Dave Mance III, Author at Vermont Almanac

After analyzing the fate of almost 1.4 million tagged monarch butterflies, Monarch Watch Director Chip Taylor and colleagues are throwing a widespread theory about monarch decline out the window. They conclude that the decline in monarchs isn’t because of food shortages during migration. Instead, it’s the size of the summer population. More milkweed is needed in the north to build and sustain the monarch population. Here at home, there seem to be more monarchs than last year, but there are never enough.

September 8, 2020 in Ginny's Calendar, September /by Dave Mance III

Cecropia caterpillars grow to be four inches long and are well decorated and you would think easy to spot. But my way of finding them is to look for leafless petioles on our apple trees. They eat apple leaves, but not the petioles. Funny that sometimes you can look right at a caterpillar big as your thumb and not see it.

September 7, 2020 in Ginny's Calendar, September /by Dave Mance III

Brush Hogging for Dummies

September 6, 2020 in Bill Torrey, Dispatches, September /by Dave Mance III

I’m proud to say that I’m a sixth generation Vermonter and a second generation brush hogger. My dad first introduced me to this activity when I was around eleven years old. For those not familiar with a brush hog, it is a two bladed mower mounted on the back of a farm tractor. If you […]

Yellow jackets have noticed that we eat outdoors now more than we did in pre-Covid times. It’s live and let live only because killing them is hazardous to the aggressor.

September 4, 2020 in Ginny's Calendar, September /by Dave Mance III

Sneak Peek

September 3, 2020 in Dispatches, September /by Dave Mance III

https://vermontalmanac.org/contentpreview/ We’re in crunch time now as we work to build the inaugural print-edition of the Vermont Almanac. Over the next month we’ll be pulling together the last of the content; we’ll be consumed in October by the fine-detail work of design. In November the book prints, and in early December, just in time for […]

Bad news dept: A recent study carried out at Penn State found that in our area invasive shrubs maintain green leaves for about 30 days longer than native shrubs. Interestingly, most of the extra green-leaf days for the invasives are in the fall. Eastern North America has the most invasive shrub species and they are more abundant here than in other parts of the country.

September 2, 2020 in Ginny's Calendar, September /by Dave Mance III

Several new-to-me mushrooms have been eaten in our house recently, among them fairy rings, sweet tooths, and yellowfoot chanterelles. A pan full to the brim with yellowfoots cooks down to almost nothing.

September 1, 2020 in Ginny's Calendar, September /by Dave Mance III

Vermont Almanac Welcomes Trevor Mance to the Board

August 31, 2020 in August, Dave Mance III, Dispatches /by Dave Mance III

When we make broad statements like humans have been amending soil for millennia, we run the risk of making history seem like one straight line. It also implies that we keep getting better at it, when the truth is much more complicated. If we look directly at the soil, then sure, it was great when […]

All too soon, pink Joe Pye weed flowers have faded, as have the white flowers of its frequent companion, boneset. Goldenrod is picking up the slack – for now.

August 30, 2020 in August, Ginny's Calendar /by Dave Mance III

As is often the case at this time of year, a sudden, steep drop in temperatures comes as a surprise, but before you get to digging out the woolies, it’s back to tee shirts and shorts.

August 29, 2020 in August, Ginny's Calendar /by Dave Mance III

About Dave Mance III

Entries by Dave Mance III