What's Your Nature?
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Just Our Nature - news, updates and insights
Carry Wood, Boil Water
By Paul J. Hetzler on
Blog: Just Our Nature
How much are you willing to pay to boil water? I don’t mean to make coffee or cook pasta, but for the heck of it. Would you spend $200 to $600 annually just to let off some steam?
Probably not, right? But if you heat with wood, you already shell out hard-earned money each year to boil water for no practical reason. Every drop of moisture in your firewood costs you money as well as effort,…
Unwelcome Decorations
By Paul J. Hetzler on
Blog: Just Our NatureWhat’s round to oval-shaped, mostly orange, and is a common sight leading up to Halloween? Everyone knows the answer to that: Harmonia axyridis, obviously. Better known as the multicolored Asian lady beetle, this insect, while beneficial to gardens, is no treat when it masses by the hundreds on, and inside, homes in the fall.
Lady beetles, or lady bugs, are the darlings of small children…
Golden Rod
By Paul J. Hetzler on
Blog: Just Our Nature
While most plants respond to late summer’s shorter days by starting to wind down their business for the season, goldenrod is a “short-day” plant, the kind that is stimulated to bloom by waning day length. It’s a perennial in the aster family, and is widespread across North America. We have something on the order of 130 species of goldenrod in the genus Solidago.
As one of the most abundant…
Hot Sounds of Summer: Cicadas
By Paul J. Hetzler on
Blog: Just Our NatureProbably everyone has a sound they connect with high summer. For me, nothing says “August” like the drone of a cicada, its song a miniature buzz saw that cuts across a hot afternoon, undulating a bit and then dropping off near the end of its arc. Cicadas are stout, ancient-looking bugs with bulgy eyes and clear wings. While the largest species is about three inches long with a seven-inch wingspan…
Funtography Tips Part II: DSLR Cameras
By Justin Dalaba on
Blog: Just Our NatureThere’s nothing more frustrating than reaching for your camera when you see something exciting and not being able to capture the shot that you imagined. Although automatic settings on cameras are getting better and better, there are some situations that can be tricky to capture without making some manual adjustments. Lighting can make or break a photograph and can be the reason your…
Nature Up North Teacher Workshop: A Community of Educators
By Conner Eldridge on
Blog: In the SchoolsIt has been a busy two days at the Nature Up North teacher workshop. Twelve educators from across the North Country convened to share our ideas for diverse learning experiences with an emphasis on local, natural features.
During the workshop, Nature Up North director Dr. Erika Barthelmess and project manager Jake Malcomb introduced us to Place-Based Learning. Their goal was to inspire us to…
Touch-Me-Not: When a Weed is Not a Weed
By Paul J. Hetzler on
Blog: Just Our NatureBy definition, a weed is any plant growing where you don’t want it. To clarify, this holds true only in the garden beds or acreage under your cultivation. “Weeding” flowers in a park planter because they offend your sense of aesthetics is frowned upon.
To a plant, having “weed” embedded right in its name is probably akin to having a “Kick Me” sign on your back. Right out of the box there…
Volcanoes in Northern New York?
By Paul J. Hetzler on
Blog: Just Our NatureWhen you think about it, trees in our landscape have it pretty rough. They don’t get to choose their neighborhood; good, bad or indifferent. Depending where they’re planted they may have to contend with “visits” from territorial dogs, “materials testing” by late-night fraternity mobs, entanglements with errant kites, and other issues.
Rooted in one spot day in and day out, year after year, they…
Six Nature Myths Busted
By Krista Sonia on
Blog: Just Our NatureHere at Nature Up North we hear a lot of great questions about wildlife and the outdoors. Do porcupines really shoot their quills? Will ticks fall on you from trees? What does it mean to be blind as a bat? Will a bird abandon its young if I touch them? To answer these questions, here are six common misconceptions about nature and the truth behind them! Which myths did you believe?
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Lyme Disease Ecology Part Two: Is Biodiversity a Buffer?
By Jacob Malcomb on
Blog: Just Our Nature
You might be wondering – what does ecology have to do with my risk for catching Lyme disease, anyway? In our first post about Lyme disease, we introduced the blacklegged tick (also commonly called deer tick), the creepy crawly arachnid that transmits pathogens to unwitting hikers, hunters, and gardeners. As much as we’d like to blame ticks, and ticks alone, for getting us sick, it…