Respect the Land

Posted on December 1, 2012 by paulmozina

Today Rich and I continued cutting and piling on the hilltop where we left off last time. During a break we discussed our mutual respect and admiration for the Native Americans, who nurtured the land and understood it’s mysteries. When considering their impact on the earth, they planned ahead 7 generations.

Pati Holman and Jim Brown joined us in the afternoon and we got a lot done. Thanks!

Here are a few before shots.

And after…

Later, our friend Andrea Goetzinger paid her first visit to the Springs. She’ll be back for sure!

One of the reasons we are cutting the phragmites and cattails along the river is to take a close look at the land and identify where springs are flowing. We recently found a new one by the bridge over the river near the Hotel Springs (see Map). I took a few minutes at the end of the day today to open this one up. I’ll get some better pictures next time. There are a couple of really nice springs here.

It’s flowing freely now and there is a little waterfall that makes a pleasing gurgle.

There are more springs in this area yet to be revealed…

I hope to see you out at the Scuppernong Springs!

All for one, one for all!

Posted on November 30, 2012 by paulmozina

… the Three BrushCuteers cried as they fired up their chainsaws. Rich, Lindsay and I took the battle to the enemy today and many a stout and formidable foe was slain, dismembered and piled. The battle ground was the hilltop/sand dune just above the Hillside and Hidden Springs (see Map), where we have been working recently.

Rich Csavoy attacked a patch of Black Locust.

And it’s clear who got the better of this fight!

Porthos, aka Lindsay Knudsvig, beat back a frontal assault of Buckthorn and Black Locust while defending the High Ground.

When it was over, you could not cross the battlefield without stepping on a corpse of the invasive enemy.

Meanwhile, Paul ambushed a small army of Buckthorn attempting to sneak up on Lindsay’s blind side.

They never new what hit them.

Anne Korman, Assistant Superintendent of the Southern Unit of the Kettle Moraine State Forest, stopped by to enjoy the Springs and offer support and encouragement. Thanks!

This Saturday, December 1rst, The Three BrushCuteers plan to return to the field of battle in the same location. Hope to see you at the Springs!

Little Yellowstone

Posted on November 2, 2012 by paulmozina

One of “the old boys” who used to manage the maintenance shop at the DNR headquarters in the South Kettle Moraine referred to the Scuppernong Springs as “The Little Yellowstone”. I really liked that analogy. We have our own mini old faithful right here in the Kettle Moraine. See for yourself!

Yesterday I worked on a little bowl, a seasonally wet area, situated between the hilltop I worked at last weekend and the Indian Campground/Sand Prairie. Take a look at the before scenery.

And the view from where I parked my wheel barrel loaded with gear.

I must confess, I had a hard time deciding where to start. I used a brush cutter first and was careful to spray all of the Black Locust saplings with TransLine. There was a thicket of wild raspberry or blackberry 6′ tall and a lot of Buckthorn and Aspen saplings as well. I’m planning to use a foliar spray next Spring to attack the resprouts when they first come up.

Here is how it looked at the end of the day.

There is a lot of piling to do and that is going to be our focus for the next month or so. Check out the nice sunset.

Morning Has Broken

Posted on October 28, 2012 by paulmozina

Don’t tell anyone, I still have my Cat Stevens records.

The Springs were beautiful this morning.

There is a very nice sand dune hilltop just West of the Hillside Spring covered with some large Oak, Hickory and Cherry trees. The last time we worked Lindsay pointed out how cool this hilltop would look, especially a prominently featured huge Red Oak, if we cleared the brush and I took up his suggestion today. The area in question is marked in white on the map below.

After enjoying the beautiful sunrise, I whacked some Buckthorn and Black Locust to highlight this prominent sand dune hilltop. We are going to cut as much as we can until November and then focus on piling everything to prepare for burning this Winter (if we get some snow!). Here are some before shots taken from the top of the hill.