Garlic Mustard Update

Posted on November 9, 2013 by paulmozina

Thanks again for following our adventures at The Springs!

The Scuppernong Springs Nature Preserve, which encompasses the nature trail, is overrun with invasive species including: buckthorn, garlic mustard, spotted knapweed, phragmites and many others. We have made some progress over the past 2.5 years and take heart in that, but there is a long way to go. This past summer I made a commitment to stop using toxic foliar sprays to control invasive species and the challenge remains to come up with effective and efficient alternatives.

Garlic mustard is a biennial weed and the first year growth is lush throughout the nature preserve, especially in areas where we have cleared buckthorn, girdled black locust or otherwise increased the amount of light reaching the ground. Here are a few images of garlic mustard on the south end of the loop trail.

In the old days, I would have sprayed this with glyphosate, aka RoundUp. Now, what to do? I have been working with the DNR to try a non-toxic herbicide and it has taken some time to acquire a sample since the product was new for the DNR. Don Dane navigated the procurement process for me and got 1 gallon of EcoExempt HC, which has the active ingredients: 2-Phenethyl Propionate (extracted from peanuts) and Eugenol (clove oil). There seems to be a lack of research available on 2-Phenethyl Propionate as reflected on this site as indicated by it’s “no available weight-of-the-evidence summary assessment” for key toxicity indicators. This herbicide is less effective in cool weather, and, given the cost, I’m hesitant to use more this fall unless I see excellent results in the area I sprayed yesterday. Speaking of the costs to fight invasive species, I thought this piece from Dow AgroSciences made some valid points contrasting the various options available e.g. what uses more energy and produces more environmental harm: spraying with an herbicide like glyphosate, or transporting 10 volunteers to pull weeds?

It looks like I may be too late this year to attack the first year garlic mustard and we can expect carpets of this weed to flower everywhere throughout the nature preserve next spring. We’ll have to decide whether to continue using EcoExempt, try an acetic acid based herbicide, mow with a brush cutter, or pull the weeds before they set seed.

This past Thursday and Friday (Nov. 7-8) I spent some time stacking buckthorn at The Springs and at Ottawa Lake campground site 335. I’ve been working on the northeast side of the trail in the area around signpost #1 and #2 and recently laid down the buckthorn that surrounded the brush piles I had started. On Thursday I added all the newly cut buckthorn to the existing piles and they are ready now to burn.

It was a cool day and the wood was wet to handle but the sun finally came out revealing fall splendor.

A parting shot.

I spent 3 days clearing brush and thinning the trees around Ottawa Lake campsites 335 and 334 and this wood needs to be piled. Yesterday, under beautiful skies…

… I started, and I’m putting the big pieces that would make good firewood into separate piles.

Sunset at Ottawa Lake.

See you at The Springs!

The Calls of the Kettle Moraine Coyotes

Posted on November 4, 2013 by paulmozina

I spent the past week (Oct 27 – Nov 3) at My Shangri-La working at The Springs and enjoying living out-of-doors. There isn’t any real wilderness in these parts but the calls of the local coyotes do evoke wild feelings. Almost every night they made outbursts of yelps, whines, howls and cries; a vocabulary that put the domesticated dogs at the nearby Skydance Kennels to shame (ruff, ruff… ruff, ruff, ruff… ruff, ruff, ruff, ruff etc…). It’s hard to describe the sounds coyotes make, calling them is an art form, and I listened with fascination imagining what they might be communicating to each other.

Pati helped me setup camp on Sunday, staying for wine and dinner as we listened to the Packer game on the radio by the fire. It doesn’t get much better than that! Men playing with balls; the circus that compliments our bread.

Monday morning I got after it cutting all the buckthorn and thinning ironwood and basswood in the area between camp sites 335 and 334 and in the area between site 334 and the pond and wetlands (please substitute Tamarack when I say Larch Pine).

On Tuesday I returned to the area just north of the old barn site to cut buckthorn along the trail to show off the mighty oaks and open the views into the cranberry bog.

Here are before and after videos and pics.

Back at camp hundreds, maybe thousands, of migrating birds filled the air with songs.

Rain was forecast ahead and I wondered when I’d see the sun again.

The clouds rolled in on Wednesday and I got in a full day of brush piling on the northeast side of the trail between signposts #2 and #1 and back further towards the parking lot.

