Category Archives: Froggy Foibles

Forest to Tap (F2T) is a project to share the knowledge that forests and good forest management contribute greatly to the clean waters of Minnesota, and thus great beer. The Forest Friendly Brewery Project is a non-profit based project, planned and supported by a diverse group of natural resource interests, whose common denominator is the knowledge that good forest management – including planting, harvesting, and stewardship – results in clean and healthy water for wildlife, communities, businesses – and ultimately for beer! …The ‘avenue’ to that education is through partnering with craft breweries, (the end users of water), to spread the message.

Annelore Harrell

As anyone who has been raised in the Lowcountry will tell you, we do know about paper bags. We make ’em. There’s a reason we grow so many pine trees. If students in Hawaii worked at the Dole Pineapple Factory in the summertime, then Savannah teens headed to the bag plant for jobs as soon as school let out in the spring. The pay was good, but the work hard. …we recognized the bag plant from afar. It stunk. Depending on which way the wind was blowing, you got a snoot full. For years, the chimneys spewed out stinky smoke. The “smell of money,” we said. …On Sunday, Oct. 7, 1945, Union Camp paper bags became part of a murder when Jesse R. McKethan, who worked at the plant, strangled George Luther Aids, chopped up his body and used paper bags he had brought home to carry the pieces, which he proceeded to distribute around his neighborhood in vacant lots…

Does the thought of putting up the Christmas tree fill you with dread instead of excitement? Do you have visions of tissues and antihistamine instead of sugarplums dancing in your head? Christmas trees and other decorations can trigger allergies in many people. Tree sap, pollen and terpenes — compounds that give pine trees their scent — can all make allergy sufferers sneeze. …Live trees can be full of mold. A study last year at SUNY Upstate Medical University found 53 kinds of mold in live Christmas trees. Most of those molds are potential allergens and are known to increase the risk of wheezing, persistent coughing and allergic sensitization in infants. …If pollen is a problem, consider buying a Leland cypress tree. According to the National Christmas Tree Association, this hybrid is the most popular Christmas tree in the Southeast, and does not produce pollen or sap.

The bugs are creepy, they’re crawly and they could be living on that freshly-cut Christmas tree you plan to bring into your home. Oh, and there could be hundreds or thousands of those bugs on your real tree. Iowa State University Extension and Outreach says “several hundred” baby insects and spiders could be on one tree, and organic gardening manufacturer Safer Brand says up to 25,000 of those “common Christmas tree bugs” could be living on your tree. Whether hundreds or thousands of bugs, you might not realize they are on your tree until after you set up and decorate that perfect holiday piece. By then, you’ll have already welcomed any possible critters into your warm home. …If you want to avoid bringing the bugs into your home, there are a few things you can do that don’t include skipping the real Christmas tree this year.

The Thanksgiving holiday is upon us and this long weekend is one that millions of Americans use to select and purchase their Christmas trees. But… according to the National Christmas Tree Association, 27.4 million real Christmas trees were purchased in 2017 at an average cost of $75, along with 21.1 million new fake trees at an average cost of $107. According to a recent survey… the period between Black Friday and Cyber Monday is actually one of the most expensive times of the season to purchase a tree, with Black Friday itself being the most expensive day, an average, to bring one home.

TROY, N.C. – Follow the footsteps of a North Carolina legend. They’ll lead to dead ends, revealing more questions than answers in a mystery that has stumped even naysayers for centuries — the search for Sasquatch. That quest for clues often takes Bigfoot enthusiasts to Montgomery County. Nestled in the wilderness is an outlier on the outskirts of civilization — the Eldorado Outpost. …Cagle’s referring to the now-viral Squeaky Thermal footage, appearing to show a big creature peering into a campsite near the outpost. The man who captured it is a self-described avid camper-turned Bigfoot investigator.”It was the best night of my life, I guess!” recalled Michael Green. …I know what I saw. I don’t care if anyone thinks I’m crazy. 

Last week, the United Nations warned that if governments don’t act on climate change within 12 years, there will be additional threats to the global environment. …Now,  a new study from climate researchers in the United States, China and Britain suggests a beer shortage is brewing. …Using a process-based crop model and an economic model, the researchers examined the effects of heat waves and drought… that will also affect where barley is grown. That means beer prices on average would double, even adjusting for inflation. …“Although not the most concerning impact of future climate change, climate-related weather extremes may threaten the availability and economic accessibility of beer,” researchers wrote. “Our aim is not to encourage people to drink more beer now,” says study author Dabo Guan.