differences in site suitability recommendations

    It’s easy to assume the east-facing slopes of a mountain would be wetter because they get the gentle morning sun, but in the Rocky Mountains and Sierra Nevada the opposite is usually true: the west-facing slopes are significantly wetter and more densely forested. This is driven by the prevailing westerly winds. When moist Pacific air…

  • Coral reef conservation in the Red Sea, coffee agroforestry in the Abyssinian Highlands

    Brief Introduction: If you’re reading this, I would guess it’s because you’re preparing to travel to Egypt or Ethiopia, and somehow you found my travel log. But it’s possible you found this because you’re my client, or we’re colleagues. So maybe we know each other through silviculture, fire, forest farming, or chestnuts. Just in case…

  • Some of the ingredients for a Prescribed Burn Association in Appalachian Ohio?

    For the last few years, I have volunteered to teach people about prescribed fire. I am an Ohio Certified Prescribed Fire Manager, so part of my motivation is develop a client base, as well as a pool of gig workers to staff my fires. The teaching is pretty straightforward. We spend a few hours in…

  • Neo-tropical migratory “coffee birds” find home in both temperate and tropical agroforestry systems

    tl;dr: check out theses links to see Maggie Musto’s coffee bird series. Coffee birds are neotropical migratory songbirds that live on multi-strata coffee agroforestry farms in Central America during the winter. In summer, coffee birds live in Appalachian Ohio, including within and beside the multi-strata chestnut/pawpaw agroforestry happening at Woodcock Nature Preserve. As you read…

  • 2025.06.24 research update on “Chinese chestnut seedling mycorrhization with porcini”

    Introduction  Supported by SARE, the Southern Ohio Chestnut Company has begun a farmer-led research project. “Chinese chestnut seedling mycorrhization with porcini”. This is our first quarterly update to the public. Porcini mushrooms go by many names. This project works with porcini specifically –Boletus edulis– and also a group of other closely related “King Bolete” mushroom…