tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-46373238428648402222024-03-14T04:13:25.253-04:00Welcome to ChicoryLane Blogjbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10504073253454356119noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4637323842864840222.post-77242639186456155852013-08-12T10:55:00.003-04:002013-08-12T11:32:57.764-04:00Weed Walk: Graminoids<div class="MsoNormal">
Yesterday, a cool, sunny, breezy Saturday in August, members
of the Pennsylvania Native Plant Society came to ChicoryLane Farm for a
Grasses, Sedges, and Rushes plant walk led by Sarah Chamberlain of Riparia at
Penn State University.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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It was another of those perception-changing days on the farm
for me, the novice in the group.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I shifted
from landscape-view to microscopic-view of a whole category of plant life on
the farm, grasses (or graminoids, as the botanists say). <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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It was scale-shifting to go from an everyday relationship
with common plants in the wetlands to a botanical view.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Everyday either I barely noticed them on my
walks around the vernal pools or the cattail marsh, or I might appreciate their
colors in the the lush late summer palette of greens and emerging yellows or
browns. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yesterday, I experienced the
botanical view, identifying and distinguishing among three plant groups
according to details of structure, some so small as to be invisible to the
human eye.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had some relevant observation
skills—I knew to observe growing conditions (eg, wet), growth habit (eg,branching),
and large structure (e.g., stem, branches, leaves).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But yesterday, using a hand lens I zoomed in
to look for small-scale features (eg, bristles, with or without barbs on seeds;
wrinkles on stem-enclosing sheathes). When identification was uncertain, the botanists in the group bagged a stalk to take home for later viewing under
the microscope.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For them, it was a
regular day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For me, it was
exhilarating.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
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<div class="MsoNormal">
It was fun, too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
laughed often.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I learned new lines for
the old mnemonic ‘sedges have edges while rushes are round.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Add: ‘and grasses have joints when cops
aren’t around’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and ‘where cattails are
around, willows abound.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A dry wit in
the group contributed this original joke: ‘grasses are depressing; they’re so
glumey.’ You have to be a botanist to get that one.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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In an earlier visit to the farm, leader Sarah had found the
wetlands—vernal pools, farm pond, cattail marsh, wet meadow—most productive, so
we focused on those areas in yesterday’s walk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Most of the 30 or so graminoids in ChicoryLane’s wet areas are common in
Pennsylvania wetlands, with a few being uncommon in central Pennsylvania where
we are. (Source:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sarah Chamberlain and plant
lists I have consulted after the walk).<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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After observing in wetlands on the south side of the lane
(under the crack willow, crossing the creek, and around the upper vernal pool),
we stopped by the farm pond for more observations, then continued through woods
past the wet meadow with soon-to-be-spectacular New York ironweed to the dry
grasslands behind the farmhouse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> I</span>n farming times corn, soybeans, buckwheat grew there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now, warm-season grasses (timothy,
orchard grass) and cool-season grasses (Big and Little Blue Stem, switchgrass, indian
grass, side oats grama) have been introduced along with a wildflower mix in a
restored Pennsylvania prairie. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Voluntary natives have come along, too, some welcome (giant sunflower) and some unwelcome
(invasive teasel). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
this robust community the uncommon side oats grama is barely noticeable, but it's there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Presently, only a few small clumps of
side oats grama compete in a 12-acre field of switchgrass and blue stem grass. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Side oats grama is a destination plant, one you purposely visit, rather than a vista plant such