Thursday the rain came and I sharpened my chains under a picnic shelter by Ottawa Lake. Later I delivered the rest of the oak, cherry and hickory I cut to open the views west from the sand prairie to a friend here in Milwaukee, who has a wood burning stove. I’ve certainly wasted a lot of potential firewood in the hundreds of brush piles we’ve burned, but I didn’t want to see this high quality wood go to waste (I’m using it in my campfires as well).

Friday I was back at it again cutting buckthorn on the northeast side of the trail from signpost #2 to #1 and beyond towards the parking lot. I got this view of the finished work on Sunday morning Nov. 3.

I still had some ya yas to get out and on Saturday I went back to the area just north of the old barn site shown on the map above to continue clearing the understory beneath some righteous oaks. Here are some views from north to south along the trail before I got started.

I got this video showing the results of Saturday’s labors on Sunday morning.

Pati came out to enjoy the day and help me pack up. Here are some parting shots of the great fall scenery at The Springs.

The morning view from campsite 334.

Marl pit bridge perspective.

On the cut-off trail.

The edge of the cranberry bog, where I worked on Tuesday and Saturday.

The beautiful Emerald Spring.

The hotel spring area.

The south end of the trail.

The sand prairie.

Scuppernong River views.

I was amazed to see these two railroad ties near signpost #2 that I had reported missing a while back. Did the thieves return them? Have they been laying here all this time without me noticing? Now all we need to do is lift them back into place.

There is an unmaintained trail along the east shore of Ottawa Lake that leads to the north end of the property where springs north of Hwy 67 flow into a little pond and eventually into the lake. Here are some views of where this stream merges into the wetlands. You can see campsites 334 and 335 in the second shot.

Late afternoon Tamaracks, which I thought were Larch Pines, as seen from site 334.

Ottawa Lake sunset.

See you at The Springs!

Wisconsin DNR Appreciates Volunteers

Posted on October 27, 2013 by paulmozina

Everything the government has it takes from the people. Try not paying taxes and you’ll soon feel the coercive hand of government in the form of a badge and gun.

Government is an association of men who do violence to the rest of us.

Leo Tolstoy

In what realm besides government do we pay for services at the point of a gun? Worst of all, these “services” including imperialist war mongering, obscenely corrupt cronyism, and zero accountability. I think voluntarism is the way to achieve a peaceful society. If we can each become the monarch, or ruler, of our own lives, respecting other’s rights and obeying Natural Law, then we can evolve into an anarchistic, stateless society, of people freely choosing to associate for the common good.

Yeah, but there are some truly evil people out there and we need government to protect us from them, right? So let’s draw “leaders” from this population, which includes power hungry psychopaths, and give them rights that none of us have (to tax us, to murder with drones, to force us to purchase health care, etc…) empowering them and their agents to govern, i.e. control, us with badges, guns, black robes and prisons; the tools of coercion and violence.

I was very interested to hear Paul Sandgren, Superintendent of the Southern Unit of the Kettle Moraine State Forest, describing the funding constraints they currently operate under and the role that volunteer contributions make in the maintenance of the properties that the Wisconsin DNR is responsible for.

Paul spoke yesterday at a luncheon held at the D. J. Mackie picnic area organized by Melanie Kapinos and Amanda Prange to thank the many people who have contributed to the maintenance of the hiking, biking, horse riding and snowmobile trails, and land stewardship in general, in the southern unit of the state forest.

How much money would the government need to take from us to fully fund all of work that needs to be done? Can we trust government to prioritize the allocation of dollars to rehabilitating and protecting the land and the environment? I don’t think so, hence my commitment to volunteer my time and energy and I encourage you to do the same.

Earlier in the day, I was joined by Jim Davee, Tara Fignar and Anne Moretti and we piled brush along the main trail in what was previously The Buckthorn Tunnel.

I really appreciated their companionship and hard work! Check out the results.

Pati joined me for the luncheon and then we returned to The Springs to spend a glorious afternoon digging out spotted knapweed at the sand prairie. We’ll be sowing the seeds that Don, Amanda and company collected here in the near future.

The Fall scenery at The Springs is spectacular!

Pati and I enjoyed another sunset and, afterwards, we strolled through the Ottawa Lake campground checking out the fantastic Halloween displays at the campsites. We had never seen so many exquisitely carved pumpkins and I’ll be sure to bring my camera along next year. If you are a Halloween fan, don’t miss the annual celebration at Ottawa Lake.

See you at The Springs!

