HAPPY SOLSTICE!!!!!!!!!

Yeppers, its winter Solstice again. Time to celebrate the changing of the year from old to new. WHAT!!!! you don't follow the Ancient's Agronomic Calendar???? Well not many folks do anymore. At best they might remember this is the shortest day of the year. And then only if the TV news slips it in between war and doomsday coverage. 

For the Ancient Celtic's this would be the beginning of their growing season. Time to plan what and where to grow their crops for next year. Even the Mayan's would be celebrating the beginning of another year by turning the calendar. At least that seems to be what modern day Mayan's are doing.

If the weather hold out, tomorrow we will go up to a spot on Mutton Hunk Fen Preserve that holds a special spot in ancient history. We are lucky enough to have one of the Carolina Bays on the preserve. These bays were formed about 140,000 years ago due to some sort of meteoric impact with the earth near todays Saginaw Michigan. Back then the northern half of the US was in the middle of an ice age. Michigan was covered with anywhere from 1 to 2 miles of ice known as the Wisconsin Ice Sheet. Whatever it was that hit the earth came in at a very low angle.  This object came through the atmosphere fast and was really really hot. It hits this huge block of really really cold ice. The explosion must have been tremendous. Most of the ejecta (big word for fragments of the object) flew in a general South West direction. When they finally hit the ground they slide making a tear shaped impression. An impression that usually points back to Saginaw. Some of the ejecta must have been pretty big. Our Carolina Bay is approximately 5 acre in size.

I have no idea whether there is any historic or mystical significance to this site, and it doesn't really matter. Mutton Hunk is a place that is truly unique. It was rescued from development, and is being allowed to return to its natural state. I hope you'll take a moment today to find a spot outside in nature, and take a moment to enjoy the rhythms of our earth.

Happy Solstice……Grenville

Fog on the Fen

Last Tuesday and Wednesday we had a little fog here on the Shore. Schools were delayed 2 hours on Tuesday and cancelled completely on Wednesday.

On the Fen, which is right on Metompkin Bay, it was very thick.

Above is our entrance sign on Tuesday morning. You can see the fog in the background. By 10 AM it had all burned off.

Here is Wednesday morning. This did not burn off till about 1pm.

A few other views of Wednesday.

SOOOO you may wonder,,, Did this slow us down??????? No way!!!!! Even with a late delivery of trees on Tuesday we still got all 140 trees in by Thursday afternoon.
Tuesday will be another delivery and the weather is calling for clear and in the mid 60's.

Grenville

Funnies from the Fen

OHHHH I just couldn't help myself on that one...... OK OK OK  So here is a funny sent in by longtime blog follower, fellow weather prognosticator, and old friend Possum

Makes ya stop an think, doesn't it!!!!

Anyway, there have been some questions about the logistics of the Mutton Hunk Fen Project i am part of. 

Entire Project area= 418 acres

2010 area planted= 35 acres

2011 area planted= 75 acres

2012 area planted = 110 acres

For those of you who may find this a spacial challenge to get your ming wrapped around, your typical home lot of 1/4 acre is 100' x 100' approximately. An acre is 208' x 208'.

Our friend Abe Lincoln  said that he thought that would be very close plantings of the Oak Trees. BUT numbers wise we have just 500 Oaks for the 110 acres giving us 4.5 trees per acre. Not every acre will get trees. There are certain really wet spots that will be eliminated as will areas near the bay due to eventual 'sea level rise' and the Nor'easter's we are known for. I will try Tuesday to get a good picture showing the trees. Those half trees are the hardest to plant though. Root ball falls apart every time. 

Then someone asked what kind of Oaks we are planting. The short answer is ones that like wet toes and can tolerate salt spray. Remember this land is near sea level (at the most elevation is 15 ft) and bordered by saltwater. Oh yea,,, did i mention that the Atlantic Ocean is just a mile away across Metompkin Bay???? (If they grew Pop Corn here you would never have to add salt...:-)....)

Our first load were Willow Oaks Quercus phellos. They really like this wet environment.

Next is Water Oak Quercus nigra.  This one is in the Red Oak family and is sometimes called Spotted Oak or Possum Oak. 

This coming week i think we are planting White Oak Quercus alba. Another long lived common Oak found all over the Eastern US.