as switchgrass or bluestem grass populating the field's horizon. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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After this fine walk in glorious weather, several in the
group assembled on the porch at the Mt. Nittany Inn for supper.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For non-local (Pittsburgh, Altoona, State College) members of the group, there was another
scale shift, as they scanned the panoramic view of Penns Valley seen from the Inn’s porch, looking for ChicoryLane Farm between Brush Mountain and Egg Hill.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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At day’s end, John and I sat on the knoll behind the
farmhouse to watch sunset and anything else happening in the scene. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In an hour of watching the sun go below Brush
Mountain and the cloud colors change from white to pink, while hearing a
neighbor’s beagle bark and bobwhite call, these sights were notable:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;"> </span></span></span>two flocks of ducks flew over, circled, then
settled on the farm pond (the first flock, after circling several times) or
continued on (the second flock, after circling once, probably to Muddy Paws Marsh)</li>
<li>a lone cedar waxwing sat on various high tree
branches, quietly looking around (maybe a lost migrator searching for its noisy group?)</li>
<li><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;"> </span></span></span>two fawns walked toward us, closer and closer,
unafraid altho cautious until they decided to flee, thereby giving me a close
look at the pattern of white spots: two straight lines (one on each side of the
spine) of uniform-size dots linearly from base of neck <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to tail punctuated by the white underside of
the tail with a (random?) scattering of uniform-size dots on shoulders and
sides. No dots on head, neck, or legs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like
a designer’s baby blanket for deer.</li>
</ul>
</div>
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To paraphrase Elam Beiler, it was another beautiful day in
central Pennsylvania.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Next day, John added the 30+ newly identified graminoids to
the 5+ already on the plant list on the farm’s <a href="http://chicorylane.com/database/scripts/php/control/ControlSwitch.php?target=dbWelcome">searchable database</a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I looked in Herrick, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Iroquois Medical Botany</i>, for Native
American medicinal uses of grasses, sedges, and rushes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">Catherine F. Smith<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">August 11, 2013<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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cfshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01578055527052795011noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4637323842864840222.post-16586885235062999812013-07-16T10:54:00.002-04:002013-07-16T11:09:42.288-04:00Managing Land for Ecological Diversity According to the Penn State
<a href="http://extension.psu.edu/natural-resources/forests/news/2013/oneness-with-nature-living-your-stewardship-ethic">Center for Private Forests</a>, there are some 750,000 owners of
forest lands in Pennsylvania. For those that manage their woodlots to
support ongoing timber harvesting, there are a number of resources to guide them toward
sustainable practices. See, for example, <em>
<a href="http://pubs.cas.psu.edu/freepubs/pdfs/uh186.pdf">Forest Stuardship
Principles for Landowners</a></em> and <em>
<a href="http://pubs.cas.psu.edu/freepubs/pdfs/uh102.pdf">Forest Stewardship:
Best Management Practices for Pennsylvania Forests</a></em>. However, only
some 15% of these 750,000 landowners timber their holdings. What about the other 85%?
What do they do with their woodlands?<br /><br />
Some, we speculate, don't do anything with their
parcels and just leave them alone. Others use them
for recreation and aesthetic pleasure. Others to provide privacy.
Some for financial investment. And some to provide habitat for wildlife
and/or to promote ecological diversity. (More research is needed to pin
down the proportions of this number as well as their different motivations,
goals, and constraints.)<br />
<br />
For the 85% who don't timber, what resources are available to guide them,
especially those who wish to emphasize ecological principles on their lands? <br />
<br />
Many of the documents written for specialized practices
also include information
potentially useful for the ecologically intent landowner, as well. For example.
in the discussion of <a href="http://pubs.cas.psu.edu/freepubs/pdfs/uh102.pdf">
best management practices </a>referenced above, a number of suggestions are included for
maintaining forest sustainability (e.g., preserving robust seed-bearing trees,
controlling the canopy, protecting seedlings) and for mitigating the damage
done by timbering operations on the overall ecology (e.g., preserving vernal pools
and other sensitive areas, not compacting the soil unnecessarily, and
protecting water and soil quality). But, as would be expected in a
discussion of sustainable forestry,
priority is given to full-size trees, especially those valuable as timber.
