How much snow can a roof hold? Weigh the load, not the depth
How much snow a roof can hold depends on the snow's weight, not its depth. Work out the load per square foot, learn the warning signs, find your design load.
Streams, skies, wild places, and how to read them
Hollow & Headwater is a journal for people who like to know what is going on in the creek behind the house, the haze over the ridge and the meadow at the edge of town. Our five writers cover water, air, wildlife, the outdoors and greener everyday living in plain language, with the sources linked.
Current Briefs See the whole journal ›
Best firewood moisture meter: what to buy and how to read it
The best moisture meter for firewood is a simple pin meter. Read a fresh split face across the grain at room temperature; under about 20% means seasoned.
Well water smells like rotten eggs? Find the source, then fix it
Rotten-egg well water is hydrogen sulfide. Smell hot and cold taps to find the source, then fix it with an anode swap, a well shock or an oxidizing filter.
From the journal
Hiking during hunting season: blaze orange, timing and common sense
Fall woods are shared with hunters. A practical checklist for hikers covering blaze orange, timing, dogs, noise, where hunting happens and simple courtesy.
How much firewood do you need for winter? Cords, face cords, ricks
How much firewood you need depends on climate, house, stove and how much you rely on wood. Here's how to size a winter supply in cords and measure a delivery.
What fallen leaves do in a creek: inside the leaf-pack food web
Autumn leaves that fall into a creek feed a whole food web. How leaf packs form, who eats them, why the tree species matters, and how to look inside one.
Battery backup for a gas furnace: best power stations, sizing, hookup
Battery backup for a gas furnace: a power station runs the blower and controls in an outage. Size it from the rating plate; hook it up via a transfer switch.
Wood stove accessories worth owning, and the ones you can skip
The wood stove accessories that earn their keep: a moisture meter, a stove thermometer, CO alarms, a metal ash can and a yearly sweep. The rest is optional.
What radon level is safe? Reading 4 pCi/L, 2 pCi/L and 100 Bq/m³
No radon level is known to be risk-free. What the EPA's 4 and 2 pCi/L mean, how WHO, Canadian and EU limits convert, and what to do with your own result.
Browse by theme
- Water & RiversStreams, rivers, wetlands and groundwater: how to read them, enjoy them and keep them healthy.
- Air & ClimateSmoke, ozone, weather, a changing climate and the air inside our homes, explained in plain numbers.
- Conservation & WildlifeHabitat, native plants, birds, amphibians and the work of keeping wild places wild.
- Sustainable LivingPractical writing on home energy, waste, gardens and everyday choices, honest about costs and free of greenwash.
- Outdoor RecreationHiking, paddling, seasons and safety: getting outside and coming home with good stories.
- Science & ExplainersHow the natural world works, from soil chemistry to storms, explained without the jargon.
- Community & LifestyleTowns, people, food, travel and the everyday life that grows up around land and water.
Field guides
Field AlmanacWhat is blooming, spawning, migrating and turning colour, month by month.Maps & DataHow to read the public stream gauges, air maps, wetland and soil maps yourself.Green TipsSmall, honest habits for the home, the garden, the trail and the river.
- Air quality at home: particles, ozone and cleaner wood smoke
- Kick-net stream monitoring: technique, bug groups and simple scores
- Erosion and sediment control on building sites: what good looks like
- What an impaired stream means: 303(d) lists and TMDLs, explained
- How a watershed assessment works, from creek chemistry to land use
- Inside an environmental lab: why water test results can be trusted
- Shale gas and water: wells, wastewater and what is still debated
- Illegal dumping and roadside trash: why it happens and what helps