And finally Red Oak Quercus rubra. Again a very common Oak in the red family, and the state tree of New Jersey.

All of these trees are native to our area, which is a major criteria for our projects. All of our plantings are "Native Plants". ANd yes for those of you thinking that this area will eventually turn into a forest, that is the whole idea. Our goal is preserving or restoring our "Natural Heritage".  Or in another way, parks are for people and Natural Area Preserves are for critters. Again, Tuesday i will post pictures of the first area we did back in 2010. Along with the native grasses in that first area, you can find some of the Oaks, but the Lob Lolly Pines, Pinus Taeda, have really taken hold of the area.


This weekend we start our new, improved, and decidedly smaller garden area. I bet the Princess will take a picture or two,,,, ya think?????
Greneville

Friday's Frivolous Fen Frolicks

Actually today we are not Frolicking on the Fen. A half inch of rain overnight has caused us to take a long weekend. And speaking for myself, it is a welcome occurrence. Some of you may be wondering about this covert organization i mention now and then, Master Naturalists. First, to dispel all rumors, we are NOT a group who loves cavorting through the woods nekid.... in fact the mear thoughts of that nature could cause neurological paralysis and instant blindness.

We are a cadre of trained volunteers that are able to assist the public with questions, projects, and education relating to the local environment where we live. That said, you may wonder if we are 'tree huggers'?  Well, sort of. BUT there is a definite apprenticeship to be a tree hugger. 

This is Amanda. Next to her is a Morella cerifera or Wax Myrtle shrub. Apprentices start by planting shrubs. They are the folks who yesterday were following the shrub droppers. After a sufficiently long period of 'Shrub Cuddling', you may graduate to 'Tree Hugging'. BUT you have to maintain a certain number of hours per year hugging to be a 'Certified Tree Hugger'.  Someone told me that makes us 'Certifiable'. I'm not sure if they were to be believed since they were holding a bunch of 'used teabags'.

As of yesterday at noon, all 3550 Wax Myrtles had been planted. Not bad for 2.5 days work by a lot of very dedicated volunteers (and there wasn't even free lunch involved, just snacks). 

So what happened to those 90 Willow Oaks that were delivered. Well they are getting planted. 41 got planted yesterday, which was more of an experimental day to see what would be the best planting method. The remaining 410 will be planted over the next three weeks.

 To the right is the awlgar that drills the hole for the rootball. And below is the Bobcat that spins the awlgar. This is truly a 'blessed event'. Fr. Richard has really made our fields 'holey'.

Over the years we have devised (correction, Richard has devised) a simple method of getting the trees from where they are delivers to the holes.

First, the bottom wire bands that hold the root ball together are removed. Next the tree is lifted by tractor and placed on the trailer, where they are neatly stacked three in a row by Michael. Then they are towed out to the field by tractor this year since we have one capable of the task.

Next, if you notice the reddish crane on the back of the trailer, we use that to lift the rootball off the trailer, swing it over the hole, lower it half way into the hole, the rest of the wire basket is cut, and in the hole it goes.

Lastly, the excess burlap is pushed down, Soil is packed into the sides of the hole, and on to the next hole. If all things go right this operation takes 7-10 minutes per tree. Moving to the next hole usually takes another 3-5 minutes depending on location. So even at the longest, we can plant a tree every 15 minutes and on average every 10 minutes. Here are pics of the final operation.

Tomorrow is back to the Historic Onley Train Station. For that update you will have to visit Possum at http://onley-spots.blogspot.com/

Grenville

Fen Fun is in Full Fling!!!!

Hard to believe i could string all those F words together, and have it come out clean....
Oh Well!!!!!  Sorry for no post last night. By the time i got home my fingers were too tired to type. Here is part of our happy group Tuesday morning after unloading the tractor trailer.

I didn't have time to get a pic of the tractor-trailer that delivered 3550 Wax Myrtles and 90 Willow Oaks yesterday morning. We all were to busy trying to figure out how to efficiently unload them. Shrubs and trees were mixed into the load and required many hands to untangle them. Then the first shrubs were loaded directly onto the trailers that would be going to the field.