Preservation of woody or herbaceous plants, of shrubs, and of mid-canopy trees
is secondary; and wildlife is often viewed as a factor to be controlled.<br />
<br />
Other possible sources of information for the ecologically intent can be found
in publications aimed at improving wildlife habitat, especially for game
species. For example, there is currently a concerted effort to
re-establish habitat for the American Woodcock. A number of publications
<a href="http://www.timberdoodle.org/sites/default/files/northern_forest_woodcock_bmp_nrcs_wildlife_insight.pdf">
describe beneficial practices</a>,
<a href="http://www.timberdoodle.org/sites/default/files/Woodcock_Conservation_Progress_Report-070610.pdf">
trace progress-to-date</a>, and <a href="http://www.timberdoodle.org/">promote
these efforts</a>. Woodcock require different terrain for courtship, feeding,
nesting, and roosting. These include clearings, grasslands, shrublands,
and new-growth areas such as alder and aspen stands. These varied
conditions are often beneficial to other species of birds such as the Golden Winged
Warbler as well as a number of herbaceous plant species. Thus, developing
a site to promote a particular species of wildlife can extend the ecological
diversity of a location; however, the particular requirements of that species
will likely skew the ecology toward their particular needs as opposed to a more
balanced overall ecology.<br />
<br />
What is needed is a set of principles and a set of practices that can extend the
ecological diversity of an area in a way that is consistent with both the
underlying physical characteristics of the location and the desires and goals of
the landowner. This approach would not replace guidelines such as those for
sustainable forest management or developing wildlife habitat nor would it imply
any criticism of those approaches. Rather, it would complement them by
offering an alternative for those landowners who wish to focus on ecological
diversity. The discussion below includes five tasks that could provide a start
in this direction.<br />
<h3>
<span style="font-weight: normal;">
1. Catalog plants</span></h3>
<blockquote>
Identify the plants present on the site. For easy reference, you may wish
to create a list, a spreadsheet, or a database of them. Since these plants
are already on the site, they provide a ready reference to those that are likely
to survive in the current conditions. Consequently, the landowner can
increase their numbers to achieve various goals, such as increasing wildlife
habitat or providing visual screening, with a degree of confidence. When
cataloging plants, note those that are generally regarded as <em>native</em>, since they are likely to be less invasive than introduced species,
better suited to the local environment, and require less maintenance.</blockquote>
<h3>
2. Identify plant communities</h3>
<blockquote>
Plants in nature do not occur in isolation but in relations to one-another, to
underlying conditions, and to wildlife. An interconnected group of plants
is often referred to as a <em>plant community</em>. Jean Fike provides a useful
definition: "A plant community is an assemblage of plant populations sharing a
common environment and interacting with each other, with animal populations, and
with the physical environment." (Jean Fike,
<a href="http://www.naturalheritage.state.pa.us/fikebook.aspx">Terrestrial and
Palustrine Plant Communities of Pennsylvania</a>, 1999.)
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
A first step for identifying a plant community -- and offering a useful
perspective in and of itself -- is to identify the underlying physical
conditions of the site. Important factors include the following:
<br />
<ul>
<li>geographic location (latitude and longitude)</li>
<li>elevation</li>
<li>topography</li>
<li>light</li>
<li>soil</li>
<li>hydrology</li>
<lidisturbance li="">
<li>disturbance</li>
</lidisturbance></ul>
These factors, along with the
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soil_seed_bank">soil seed bank</a>, strongly influence the plants that will
be present and, hence, the resulting plant community.</blockquote>
<blockquote>
To identify the actual communities present on a site, you need to take into
account both underlying environmental factors and the actual plants growing
there. <a href="http://www.naturalheritage.state.pa.us/fikebook.aspx">Fike</a>
discusses some 105 communities found in Pennsylvania. Hers is a good
reference with which to begin. A
<a href="http://www.naturalheritage.state.pa.us/communities.aspx">second edition</a>,
by Zimmerman, et. al., is also available. It updates the Palustrine
portions of Fike and includes additional materials concerned with ecology,
conservation, and management. Identifying your particular communities can
be done by matching the conditions and plants listed in these references with
those that you have observed and cataloged.</blockquote>
<h3>
3. Create a vision and a set of goals</h3>
<blockquote>
A vision is a description of what you would like the site to become. Goals
are intermediate steps between the site as it currently exists and the site
envisioned. Thus, the goals constitute a kind of <em>action plan</em>.</blockquote>
<blockquote>
A vision can be completely passive, involve an ambitious plan of execution, or
anything in between. At one extreme, with a more detailed understanding of
the plants present on the land and the environmental conditions in which they
live, simply watching them evolve over time can be quite interesting. On the
other hand, you may wish to actively intervene in certain areas. For
example, if the plot is an old farm, you may wish to do a prairie restoration on
some fields by planting warm season grasses or you may wish to restore a forest
in a cleared
area by doing a hardwood planting. Assuming, of course, that the underlying
environmental conditions support these plant communities. You may wish to refine
and/or extend an existing plant community, such as a marsh or vernal pool.
