Earth Matters

Hitchcock Center publishes a column, “Earth Matters: Notes on the Nature of the Valley,” in The Daily Hampshire Gazette. Writers include Hitchcock staff and board members, former board members, presenters in our Community Programs series, and friends of the Center.

Earth Matters has been a project of the Hitchcock Center for the Environment since 2009. Look for the column at the end of Section C of the weekend Gazette or on their website. We will keep a complete list on this site, so if you miss seeing a column in the newspaper, or want to see it again, come here at any time.

Wood sounds good: Reclaiming trees and ties to our land

by Christine Hatch

If a tree falls in the forest, and nobody is around to hear it, does it make a sound? Well, it most certainly can! Local luthier, inventor, and teacher John Fabel has been making instruments out of the finest fallen trees for years now, giving new meaning to “made local”. I spent 16 months apprenticing with John as part of a community instrument-making endeavor, during which time I produced possibly the first ever ukulele to be made of Eastern Red Cedar (Juniperus virginiana). I also learned a lot about John’s reverence for trees, community, and structural biomaterials throughout the process and the interview I conducted for this article.

Published on May 23, 2025.

Do plants know math? Three Valley plants share a surprising secret

by Nancy Pick

Asparagus, strawberries and sunflowers are, to my mind, three of the best reasons to live in western Massachusetts. It won’t be long now before the first asparagus spears, those fertility symbols that usher in our dazzling farm produce season, poke out of the ground. To pose a riddle, what cool characteristic do these three plants have in common, one you might not notice unless you look quite closely?

Published on March 26, 2025.

Learning a sense of wonder: The importance of outdoor experiences in the natural world in our youth

by Ted Watt

It was January, with two feet of cold crisp powder on the ground. The day was bright and sunny. The 5th and 6th grades at our small rural, hill-town school had been studying life sciences. Educators and students were focusing on animals and the many varied ways they are adapted, both physically and behaviorally, to living in their environment. We decided to take advantage of the perfect winter day and headed out to see what we could learn about how animals live in winter from the signs and tracks they left behind.

Published on March 19, 2025.

Exploring the behaviors of wintering birds: Adaptations ensure survival in freezing temperatures

by Tom Litwin

During migration season this past fall researchers at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, using NEXRAD weather radar, tracked approximately 4 billion birds migrating from Canada into the U.S. and 4.7 million birds leaving the U.S. for the tropics. Clearly one strategy for dealing with New England weather is to leave it behind. But other species’ strategies have traded the benefits and perils posed by thousands of miles of travel for the benefits and perils of northern winters.

Published on January 24, 2025.

From horses to martins: 15 years of the Fort River Refuge

by Joshua Rose

Once upon a time, it was called Bri-Mar Stables and described as “a quaint equestrian facility nestled in the heart of Hadley … providing a welcoming environment for those passionate about all things equine.” The property had a barn at the top of a hill on Moody Bridge Road and a track for riding out back near the Fort River. The farm eventually closed and was sold to a developer. The developer was allegedly caught illegally filling wetlands and offered a choice: Pay fines that would erode their profit margins or sell the land to the government. They chose the latter.

Published on January 15, 2025.

Alone in the wilderness: A case against radical self-reliance

by Monya Relles

On July 14, 2024, I got on a train headed from Albany, NY to Charlottesville, VA. Then I endeavored to walk home. I followed the Appalachian trail for two months and approximately six-hundred and fifty miles. I carried around forty-five pounds of stuff, ate about a pound of ibuprofen, seriously considered quitting nearly seven times, and used up well over a foot of blister tape. The walk was challenging, ordinary, and devastatingly beautiful at turns and I enjoyed it very much.

Published on November 15, 2024.

By any other name: Finding the fun in Latin taxonomy

By Rachel Quimby for the Gazette October 4, 2024 Shortly after we moved into our new (old) house in Holyoke, I noticed a shrub in our neighbor’s yard. It was […]

Published on October 7, 2024.

Spotting rare birds among the common: Birdwatching tactics for observing abnormal bird behavior

Birdwatchers make lists. We list bird species seen by day, week, year, or lifetime. We list birds seen in a yard, town, state, or continent. We compete and get a special thrill from finding a stray from far away.

Published on September 17, 2024.

Coming together for climate action: Hitchcock Center facilitates conversation and action on a community level

We are all experiencing the impacts of climate change more each day, in our own communities and around the world.

Recent data from the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication shows that 72% of Americans understand that climate change is real, human-caused, and happening now. Yet, only 36% discuss it even occasionally with family or friends, leading to a lack of public discourse and civic engagement to address one of the most critical issues of our time. Increased public discourse is a critical precursor for action.

Published on September 11, 2024.

Earth Matters: Getting to the root of a weed: Who was Joe Pye, and is Joe Pye weed a cure for typhus or any other ailment?

In summer, many New England roads are lined with clouds of magenta flowers atop the tall stems of several species of Joe Pye weed, especially where the roads are bordered by damp ditches. Who was Joe Pye? A perusal of popular botanical sources reveals that he was a Native American, but little consensus beyond that (and not even that; one field guide describes him as a “Caucasian ‘Indian theme promoter’”). Various references place him in different tribal groups and different centuries. Many references credit him with using this plant to cure a disease, most often given as typhus, both in Native and European-origin communities, although details are often vague and differ among accounts. Fortunately, researchers Richard Pearce and James Pringle have recently reviewed these confusing accounts and delved into historical records to uncover what little can be known about the real man behind the stories.