As far as we can tell each field trailer (there were two of them) held about 300 plants. After they were filled the rest of the shrubs went on the ground in a holding area. Well they went on the ground where ever we could find room. We formed rough conga lines and just kept passing them along till we ran out. The 90 Willow oaks were unloaded by tractor since they are about 7 ft tall and the ball and all weigh about 200 lb. each. You'll see them tomorrow (if i survive another day).

 It may not look like a lot of shrubs here but there are almost 3000 of them.

So after a lunch break we started the dropping/planting operation. This is where teams of 6 people (driver, crew chief and arranger, and 4 droppers) take a trailer load out to the field. The driver moves along at about 2 mph and the 4 droppers come up to the trailer and grab some shrubs. They walk along the rows and drop them (pot and all) into the pre-drilled holes. You remember all those holes Michael drilled last week. As the shrubs get depleted from the edge of the trailer the crew chief/arranger pushes more from the center to the edge. All this time the tractor is inching along, unless someone yells to stop. Yesterday afternoon my crew dropped 3 trailer loads, or about 900 shrubs.

Here we are heading out with our second load of the afternoon. So what happens to those potted plants that are in the holes?????? Well another crew comes along and takes them out of the pots and plants the shrub. That is probably the most intensive part of the operation. Finally a Q/A person walks each row and checks for missed holes, improperly planted shrubs (green side down , brown side up), and lastly removes the yellow flags at the end of the rows to say they are done.

This morning my crew dropped 3 more trailer loads. We do have about 200 shrubs left over but they will be used for fill ins and replacements for shrubs that don't make it.

The rest of our day was spent helping the planting crews. As of this afternoon the entire 110 acres had been planted with shrubs.

So who made up this band of intrepid planters????? Many are members of the Eastern Shore Chapter of Master Naturalists www.masternaturalistesva.com.  Others were from The Nature Conservancy, Va Dept. of Inland Fish and Game, Va. Dept. of Conservation and Recreation main office in Richmond,  Va. Dept. of Forestry, Va Dept. of Environmental Quality. Now if you are reading this and were there and i have forgotten to mention you, I apologize. Just think of how tired you are right now!!!!! And remember i'm just as tired.

Tomorrow we will start the second part of our operation which will be planting trees. So stay tuned for more Frolicking Fen Follies!!!!!!!

Grenville

All Day Snow Storm

YES,,, those little white streaks are SNOW coming down. And it did this all day long. Of course a March snow here is the non-sticking kind. Tomorrow should be clear but a little chilly and a nasty east (off the ocean) wind.

We did get some stuff done on the Fen like setting up the tractors and marking rows that are muddy or flooded at the far end making turns with a trailer impossible.
















Tomorrow our 4700 plants arrive. To the "Old Bike Rider", most are Wax Myrtles since the deer done eat them. It sounds like we will  just unload, tag, and load onto the trailers so we can get them out into the field on Wednesday.

The rest of the day was spent re-staining the foyer. It seems like that task will never end. Probably cause it goes so slow with the wiping and reapplying.

I'm so glad everyone liked our Indent-A-Rod post. I just could not resist. Apologies to Elaine (Alaska).

Grenville

Got Jugglers????

Sometimes i wonder about that. It seems lately that I'm juggling a few balls and spinning a couple of plates all at the same time.

The biggest and bestest news is about the Historic Onley Train Station. This is a project i have been in for a few years as many of you will remember. You may also remember that the Station is in need of a roof replacement which will cost about $10,000. Well last night at our Town meeting, the council appropriated the money for our roof. This has been a three year struggle and finally this year the Town had enough in reserve funds to pay for the new roof. More on this as it happens.

The veggies are starting to mount up. Poor Beatrice is sometimes inundated with our daily harvest. I can tell cause she runs from the kitchen screaming. Right now we have zucchini, yellow squash, beets (love them), cucumbers, and green beans being picked. Tomatoes and corn soon i hope.

The on-going ‘Fun on the Fen’ project is going well. Last week we spread 305 tons of gravel to resurface the access road and create a parking area. Next is replacing the tractor i use up there.

The next fun event is teaching a week of Eastern Shore Ecology at Camp Occohannock on the Bay. This is a project of the Master Naturalist chapter i belong to. Somehow i got talked into running it this year. The middle school week is ending tomorrow. My week is July 18-22 for Elementary school age kids (9-12). A lot of logistical planning involved and finding volunteer helpers.