This could be done by clearing invasives or plants inconsistent with the
community and by supplement those present with desirable additions consistent
with the community. One could even "swap" one community for another if the
conditions are conducive to both. Finally, a plan could involve certain
construction tasks to provide access, barriers, features of interest, etc.</blockquote>
<blockquote>
Don't worry about getting your vision completely "right;" it can, and likely
will, evolve as you become more familiar with the site. As you make changes, new ideas
are sure to emerge.
</blockquote>
<h3>
4. Identify plants to be added or removed</h3>
<blockquote>
Once you have a vision for your land, buttressed by a catalog of the plants
growing on it and an awareness of its underlying physical attributes, a next
step is to identify any plants you would like to add or remove. Let's start
with removing plants.</blockquote>
<blockquote>
You may wish to remove plants for any number of reasons. For example, you
may wish to remove a particular tree because it is diseased or injured, or a
whole collection of trees to open up a view. You may decide to
remove a particular species because you just don't like that plant. But,
by far, the most important reason for removing plants is to control invasives.
These are species that are likely to overrun and force out other desirable
species, if left alone. In central Pennsylvania, some invasives that must
be controlled include Autumn Olive, Tartarian Honeysuckle, Multiflora Rose,
Purple Loosestrife, and Japanese Knotweed. Also threatening under some
conditions are Bittersweet, Goldenrod, and Black Walnut. For a
comprehensive list, see the
<a href="http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/cs/groups/public/documents/document/dcnr_20026634.pdf">
DCNR Invasive Plants</a> list. If you have any of these plants -- and you
likely will -- you must reconcile yourself to ongoing vigilance and maintenance
or suffer the consequences.
DCNR provides several helpful publications pertaining to
<a href="http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/forestry/plants/invasiveplants/">
controlling invasives</a>.</blockquote>
<blockquote>
Adding species is a lot more interesting than removing them!
Again, there are several reasons you may wish to do so. You may wish to
add a plant type that you don't have simply because you like it or it serves
some landscaping purpose. If you do, be sure that it is compatible with
the conditions and plant community where you want to plant it. You may
wish to add one or more species to extend an existing plant community, thereby
extending the <em>ecological diversity</em> of your property. Under some
conditions, you may wish to "swap" one plant community for another, assuming
the new one is compatible with the underlying environmental conditions of the
location. However, this is an extreme undertaking and, given the
inherent power of the soil seed bank, probably one best avoided.</blockquote>
<h3>
5. Develop plans for
management, control, and financial support</h3>
<blockquote>
What will happen to your land beyond your lifetime or your capability to manage
it? These are uncomfortable questions, but ones that should be faced,
perhaps sooner than later. Again, one option is to do nothing. If
your land has been managed for ecological diversity for some period of time,
along with similar parcels by other landowners, collectively they will have
contributed to the overall ecological health of your area. Over time,
the addition and subtraction of individual tracts to this collective should
produce at least some benefits to the environment. But, how much better it
would be if individual tracts could be sustained indefinitely! For this to
happen, your tract is likely to need some type of perpetuating management and
control structure as well as on-going financial resources.</blockquote>
<blockquote>
Perhaps the simplest management and control structure is to be sure
that the heirs to the property (e.g., your children) share your vision and goals and are
willing to put the time and effort into carrying them forward. But there
is, of course, no guarantee they will follow through. Adding a
conservation easement can help to ensure that your primary objectives are
continued, but even easements are not 100% certain. An alternative is to
assign actual ownership to some continuing entity such as a corporation or trust
set up to maintain the property. This is a complex process and will require
serious negotiations among the interested parties.</blockquote>
<blockquote>
Last but not least is the question of how the property will be supported
financially beyond your lifetime. A hard fact of reality is that
maintaining a property with the intent of extending its ecological diversity is
not likely to be financially neutral. It probably has few, if any, ways of
generating a cash-flow. Perhaps you have been fortunate enough to receive
grants or incentives to establish the ecological basis for the site, but such
payments can't be counted on, especially if someone else will have to draft the
proposals and manage any funded projects that result. Moneys from
admissions or fees are likely to be inadequate and, ironically, if public access
could generate substantial resources, incursion by such numbers would likely be
counter-productive ecologically. You may be able to identify an
on-going organization, such as The Nature Conservancy, who could take ownership,
but even they may not maintain the property in accord with your wishes.
