"Your feet are the only two feet you got for your whole life and they will always be the ones who take you where you need to go. Treat them like kings because without them your face would be in the dirt." - Tyson Schultz, Oregon Logger

I ask a group of loggers and foresters several years ago what brand of boot they favored. I tallied their votes in a poll and have listed the top boots in order of popularity. Here are some great recommendations if you need a new pair of boots or plan to give a pair for Christmas.

Photo Courtesy Red Wing Boots

Chainsaws are being purchased and given as gifts over the holidays with very little thought to how they would be operated and with absolutely NO training. Acquainting yourself with a chainsaw before it is purchased (or rented) can save time and trouble and can make the experience much safer. Worry about getting the perfect power saw AFTER taking this beginners eCourse.

I've created lessons that break the chainsaw eCourse into four major content areas. The lessons will come to you in the form of a daily email newsletter. Take this eCourse, then get out and cut some wood...

• A Beginner Chainsaw eCourse

You can avoid much of the tree damage a winter storm can bring by following a few tips I provide. Thoughtful planting of the correct tree and correct annual pruning can go a long way in protecting your landscape investment as well as your personal property.

• Tree Pruning Tutorial or How to Prune a Tree
• Consider Planting These Trees in Your Yard

Arkansas Ice Storm - Jim Zornes Photo

Just 1% of a tree is actually alive and composed of "living" cells. Nearly all of every tree you see is composed of non-living tissue and very little of a tree's volume is "living" tissue. The major living or growing portion of a tree is a thin film or skin of cells just under the bark (called the cambium). Other living cells are in root tips, the apical meristem, leaves and buds.

The overwhelming portion of all trees is made up of non-living tissue created by a cambial-hardened wood cells on the inner cambial layer. Sandwiched between the outer cambial layer and the bark is the ongoing process of creating sieve tubes which transport food from leaves to roots.

Learn more about a tree and it's parts.

Angel Oak on John's Island, South Carolina - Photo by Steve Nix, Licensed to About.com