This is followed closely by the arrival of our granddaughter at the end of July and spending some time with her.

Then right on to the world famous “Watershed Walk” where you can learn everything you ever wanted to know about the watershed you live in. Well maybe just the watershed we live in. A fun day with 25-30 environmental agencies and groups educating kids and adults a like. My job???? Coordinate the exhibitors. This will be my third year so it is getting a lot easier.

There is more but i don’t want to boor those of you that have stayed awake till now. So if i sort of seem absent in the coming weeks, now you know why.

But a hint of upcoming events is “Autumn in Onley” at the Historic Onley Station. One of the few places you can experience an old time Small Town Fall Festival. And you can buy the ‘Brooklyn Bridge’ while you are here.

Grenville

Mutton Hunk Fen, What is it?????

Hi kids. Sorry if i confused some of you on this. After checking back, the first installment of the Saga of Mutton Hunk Fen was part of another entry, Getting a little behind .  SO let me start over. Mutton Hunk Fen is a 418 acres former dairy farm that was converted to a tomato farm and then a soy bean fram. A few years ago the owners sold to the Nature Conservancy who eventually sold to the State of Virginia. The farm was turned over to the Dept. of Conservation and Recreation Natural Heritage division. As a member of the Eastern Shore Master Naturalist Chapter i do volunteer work for DCR. Over the last two years we have done  restoration work on over 125 acres by replanting native bushes and trees. By natural succession the area will revert back to its original vegitation. This in turn will provide habitat for native animals, birds and migratory birds. The Eastern Shore of Va. is a part of the East Coast Flyway for migratory birds and butterflies. This year we have a grant to restore 100 acres with Wax Myrtle bushes and native Oak trees. So far we have done area 3 and part of 2. Next week we will finish area 2 and 1.

So what is the parking lot for????? he Preserve will be open to the public this summer. There are limited facilities. It is not like a State Park with picnic and other activities. But the public will be able to walk the Preserve, bird watch, and enjoy some nature education activities. The trick is finding this place.

Here are the other past posts on Hutton Hunk Fen.    First Post

Second Post

Third Post

Sorry for the confusion…. AND now back to our FUN ON THE FEN…..

Fun on the Fen Update

Today was parking lot day. Since we are out of trees and the next shipment will not be here till next Tuesday we worked on the future parking lot. My day was spent helping to install the guard rail.  Each post is  6x6” and the rails are 2x10”. These are full size rough cuts and treated to marine grade, not the nice trimmed stuff you get at the lumber yard. The heavy treating is needed due to the closeness of the Atlantic Ocean and the near constant salt breeze. By the end of the day we had finished the left side of the road and had started setting posts on the right side. Each side will accommodate 8  cars. At the end of the lot we will be installing a set of gates to restrict vehicles any further. As the day went on we were treated to the formation flying of Snow Geese.

  Through out the day we got to watch hundreds of Snow Geese head south then north then south again. These shots are just a few of them. Usually when they come overhead the sky will be filled with them. 

 

 

More Fun on the Fen

Yes, today was another fun day on Mutton Hunk Fen. The project today was to finish planting 160 Oak trees. Of the 100 we planted today most were Water Oaks Quercus nigra.  The rest were one of my favorites from a wood turning point of view, Southern Red Oak Quercus falcata.

 

 

About half of my day was on a tractor moving the trees from a pile onto a trailer. Then we took them out to the fields you saw last time and planted them in pre drilled holes. There was a lot of ‘healing’ them in since the wind up there is non stop this time of year. On the up side i picked up 50 discarded tomato stakes made from cedar. They will be great in the garden this year.

On the way home i had stopped and picked up 21 bags of sand (it was 3 for $10 so i was going for a nice even number so the girls at the register didn’t have to hurt themselves figuring what 2 bags would cost) plus 6 bags of cow manure. The sand will be used to enlarge and finish a patio out in the wild flower meadow. The manure will go into the veggie beds to balance them out a little. After loading all that i got home and just parked the truck out near where i will be using all of this.

Next week we get to build a parking lot just to the left of the building near the road. What fun!!!!!

Grenville (looking for the Tylenol)