Day 31 -

Researching the property both prior to and after owning it often brought up more questions than answers. The previous owner was able to jumpstart the information gathering but we were able to connect with many other people and places to gain as much information about the land as possible. He owned a 32-acre parcel, twenty of which was our farm. The other twelve acres were separated into four, three-acre lots. Though they had been primarily used for crops in the past, they were now zoned to become houses if the new owner saw fit. Besides being nerdy and just wanting to know more, we figured this would help us better understand the scope and sequence connected to our ultimate goal of restoring and improving the land.  

Overall, we knew that much of the land was not developable due to it being zoned wetland. Further research showed it was designated a sedge meadow, meaning it was dry for portions of the year and wet for others, especially after a particularly wet period of time or winter thaw. We knew that although it would not be developed with structures, attempts had been made to help control the water by installing various ditches to allow some land to be used for agricultural purposes. It appears these were created in the 1930’s by the Civilians Conservation Corps (CCC), a federal government-organized program aimed at improving the land and putting people to work during the Great Depression. These ditches divided up the land into sections and impacted the water to each area, creating areas of different plants. There were areas of goldenrod, an aggressive native wildflower. There were a few stands of dead ash, devastated by the emerald ash borer. There was an area of various smaller shrubs. One drier area was loaded with common milkweed, a sight my monarch-loving family was thrilled to see. There was also a more diversified forested area with more dead ash interspersed with some oaks and maples. This area also included sedge grasses, a very welcome sign. This is the plant meant to be dominating this type of landscape.

Unfortunately, an intruder had entered the land and had been slowly taking over for years.