Scott Terry

We have been making maple syrup.  We have 74 taps this year.  So far we’ve made 6 gallons of product. My favorite time of year!

We raise pigs in the woods using 3 strands of electric fence.  We used them this year to clear a spot that we want to do some other stuff with.  We just buy what I call “north country hillbilly cross” weaned piglets locally.  Most of them have never seen electric fence.  We find pigs raised in the woods that are slaughtered late fall don’t need shelter but when we bring in a group of little piggies we like to keep them locked in a shelter for about 4 days.  We feed and water them there and later when we turn them loose if they happen to get out of the fence, they will return to their “home”.  If you just turn them loose and they go through the fence without having a “home” they will just run and run and you won’t ever catch them.  This piglet shelter was built from scrape pallets and free slab wood from my Amish neighbors.  All we had invested was the screws.  After we turned them loose they never got out.  We let them forage, fed grain, bread, milk, and garden produce and apples.  They cleared the spot well.  

Some pictures from this year

Anne Miller wrote:

Scott said, "We sell 40lb bundles of brush to other wreath makers.

Are these local folks or do you ship the 40-pound bundles?

I assume that you are selling Christmas trees and these boughs/brush sometimes are from trimming those trees and others harvests.

We sell the 40lb bundles mostly within 20 miles from our place.  Some pick them up and some we deliver.  We are constantly planting new trees and most of the boughs are cut from larger trees.   We can cut from them for many years  

Catie George wrote:Wow! That's a lot of conifer branches!

How many acres do you have that you harvest from?  Are they trees that you planted, or an established forest you are taking advantage of ?  Who do you sell your wreathes, etc to- individuals, businesses, or a store?

We have 100 acres of land.  8 acres are managed evergreens that we plant.  A lot of those trees are grown to dig at 7ft and sell to folks that want landscape trees.  Some are for Christmas trees and some are used for brush.  We also harvest from the 80 acres of “Wild forest” that we also manage. We plant about 500 evergreen trees a year.  We sell so many wreaths that we also buy in another 2 ton of balsam from another tree farm that doesn’t have as much deer pressure.   All wreaths are sold retail right from our place.  Mostly to individuals but also to townships and businesses.

We are in St Lawrence county, town of Lisbon.  

Has anybody successfully grow ginseng in the woods in zone 4.  We’d like plant some but I was just wondering if anyone here has tried it and how did work out.  

We use Christmas season to make some extra income here.  Our primary income comes from growing and selling vegetable starts, herbs, and perennial fruits and trees.  But November through December we cut balsam, white spruce, white pine, scotch pine, and cedar boughs. We make wreaths and garland and centerpieces. We sell 40lb bundles of brush to other wreath makers.  We also cultivate 8 acres Christmas trees. It is our last income until May first when we open to the public for plant sales.  My sons enjoy spending time in the woods harvesting.  This year it amounted to about $20,000 of extra sales.  It’s kind of interesting way to glean some extra value from the land.

Lots of meat in these notes!  Thanks for making them available