A Walk in the Woods

Auspicious weather and a nice turnout made for a lovely fall walk through Herrontown Woods this past Saturday.

We started with a brief tour of the botanical garden next to the parking lot, where storms in recent years have knocked down the grove of white pines, leaving a gap in the forest. Last year, FOHW volunteers rescued this gap from a host of invasive species, and this year's rains fed a robust wave of weeds that had to be subdued. These interventions have made room for 100 native plant species, including sun-loving wildflowers like ironweed and Joe-Pye-Weed that feed pollinators in the summer when the forest has little nectar to offer. Shrubs already growing in the preserve, like blackhaw Viburnum, serviceberry, alternate-leaved dogwood, and wild azalea, are also benefitting from the additional sunlight and protection from deer that they get in this managed forest clearing.

Some sights photographed were these edible berries of blackhaw Viburnum

and some leaves of white oak that looked like they'd had paint spilled on them.

Deeper in the preserve, the blooms of witch hazel came as a surprise. As so often happens, people are more familiar with the spring-blooming asian witch hazels that are grown as ornamentals on Princeton campus and elsewhere, while the less-encountered native blooms quietly in local woodlands in the fall.

The remnants of a bird's nest looked like a beard. We walked up onto the ridge, past the boulder field, and made a stop at the cliff. There was talk of fire's historic beneficial role in woodlands, how the boulders came from igneous upwellings rather than from glaciers, which didn't make it this far south, and the past logging that can still be seen in the multi-trunked trees that originated as stump sprouts after a tree was cut down long ago.

Afterwards we headed to the Veblen House grounds for some refreshments, more conversation, and some tree climbing. Thanks to all of those who came and added to the enjoyment of the walk.

Discovering Hidden Worlds at Herrontown Woods with Mark Manning

We had a wonderful nature walk at Herrontown Woods on April 6, led by Hopewell science teacher Mark Manning. Mark had been exploring the preserve with his son in recent years, and had reached out to the Friends of Herrontown Woods to share his findings about the amphibious life in the preserve.

The day began cool and wintry, as we gathered around one of the vernal pools just down from the parking lot. We wondered what there would be to see, since one of the main attractions, the adult frogs we'd seen a week prior, had disappeared back into the woods after laying their eggs.

As Mark explained the remarkable behavior of wood frogs--their capacity to remain frozen for long periods in the winter, the frenzied ritual of spring mating, the symbiotic relationship between their egg masses and an algae--we picked up a few eggs from the pool and found that the tadpoles were already hatching.

There was layer after layer to Mark's fascinating descriptions, as he found other amphibians under leaves and rocks.

Among the finds were 2-lined salamanders and red-backed salamanders.

They are improbably light, soft, skinny creatures to hold.

This photo was taken just before the salamander crawled up under the boy's sleeve.

We had ventured no more than a few hundred feet from the parking lot, but Herrontown Woods' charms were already beginning to draw us in. This is probably the cleanest stream in Princeton, as nearly all its headwaters are preserved as part of Herrontown Woods.

Each rock has its own pattern, decades in the making, as animate and inanimate worlds seem to merge and collaborate.

Dead wood remains a substrate for new life, in the form of moss

or mushroom. Peter Ihnat, who came on the walk, shared some of his knowledge of these "turkey tails" and other mushrooms.

Under some leaves, Mark found salamander eggs (the small white dots in the lower left, while the salamander's tail can be seen at the upper right of the photo).

Talk periodically shifted to the plant world, with Mark describing the incredible hardness of musclewood, and its applications.

(See an earlier post about musclewood and other trees encountered in winter at Herrontown Woods)

Under two towering tulip trees, Mark pulled out some rope he and his son had made from natural fibers.

He then proceeded to make rope from the bark of tulip tree, using a "reverse twist two-ply" method.

The white twine here is made from milkweed fibers. He said that dogbane is the best material to use. (Both milkweed and dogbane are in the dogbane family. Another common name for dogbane, Indian hemp, now makes sense, given that hemp is a plant whose fibers are used to make rope.)