One other possibility is to establish some type of financial trust or endowment
with resources sufficient to maintain the property <em>in perpetuity</em>.
Not every landowner will have or wish to assign such resources, but for those
that do, this option may be the most promising at the current time.</blockquote>
<h3>
Conclusion</h3>
<br />
Why would a landowner devote a tract of land to ecological diversity? Whereas
this may result in healthy soil and water, abundant plant and animal life, and a
landscape with an attractive natural look, doing so is unlikely to maximize
financial return. The reason is more likely to be personal. Doing so will almost
certainly enable a broader as well as more detailed understanding of the land.
He or she will know more about the varied plants and animals living there, the
underlying conditions that affect them, and the relations among them. The
landowner will see more and be more aware. For better or worse, this is
likely to lead to a more intimate relation between landowner and land, perhaps
including affection for it. I
am reminded of Aldo Leopold's notion of a <em>
<a href="http://www.aldoleopold.org/AldoLeopold/LandEthic.pdf">land ethic</a></em>.
Leopold believed that we live in an expanded community that includes not just
other people but also soils, waters, plants, and animals, which he called <em>
the land</em>. Implicit in this view is that we should cooperate with each other
for the mutual benefit of all. By placing land stewardship in an ethical
context, Leopold provides a means for us to decide what we should or should not
do and for deciding what is important. Having an ethical and philosophical
foundation for one's actions is reassuring, but such deep considerations will not be
necessary or desirable for all landowners. Perhaps, in the end, it may be
sufficient that managing land for ecological diversity just seems like a good
thing to do, the right thing to do. jbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10504073253454356119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4637323842864840222.post-6197424954052574982012-05-08T18:24:00.002-04:002012-05-08T18:24:51.197-04:00A Spring Weed Walk<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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Today (May 8, 2012) seventeen or so people gathered at the
farm for the second annual “weed walk” or visit to (some of) the native plants
with medicinal value that grow here. We
gathered in the barn around 9:30 on a rainy, gray day to meet each other and hear
introductions by Cassie Marsh-Caldwell of PASA (the walk’s sponsor), James
Lesher (leader of the walk, grounds manager here, and garden manager at nearby
Rhonymede historical house and art garden), John and me (event hosts). <o:p></o:p></div>
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Wet skies and soggy
ground did not dampen the enthusiastic group’s interest in hearing James talk
about native plants with healing properties. He led us to representative plants in several locales—starting with beds created as landscaping around the house and encouraged from wild beginnings on the dry hillside across the creek; checking on wild spreads of nettles, bergamot, and calamus along the creek, and ending at the wild spreads of cattails in the constructed vernal pools in the front field. Identified along the way was a sampling of the diversity of medicinal plants and shrubs (roughly, 50 identified so far,
although we know that’s a fraction) growing in varied habitats on this old farm. We tasted a few of the edibles, sorrel, lovage, mints. With his Japanese
digging tool (the hori hori), James pulled up squirrel corn to show the edible
and medicinal corm, leeks to show the edible bulb, wild ginger to show the edible root and strange little flower, Solomon’s seal to look for
the signature ‘seal’ on the medicinal root.