A Stolen Face

Posted on October 25, 2013 by paulmozina

I wonder at the boundaries between what’s yours, mine and ours and who owns things that are found.

I’ve been hoping to find on arrowhead on the sand prairie. John Hrobar gave me a tang from a broken arrowhead that he found near the Indian Spring. I have it on the windowsill above the kitchen sink and it gives me pleasure when I notice it. In the Heart of a Seed, at the end of the last video of the post, I showed this really cool stove door that I found at the ruins of one of the marl pit factory buildings…

… and I speculated about how long it would remain there. I thought it was interesting and wanted others to see it, but it’s already been found and taken. Or, was it stolen? How is an arrowhead different from a stove door and when does private pleasure trump public?

I combined private and public pleasure at The Springs yesterday continuing the effort to creating something beautiful, that cannot be stolen, by piling the buckthorn I cut recently. I really enjoy working in the woods and all the feedback I’ve gotten so far has been positive; a win-win situation.

Here is video taken shortly after I got started.

And the results…

From there I went to the sand prairie to dig spotted knapweed and I ran into the ecology class from the University of Wisconsin, Whitewater. I get easily carried away and tend to talk way too fast, but they listened patiently as I described the work we are doing at The Springs and they had some good questions. I should have gotten a picture!

A crisp Fall afternoon.

Indian Spring Sunset.

The view from the sand prairie dune.

I’ll be at My Shangri-La all next week.

See you at The Springs!

Autumn at The Springs

Posted on October 22, 2013 by paulmozina

“Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.”
― Albert Camus

I love the menu changes at The Springs and Autumn, like the other seasonings, has it’s own spicy flavors to savor. Maybe it was the weekend I spent in LA at my nephew, Danny Bobbe‘s wedding that accentuated the arrival of Fall back home. It was fun and I loved playing in the surf at El Matador beach

…and the scene on the strip between Venice Beach and the Santa Monica pier, where Route 66 meets the Pacific.

Kama Kosmic Krusader

I squeezed in a workday at The Springs on Thursday, October 16 before leaving on a jet plane, and did some brush cutting near signpost #1 and the marl pit factory. It is impractical to try to poison every little buckthorn stub so this effort is to preserve appearances and give other plants a chance. I don’t want to look at flourishing buckthorn resprouts and seedlings until the next burn. A couple days effort with the brush cutter per year is worth it to hold the line.

Here is the area near signpost #1, where the first views of the Scuppernong River Habitat Area open up, after I did some brush cutting.

The area around the marl pit factory before cleanup.

And after…

Pati road her bike out to meet me and, with the threat of rain, we decided to converge in Delafield and visit the Hartland Marsh on the way home. I lament leaving my work at The Marsh unfinished. Without fire in my toolbox, it seemed futile to continually repeat the brush cutting and poisoning cycle. Now, left unattended, the buckthorn is returning to dominate the understory. I’m hoping that the combination of fire and brush cutting will eventually eliminate the invasive woody species at the Scuppernong Springs Nature Trail.

I little Hartland Marsh scenery.

I came back to The Marsh yesterday to clear this huge oak branch off the trail.

Then I headed over to The Springs to finish piling brush on the east side of the loop trail just a bit north of the old barn site.

I dug spotted knapweed on the sand prairie and enjoyed visiting with friends passing by. Here are some late afternoon Autumn scenes from the valley along the headwaters of the Scuppernong River.

The spring at the old fish hatchery site.

Sunset at the Indian Spring.

Parting shots from the sand prairie.

See you at The Springs!

Sand Prairie Gardening

Posted on October 14, 2013 by paulmozina

It was a flawless fall day for a fool’s errand at The Springs

and I was delighted to share it with Tara Fignar and Jim DaVee, who usually volunteer with the DNR or Ice Age Trail, and Pati.

Are we fools for attempting to dig the spotted knapweed out of the Sand Prairie? In any case, it was comforting and thoroughly enjoyable to spend a sunny Sunday morning digging in the sand with friendly people who share my love for gardening and vision of what could be. We made great progress in the area by the spur trail to the Indian Spring, which is now primed for seed sowing.

In the afternoon we headed over to the north east section of the loop trail where I recently did some cutting to pile brush. Tara and Jim were both eager to return and work with us, or independently, either way that is fantastic! I got in a few licks with the brush cutter laying down some half burnt, re-sprouting buckthorn and cherry skeletons that were spoiling the views.