We then headed over to Veblen House for refreshments and socializing. As we were gathered next to the house that Oswald and Elizabeth Veblen once called home, one of the kids who had been quiet all morning said to me, "I wish it was still a library. I love libraries." It melted my heart. That was the original wish of the Veblens, stated in their will, yet not acted upon. Forty five years later, our nonprofit is seeking to realize theVeblens' generous vision, and also use the house as a museum and meeting place for talks and music.

Though the walk covered just a couple of Herrontown Woods' shorter trails, we felt like we had come a long way. Mark Manning's insights had opened up new worlds for us, especially for the three kids who came along. The day, too, opened up, beginning cool and cloudy, then warming as the sun broke through. Over the course of two hours, we felt like we had walked from winter into spring.

(Some of these photos contributed by FOHW board member Inge Regan.)

Weeding and Seed Bombing--A Girlscout Workday at Herrontown Woods

(Note: Join us for the June 24 Veblen birthday picnic.)

Thanks to Girl Scout Troop 72905 from the Princeton Service Unit, for participating in a spirited workday on a cool misty day. They started at the new botanical garden next to the Herrontown Woods parking lot, pulling out Japanese honeysuckle that would otherwise overwhelm the native species being planted there.

Then it was a short walk up to Smoyer Park, where the Friends of Herrontown Woods is taking care of a native meadow planted in the detention basin that catches and filters runoff from the fields and parking lot. The scouts mixed seed of native floodplain wildflowers and sedges into a shovelful of dirt, then made balls of a good size for throwing. "Seed bombing" is an activity originally mentioned by scout leader Pallavi Nuka, and we decided to give it a try.

Here, the merry gardeners are literally aiming to increase the plant diversity in the wet meadow.

It's a hail mari-gold approach to seed planting, although marigold wasn't in the mix. Species included rose mallow hibiscus, wild senna, ironweed, cutleaf coneflower, and several types of sedges. Already flourishing in the basin are big and little bluestem grasses, Indian grass, partridge pea and black-eyed susan.

The logic of the detention basin is to detain stormwater runoff long enough for it to seep into the soil and feed the groundwater reserves, rather than add to local flooding. The basin also makes a great place to show off the many native plant species that thrive in wet, sunny habitats. Kids, too, thrive in wet, sunny habitats, especially when they have rubber boots.

After the seed bombing, the girls stepped over the berm, behind the basin, to explore a seepage slope where consistently wet ground supports a lush natural wetland of sensitive fern, soft rush and sedges. With enough care, the basin could someday look this good.

Princeton Charter School Service Corps Helps Out

One of the most satisfying aspects of tending to a nature preserve is the opportunity to work with local schoolkids. We were grateful on a recent afternoon for help from members of the Princeton Charter School Service Corp, who came out to do some much needed spring cleaning. First stop was the kiosk, for an intro to our mission.

Then it was up the trail, past the Veblen Cottage and over to the Veblen House, where the grounds were strewn with branches from winter's last nor'easter.

A couple students cleaned off Oswald Veblen's wooden walkway leading to the house.

One of the main goals of any workday is to get kids to work together, anticipating each other's needs. Even something as seemingly simple as carrying a log includes some built-in learning about mass and balance and logistics.

Students learned how to keep a saw from binding, as charter school's principal, Larry Patton, cut up a branch that had fallen out of the big eastern red cedar in the front lawn. History teacher Katelyn Schmitt (left) organized the workday and provided most of these photos.

An hour of intense effort left the Veblen grounds cleared, the better to appreciate the daffodils that Elizabeth Veblen loved so much. Most of the daffodils that once graced the lawn around the Veblen House had been lost over the years, due to crews beginning to mow before the daffodil leaves had absorbed enough energy to bloom the next year. This particular daffodil is one of many planted by Friends of Herrontown Woods last year, in ruts left by vehicles that had strayed onto the lawn. It's one of the ways we seek to make lemonade from lemons.


Thanks so much to the PCS Service Corp for their help!