Issues → November/December 2008 → Features →
Witch Hazel: Connecticut is the Source
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But first you have to cut the brush. On a brisk day in January, the Halls are working a few miles from home in privately owned woods, where they hope to harvest 30 tons. "It's everywhere," Ben Hall says, "but it's scattered."
He and Troy move quickly from trunk to trunk. Ben flicks away snow at the base with his chainsaw, then cuts while Troy holds. Ben trims the trunks at ground level because stumps could puncture loggers' tires. "Besides," he adds, "if you leave six inches, you're leaving a few cents. That isn't much, but over 30 tons, it adds up." He even cuts trunks no thicker than his finger. "Collect enough feathers, you've got a pound," he says. They pull the brush to a sled attached to a skidder, which hauls the load to a clearing. There, Ben operates the claws of a log loader to grab a pile of brush and guide it into a chipper. A stream of chopped witch hazel shoots into a big dump truck.
There will always be plenty of witch hazel in Connecticut, but Strong and Hall sometimes wonder who will cut it. "Most young people don't want to know anything about witch hazel," says Strong.
Hall nods: "Nine out of ten who try it don't do it more than once, because it's hard work."
"And the cutters are the key," says Strong. "If you don't have brush, you don't have a product."
And then what would happen to the skin of America's women?
Find a recipe for witch hazel extract and read about its uses.
Reader Comments
Comment from matthew housk on December 26, 2008
I had no idea about CT being a source for witch hazel.. Very interesting article.
http://soundbounder.blogspot.com/
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