And after…

There were a lot of hikers at The Springs, the most I’ve ever seen, and I think this is due to the great publicity we are getting from all of our DNR friends at the Southern Unit of the Kettle Moraine State Forest.

Another Scuppernong Sunset

See you at The Springs!

The Tibby Line

Posted on September 12, 2013 by paulmozina

Storms clouded the skies and my mind as I arrived early September 11th at The Springs.

I was reminded of the fact that, although September 11, 2001 was a bright, sunny, day in the city, hurricane Erin, a category 3 hurricane, passed by just offshore as the towers disintegrated.

There is a lot we know — or choose not to know — about what really happened on 9/11. Don Rumsfeld explained the conundrum: “There are known knowns. These are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we know we don’t know. But there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we don’t know we don’t know.” Now juxtapose that with the words of the philosopher Soren Kierkegaard: “There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true.” So long as the majority of people choose to remain ignorant, i.e. to not ask who, what, where and when, examine the facts and remove the contradictions, regarding the events of September 11, 2001, the crime of the century, we will continue down the path of endless war that we are on.

I found solace for my breaking heart and worried mind at The Springs yesterday. My first stop was the drainage ditch along the trail near signpost #1 in which a curtain of cattails had risen up to obstruct the view into the Scuppernong Prairie.

And after…

White turtlehead is a new plant for me (thanks for the ID John).

Water Smartweed (Polygonum amphibium). I found it in the meadow in front of signpost #1. Thanks to Amanda Prange for identifying it!

This great plains ladies-tresses is near the marl pit bridge.

On my way to the marl pit area I noticed that someone had made off with two of the original rails from the Dousman Marlboro & Southern railroad at signpost #2. Robert Duerwachter, the author of THE PONDS OF THE SCUPPERNONG, also wrote a fine history of this railroad called The Tibby Line, which you can find at the bookstore at the Southern Unit of the Kettle Moraine State Forest headquarters. John Hrobar noticed last week that one of the rails had been loosened and he suggested that I try to secure it before it got stolen. Sorry John. You can sum up all of Natural Law in one statement: Do Not Steal!

The area between the gaging station bridge #5 and the marl pit bridge #4 is another meadow that is being invaded by cattails, phragmities, purple loosestrife and reed canarygrass. Here is a look before I got after it with the hedge cutter.

And after…

Then I went to a cranberry bog along the cutoff trail to finish piling some buckthorn that I cut last spring. My to-do list is clear now and I’m looking forward to getting back to Buckthorn Alley. I had a little time at the end of the day to dig spotted knapweed on the sand prairie.

Relaxing at the marl pit bridge.

Another sweet sunset.

See you at The Springs!

Scuppernong Springs Refuge

Posted on September 9, 2013 by paulmozina

Nature is my refuge, it’s been my Bridge Over Troubled Waters ever since I was a boy growing up in a family of 12, and now no less since I’ve become aware of the truth about how the world really works. I feel a bit selfish spending so much time at The Springs; shouldn’t I be doing something to stop the U.S. intervention in Syria, or, nurturing my gardens at home?

The world “out there” is never far from mind when I’m at my Scuppernong Springs Refuge. I felt comforted and protected there yester-Sun-day morning and, as the day progressed, I calmed down a little.

I started the day in the lower meadow cutting cattails and purple loosestrife. I have seen loosestrife eating beetles and their effects at The Springs; nevertheless, this will be a bumper year for the purple invader.

As I was walking along the south side of the river in the lower meadows heading back to my truck, I had to stop and appreciate how beautiful it was (sorry, the video is blurry for the first couple seconds, while the camera focuses.)

I’m cleaning up my “to do list” — last time it was girdling black locust — and there was some brush I cut back in the spring between the cut-off trail and the river that I needed to get piled (note, I mistakenly refer to the upper meadows at the beginning of the video, s/b lower meadows.)

There is one more place that needs piling and I’m chomp’in at the bit to start whacking buckthorn again. Meanwhile, I spent the afternoon pulling and digging weeds, mostly spotted knapweed on the sand prairie. I’m seeing tons of young lupine plants on the western slope of the north side of the prairie and, in many cases, I was able to dig out the knapweed leaving the lupine unmolested, which was very satisfying.

Later, I took a walk around the trail and captured these images of the lower meadow

After a cloudy day, the sun came out just in time for me to take a dip in the river and do a bit of yoga at the marl pit bridge. I got these parting shoots as the clouds thickened again.

See you at The Springs!

