Welcome Note

By Rob Terry, Executive Director

A new year has dawned and with it all the promises of the season to come. Before long, we’ll be tapping trees in the sugarbush and spending evenings boiling away in the Sap House. We’ll bundle up and buzz around the farm ensuring that the animals have everything they need to comfortably make it through the winter. We’ll prepare the orchards for the growing season. Presuming that cold temps keep the ground frozen, we’ll also be in the woods conducting timber stand improvement and harvesting trees in places too sensitive to manage after the thaw. It’s safe to say that we won’t have to worry too much about idle time.

While there is plenty to keep our staff and volunteers busy year-round up on the mountain, the relative lull of deep winter does afford us the opportunity to slow down, take stock of the year that has passed, and finalize our plans for the upcoming season. In this issue, we’ll shed light on that process by sharing our preparations for some subtle (and not-so-subtle) enhancements around the farm. Our on-farm goal for 2023 is to improve ecological outcomes and provide better on-farm space for teaching, learning, and gathering.

In addition, you’ll find all the information you need to fall in love with winter at Merck Forest, including details about upcoming events, some recipes to help keep you warm and well-fed during these long, dark days, and a host of recommendations about ways to enjoy the farm, forest, trails, and cabins. Whether your New Year’s resolutions include spending more time outdoors, or you’re already an outdoor enthusiast, there’s no place like Merck Forest to explore the majesty of Vermont’s winter. We hope to see you up on the mountain soon!

Welcome from Board President

By Sue Van Hook, Board President

I have hiked the trails at MFFC in every season for the past 33 years. It never gets old. I was certain I’d covered every inch of extant trails multiple times over, until five years ago. On that particular day I found a new trail I’d never explored. The Wildlife Trail led me down a drainage toward Rupert for a long stretch before I crossed a wooden bridge over a creek and began the ascent up the opposite side. I was amazed by the age of the white ash trees in this north-facing grove. There are large red oaks and white pines, shagbark hickories and a few black and gray birch trees in the mixed forest. I wondered if these old ash trees could withstand discovery by the Emerald Ash Borer and survive an infestation. I spent time hugging as many of the old sentinels as I could that day. I reassured these giants that they were hidden and safe for a while longer.

A few days before the Christmas weekend, I decided to visit the ash trees on the Wildlife Trail again. I donned my snowshoes in the parking lot and set off down the Discovery Trail, past the yurt and across the meadow to catch the trail down the hill. As soon as I left the Discovery Trail, I was breaking trail in 12-18 inches of snow. It was glorious on the way down - virgin snow, lots of deer and coyote tracks to ponder, the sound of Mike and Dylan felling spruce trees near the barn cabins and the sun fading behind Mt. Antone. By the time I reached the McCormick Ski Trail and circled back to Old Town Road I was spent, but unfettered. Familiar friends were a constant companion - trees I recognized as having had an intimate conversation with in previous springs.

Hiking the trails never gets old, but there are always new opportunities and new ways of being in old familiar places. We invite you to visit, sense and explore what’s new on the farm and in the forest as our wonderful team shares what they are up to in this Winter issue.