<o:p></o:p></div>
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As he focused on plant identification to help
people sharpen their recognition ability, he commented variously on a plant’s healthful properties (lavender’s volatile oils, for
example) or its value for gardening (beautiful natives such as bloodroot) or for both healing and gardening (solomon’s seal or wild ginger, for example). Brief discussion at each location ranged widely. By a goldenseal plant rescued before destruction by road building, for example, we talked about the need for plant
rescues. In the group were several who
had done such rescuing. While James talked about the plants' medicinal value or properties, he
did not specify its traditional or current medicinal uses. He referred the group to Jennifer Tucker, the herbalist who led last year’s walk, for that information. (I supplemented with suggested readings in the practice of herbal healing, including several from
Jennifer’s recommended reading list.) In
addition, knowledgeable group members told us about their experience with eating wild plants for their nutritional value. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Altogether, a satisfying weed walk. We're already planning follow-ups for other seasons.</div>
<!--EndFragment-->cfshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01578055527052795011noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4637323842864840222.post-27613198037757254582012-04-23T19:09:00.002-04:002012-04-23T19:09:49.646-04:00A Sense of Place<br />
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<i>Place</i><br />
<i>Sense</i> of Place<br />
<i>A</i> Sense of Place<br />
<i>Gaining</i> a Sense of Place<br />
<i>Building</i> a Sense of Place<br />
<i>Thinking about</i> a Sense of Place<br />
<i>Thinking about</i> Thinking about a Sense of Place</div>
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<br /></div>
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<i>A Place Is What It Is</i></div>
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<br /></div>
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Bottom line -- a place is what it is. A physical reality.
It exists, or at least we have to assume it exists if we and everything else are
not to become part of the butterfly's dream. It is not <i>good</i>, <i>bad</i>,
<i>beautiful</i>, <i>ugly</i>, <i>valuable</i>, <i>worthless</i>, . . . It
just <i>is</i>. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="left">
Everything beyond <i>what is</i> is a matter of
perception. We <i>sense</i> it. We see it. We hear it.
We smell it. We see beauty, ugliness, or we may not attend to it in an
aesthetic manner. We may attend to it abstractly, noting what others have
said or measured of it.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Thereby, we may come to understand that any <i>sense of place</i>
is <i>one</i> sense of place among many. Thus, there is no <i>The</i>
Sense of Place, only <i>one</i> sense of place that is likely to soon be
replaced by <i>another</i> sense of place.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Over time, we may realize that in the accumulation of <i>
different</i> senses of place we are <i>gaining</i> a sense of place -- a richer
composite characterized by the multiple awarenesses that we have had over time
but can recall on reflection. And, thus, we can play one against another.</div>
<div align="left">
<br /></div>
<div align="left">
This <i>gained</i> sense of place may <i>just happen</i>.
Without any attempt on our part to direct or control our perception. But,
perhaps a bit mysteriously, we may find our interest piqued and we begin to
direct our attention to specific parts or aspects of place. We may focus
on the native plants that grow there, or the birds that live or fly through, or
the history of the place -- natural, cultural, or other. Thus, we may more
or less consciously begin <i>building</i> a sense of place.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="left">
As we continue building a sense of place, we may become more
conscious that we can, at least in part, direct our perception and thought
processes. We may begin to see some larger pattern in the different facets
of perception or information that are part of our sense of place. If so,
we may elect to extend some of them, or we may see that several of them suggest
another line of inquiry that would complement them. We may come to realize
that our sense of place needs to take into account what lies beyond its borders,
such as a neighbor's riparian area that extends our woodcock habitat, or his
field of invasives that come to visit, or his plans to develop or drill.
We may also come to see how subtle but how strong a role language plays as we
build our sense and try to describe it to others. How easily and
unconsciously we may write <i>gain</i> for <i>build</i> when we haven't really
decided which it is.</div>
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<br /></div>
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So where does this leave us? We began with the notion that
a place simply exists. Beyond that, we can gain or build an unlimited
numbers of perspectives. On balance, we optimists would like to believe
that they give us an enriched sense of place. But they are all snapshots
-- in place, in time, in historical progression, in values. Especially
values, because they guide our efforts to promote ecological diversity in a way
that probably never existed before or aesthetic appreciation for a landscape
that was not seen previously. There is no real notion of restoration, only
a new and, according to our values, better future. And it's so ephemeral.
Not just the place, itself, but our sense of it. So we try to hold on to
it as best we can.</div>
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<br /></div>
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One very reductive instrument we are using in our attempt to
hold on to our evolving sense of place is the ChicoryLane Web Site (<a href="http://www.chicorylane.com/">http://www.chicorylane.com</a>).