The Trivium

Posted on July 28, 2013 by paulmozina

I had a “gut check” on the way home from The Springs last night. Jason Dare, the real deal when it comes to ecosystem management, met me by coincidence on the trail near the Hillside Springs, and, in the fading light, he helped me see a new approach to “gardening” at The Springs. As I drove home, I questioned whether or not I had made some mistakes, used the wrong poison in the wrong place at the wrong time, or missed golden opportunities to repel nascent invasive species. I faced the challenge of integrating new information that contradicted what I thought I new, and was putting into practice; I was confused!

Fortunately there is a way to dispel confusion — the liberating art of critical thinking known as The Trivium Method. As I reviewed what Jason said I recognized: The Grammar i.e., the knowledge of objects in the real world; The Logic, or process of non-contradictory identification that leads to understanding and answers the question why; and The Rhetoric, manifest in Jason’s wisdom and ability to explain the how to me. Just listen for yourself!

Armed with the trivium, I’m learning the phenology of the varied plant communities, the biology and the proper use of herbicide. I’m encouraged by people like Jason Dare, who is going to give me a list of the weeds he was inventorying for the DNR (and strategies for attacking them), and Ron Kurowski, who is going to give me a survey of native plants, and I hope other knowledgeable nature lovers will contribute as well. It seems like ever since the Native Americans were kicked out of the area in the late 1820s, people have viewed The Springs with and eye to make a buck. Now we are changing that and it is a wonderful opportunity to do something for the shear joy of it. I hope you will consider contributing your time and talents to this effort. Persistence is the key!

Had I known when I arrived yesterday morning what I know now, I would not have sprayed buckthorn seedlings and re-sprouts at the trailhead. Jason explained why October-November is the only time he will spray buckthorn seedlings and how a mix of Garlon 3a and Escort would be the least toxic approach, given the sensitivity of the area. Summer is time to focus on herbaceous weeds and that is what we plan to do from now on. Sound advice from someone with a lot of experience managing ecosystems. The knowledge, understanding and wisdom is sinking in!

Just as I finished spraying, I got a trail update from a veteran birder named Tom, who said the north end of the trail was getting really overgrown. This is buckthorn alley and I confess that I have not walked this stretch of trail since the burn. I got after it with my brush cutter.

I had intended to pile brush in an area 100 yards or so down the main trail, where the first views of the prairie open up, and resumed that objective after sweeping buckthorn alley.

Here is how it looked after a couple hours. In light of my conversation with Jason, I’m rethinking the plan mentioned at the end of this video.

It was cool and breezy all day but the darn mosquitoes came out in force as evening progressed.

Ron mentioned in his last visit that oak wilt was attacking the black oaks and here is example along the river.

A last river view before heading home

See you at The Springs!

Spring Reflections

Posted on June 14, 2013 by paulmozina

You have to walk a ways down south along the marl pit canal to get a good angle on the sun as it sets farther and farther north on the horizon. The rate of change in the amount of daylight increases as we approach the summer solstice and it is dramatically evident in the big sky country at The Springs. The trees, grasses, flowers and weeds, have responded luxuriantly to the sun and rain and the land is vibrant with myriad shades of lush greens. The Burn back on May 6th was definitely the highlight; a dramatically pivotal punctuation to Spring, 2013.

The Scuppernong Springs are a “world class site”, per former DNR Naturalist Ron Kurowski, and getting more and more well deserved love and attention these days. Spring Lover, Jon Bradley recently erected this beautiful, custom built, tree swallow house near the marl pit bridge.

Thanks Jon! It should be occupied in no time.

Amanda, Melanie and their crew of volunteers continued to install the new interpretive signs that Don Dane made. They look pretty darn good!

I was out at The Springs yesterday and sprayed some spotted knapweed on the Sauk Campground and some garlic mustard, creeping charlie and burdock between the old hotel and barn sites. “What is a weed? A Plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson (more good weed quotes here). Rich Csavoy taught me another weed, white cockle, which is in full bloom on the Sauk Campground. Reed Canarygrass is already going to seed amongst the many springs in the river valley. Isn’t it ironic that Cannabis Sativa, one of the most versatile plants on earth, goes by the nickname “weed”?

It was a beautiful afternoon with a refreshing north breeze, deep blue skies and cauliflower clouds sailing by. I cut a curtain of buckthorn and prickly ash between the cut-off trail and the river on a little peninsula where Carl Baumann took some serious cuts last winter. Here is how it looked when I got there.