Forest Management at MFFC Forests are dynamic, diverse ecosystems shaped by wind, ice, insects, wildlife, inter-tree competition, rain, soils, and humans. At Merck, part of our mission is to demonstrate sustainable forestry. By managing our forests we can produce forest products and services that benefit us, while positively impacting our forest ecosystems. Here’s an inside …
Autumn is a time to enjoy the brilliant colors of changing leaves, the fragrance of pumpkin spice wafting in the air, the sweep of gorgeous vistas, and the sounds of animals scurrying about gathering and preparing for the winter to come. Here at Merck Forest, Fern and Arch, our draft horses, have been enjoying the beautiful weather …
Hiking past massive maple trees and sturdy stone walls, we are reminded of how old our Vermont landscape is. It’s easy to imagine that the trail you’re walking is as old as the stone walls themselves, but most often this is not the case. Here at Merck Forest our trails date back only to the …
Flashes, like glances at midnight fires, amidst endless green pass in the canopy overhead with each hike as the yellows, oranges and reds of September peep into our daily work at Merck Forest. It’s as if Autumn holds her paintbrush above us and little drops dye the trees before the full stroke of the brush …
Dear Outside World, It’s been a while since we’ve written, and that probably reflects life on the farm in the summer time. Since the last update, 44 fluffy lambs have been added to our flock! They are almost two months old and are growing fast, but are definitely still worth coming to visit. Peggy Sue’s …
Dear Outside World, Despite the snow today, on April 26th, flowers have finally started to bloom! Since our last foray into blog writing, Peggy Sue gave an outstanding performance delivering her piglets between the hours of 7pm and 7am. We apprentices had the novel experience of collecting the piglets as they were born, cleaning and …
Dear Outside World, Winter has finally arrived! Here at the Lodge, in April… Fun fact: snow panels are 3.14% less effective under two inches of snow. Sarah has learned that she now pays careful attention to the cloud cover. Alessia has learned that she is far too lax about eating food that has been left …
Today felt like the first day of school here at Merck Forest, at least that’s what Christine Hubbard, education director, said to the visiting fifth grade students from Dorset School. It was, in fact, the first day of the new pilot program: the Merck Forest and Farmland Center / Next Generation Science Standards School Partnership Program, …
In the summer newsletter Tom wrote an article about the new mushroom packaging we will start to use for shipping syrup. In case you didn’t see the article, a copy of it is here: Many of you are aware that we are in the process of making our maple syrup packaging and shipping more sustainable. …
Peggy Sue’s piglets had their first big adventure yesterday: the doors in their stall were opened to the pasture = Freedom to explore. Several of the more curious guys and girls poked their noses out the door right away. It took others until the afternoon to step onto the soil for the first time. By mid …
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Merck Forest & Farmland Center is a 501(C3) non-profit organization. We are not affiliated with, nor do we receive support from Merck & Company, Inc., nor are we part of any government agency.
All donations are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law and are greatly appreciated!
Get updates directly to your inbox.
We are not affiliated with, nor do we receive annual support from Merck & Co. Inc.
We are not part of any government agency. • All donations are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law and are greatly appreciated!