It is a place we can put those understandings lest we forget them and where
others can share them. But it is a very crude instrument that in no way
replaces the original. We know that. But, even with all its
limitations, it has become a catalyst for us, exciting us and suggesting new
things to do to gain fresh insights into our 68 acres and beyond. We
sense, vaguely, that it perhaps could, at some future time, become an instrument
of discovery and pleasure, enriching one's sense of place without distorting or
limiting it. In the meantime, . . . </div>
<br />jbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10504073253454356119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4637323842864840222.post-1676875341552997092012-03-05T14:17:00.000-05:002012-03-05T14:40:05.617-05:00Perceptions of the place<style>
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Since we (Catherine, John, Ian) have lived on this farm
(since 1974), our perception of the place has changed several times. </div>
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<br /></div>
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Early on, we occupied the house and used the barn (for
chickens, geese, goats, and horses) while John and Catherine commuted to jobs
elsewhere and Ian bussed to and from the local school. We had little awareness of the place. We weren't farmers. We were apartment-dwellers who had moved to
the country. It was our 'place to stay,
with weedy fields around it.' The
attention we gave went to the log farmhouse, remodeling it according to our
ideas of loghouse living. However, even
then, perception of the surrounding grounds shifted when, around 1976, we took a wild medicinal and food foraging
class led by Evelyn Snook, Keith Wilson, and Bill Russell thru Penn State's
Free University. ("Stalking the
Wild Asparagus" was the idea.) As a
result of that experience, the outdoors took on a special interest. The weedy fields suddenly seemed a
'farmacopoeia' of useful plants for eating and for healthcare. With Evelyn's and our plant-knowledgeable
friends' encouragement, we began to pay attention to coltsfoot, golden seal,
stinging nettles, skullcap for health care, added ground cherries to salads,
and steamed lambsquarters and dandelions for side dishes. (Nothing like Evelyn's and friends'
creativity, but it was a change for us.)
We had a glimmer that plants required particular growing conditions
('habitat'' was not yet the term, but it was the recognition), but we didn't
think much about it. </div>
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<br /></div>
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In the late1990s, James Lesher began working with us, bringing
his eye as a landscape architect, his skills as a gardner, and knowledge of
plants. What decided his willingness to
work with the place, he told us later, was not us. It was a plant, the red Canada lillies growing
one of the streams ('mountain runs') as he noticed driving in the farm lane the
first time. He wanted to know more about the place where this rare (red color)
lily grew. Over some 15 years
now, James' artist's eye, skilled
hands, and experience as groundskeeper at Rhoneymede (a historic farm and art
garden nearby) has added to our emerging idea of the place as a 'landscape' and to our aim of
encouraging 'native' plants in it. This
was the 'garden' phase of perception.
(We had small vegetable gardens for a year or two, but not for
long. We started and have maintained a
kitchen herb bed. The combination of native/nonnative occurs in beds all around
the house and barn as well as in wooded areas.
This phase of perception is ongoing, while becoming better informed.) Meanwhile, we still perceived the place
primarily as a 'farm,' with tillable fields rented to neighboring farmers for
crop production and we (the 'hobby farmers') gardening isolated patches of it.</div>
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<br /></div>
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These relatively subtle perceptual shifts between
1974-approximately 2005 occurred within the frame of 'farm,' or
agriculture. In that frame, locations on
the farm had value according to their usefulness or attractiveness to us or to
renter-farmers. Wet locations, for
example, were ignored because they were
not useful or they required special treatment (usually more work) to make them
useful.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Around 2005, we
stopped renting fields for farming. The
farm entered a post-agriculture life, in our minds. (Meanwhile, without our noticing as it
happened, the formerly open, grassy,
pastured hillside had gowrn up in a new, successional forest of elms and other
trees along with brushy multiflora rose, autumn olive, etc.) Gradually, we introduced 'conservation'
practices of reforestation, wetland restoration and construction, prairie
grassland development, plant and animal habitat improvement, and others. Wet places became most interesting. In this phase, Pennsylvania and US agents in
government roles as biologists, wildlife managers, watershed specialists, and
others are our educators and helpers.
This relatively strong perceptual shift is still
growing strongly. Ecology is the new
frame and 'old farm ecology' is our working concept. 'Sense of place' is evolving. Now in 2012, we're fully in frame of trying
to understand the place. Related, we're
trying to recognize our impacts on it and the ways we and it change
reciprocally, in tandem. </div>
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<br /></div>
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As one activity in
that frame, we're tracing the place-people ('what the people living there then
did on it and with it') in time. We're
trying to learn how place and people interacted over roughly two centuries
(recorded) before we came on the place,
roughly 1760s to 1970s before us, then in our time 1974-present. James is now using his historical research
skills, examining records of various kinds
for references to land and water use or vegetation (forests, other plants) over
time. He and Catherine are gaining
momentum in understanding the reciprocal impacts of people and place over
several time scales. John is building a
website for the place that, among other functions, archives and invites
discussion of our progress in historical study. This blog entry is a way of opening the
discussion. </div>
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<br /></div>
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As James has pored
over deeds, tax records, maps, atlases, and aerial photographs in times prior
to 1974 when we took occupancy of the place, he has initiated several
thought-provoking ideas that are directing subsequent research: </div>
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- 'heritage forest (remnant woods on our property and
surrounding properties of "The Pines,' a feature prominently marked for
the area on the 1861 Tilden map (the first map) of Centre County). Relates to nearby place names such as Green
Grove Road.</div>
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- 'improved' land (indicator of change in land use such as
clearing woods to create farmfields.
Example: tax records for '200 acres, 10 improved').</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
- 'released' or 'returned' fields (post-agriculture
conservation)</div>cfshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01578055527052795011noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4637323842864840222.post-64365053072521179762012-01-07T17:38:00.000-05:002012-01-07T18:17:00.404-05:00Values and GoalsWe have lived on ChicoryLane Farm for over 37 years. During that time we have focused on several different things -- its nearly 200 year old log farm house, the yard, and the land. Here, I will comment on some of our thinking about the land.<br />
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<br />
We are trying to enhance the natural landscape of the farm. In doing so, we have identified three key values and goals:<br />
<br />
First, we are trying to extend the ecological diversity of the farm. We have identified ten different plant communities in this relatively small, 68 acre plot. We are releasing plant species native to the area by managing invasive species, particularly non-native ones, that would crowd them out if left alone. We are also supplementing these natives with new plantings to increase their numbers and varieties, where these introductions are consistent with the plant communities. To date, most of our attention has been directed toward plants; in the future we will be giving more attention to birds, animals, and insects, again to increase their numbers and varieties consistent with the plant communities where they live.<br />
<br />
Second, we are trying to extend the educational and research potential of the farm. Last summer, we hosted a workshop dealing with native medicinal plants. That workshop will be repeated this summer and we have scheduled a field day dealing with Old Farm Ecology: Conservation and Habitat Improvement for different Conditions. We are also in the planning stages for a field day for <i>Plein Aire</i> Drawing and Painting. We have also worked with several Penn State classes on student research and application projects, and we hope to increase this activity in the future. We have also begun a Web site (<a href="http://www.chicorylane.com/">www.chicorylane.com</a>) where we are lodging information, images, and perspective on the farm and its history, ecology, and landscape. In addition to conventional pages, the site includes a database and GIS map and information layers of the farm. These resources make the farm a potentially useful site for learning and research.<br />
<br />
Third, we are trying to encourage an aesthetic awareness and understanding of the farm's natural landscape. "A wetland is not a wetland is not a wetland," to paraphrase Gertrude Stein. There is great diversity in different kinds of wetlands, ranging from Wet Meadows, to Marshes, to Riparian Stream Banks, to Vernal Pools, to Old Ponds. And in them there is considerable beauty and a variety of things to look at and to wonder about. We are trying to see the different areas of the farm with fresh eyes and to encourage others to do the same. We have put several slide shows of the farm on the Web site and will continue to do so, and we hope to host on-site field days so that others may come and draw or paint what they see as well as talk with others about what they see and what they think about it.<br />
<br />
We invite readers to share their reactions to this post and to record their own views on such things. </div>jbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10504073253454356119noreply@blogger.com1