Two developments bordering Herrontown Woods were required to build publicly accessible trails to connect to the preserve. One was Stone Hill Church, whose trailhead leads in to our Red Trail from the back of their parking lot. The church has done a great job of maintaining that trailhead, which gets frequent use and proved critical for hauling in the stones and boards necessary to make our Red Trail more walkable during the muddy season. The other is just being installed at Windy Top, the cluster of seven homes built on Snowden Ave across from Smoyer Park.
The Friends of Herrontown Woods has worked with the Windy Top developer, Liping An, for many years. He allowed us to scavenge hundreds of flat stepping stones to make muddy trails passable, and we convinced him to donate 7.5 acres of woodland behind the development to the town to expand Herrontown Woods.Friday, February 17, 2023
Advocating for Trail Access to Herrontown Woods
Tuesday, January 24, 2023
To Walk a Duck (repost)
Ducks made a surprise entry into our lives this past fall (2012), when our younger daughter began asking to get ducklings. We made what seemed like compelling arguments against. Winters are cold, ducks are messy, and then there's the question of longterm care. To all these concerns she offered answers gleaned from the internet. She broke down our resistance with her persistence, passion, and finally a sophisticated powerpoint presentation that seemed to come out of nowhere.
Youtube's surprisingly rich offering of poultry videos may also have inspired the request to take one of the ducks, which had grown quickly after emerging from the box they arrived in from California, on a nature walk.
This fleet-footed "runner duck" had no problem keeping up with us, and appreciated the occasional puddle we encountered in Herrontown Woods. I didn't even try to teach it the subtleties of winter-time tree identification. It seemed content just to explore on its own.
Happiness is a duck in the lap and a cell phone in the hand.
Despite having scaled the Princeton Ridge and scurried under and over countless fallen trees, the runner duck led the way back past the Veblen farmstead towards our car. Molly, as this runner duck is called, can be described as liking to take long walks in the woods, frolic in the backyard minipond when it's not frozen, and is considering a career in egg laying. Hopefully we didn't violate any leash laws.
Sunday, January 22, 2023
Advocating for Safe Bike and Pedestrian Access Up Snowden Lane
The Friends of Herrontown Woods has for many years been advocating for better bicycle and pedestrian access to Herrontown Woods and Smoyer Park. This past week, the last stretch up from town along Snowden Lane got a little safer.
A strip of asphalt was laid down for bikes and pedestrians in front of the Windy Top development at the top of the hill. Though in the original plans finalized years ago, the walkway was only added after the last of seven houses was finally built.The walkway deadends at either end, however, at the edge of the Windy Top property. Extension to the entrances to Herrontown Woods and Smoyer Park will likely be the town's responsibility.
Thursday, December 15, 2022
The Many Stories a Barden Can Tell
This dugout has two stories behind it. One is the story of how it was carved by Princeton High School students. The other is the story that inspired the carving: the Odyssey.
I'm sure the kids who made these mudpies can tell you all about them, and how delicious they were.
This tree is very quietly telling its story every day at the Barden.
This tree, a dead ash cut down by Victorino, has a story to tell if we take the time to study its markings. The story will be not only about the tree but about the woods or abandoned field in which it sprouted.
I bet its rings will take us back to a time when Herrontown Woods was mostly farm fields. And what sort of insect made that blue-stained channel?
This version of a leaf corral, with a central cylinder for food scraps, tells the story of organic matter's journey back to the soil from which it came.
On the next wall over, Teddy Roosevelt has the same pose. Maybe the skeleton is Teddy's!
And it's great to see a skeleton maintaining its flexibility, despite the attritions of age.
Friday, December 2, 2022
Princeton Council Approves Funding to Remove Asbestos at Veblen House
November 14 was a great day for Veblen House. At the town council meeting that night, council members unanimously approved funding for removal of asbestos in the house. The funding comes from a reserve put in place when Mercer County transferred ownership of Herrontown Woods to Princeton Municipality.
An article in Town Topics provides more details, and also reports on other ways the town has been assisting the Friends of Herrontown Woods (FOHW), including some assistance in removing dangerous trees and treating invasive species.
FOHW leases the Veblen House and Cottage from the town, and our volunteers also maintain trails on 220 acres of public land in Herrontown Woods and Autumn Hill Reservation. Though FOHW is primarily responsible for raising funds to repair and repurpose the buildings, we are grateful for the town's key assistance.
The Return of Portapotty
Much to our individual and collective relief, the portapotty is back. Gray has been replaced by green and brown, and our fear of being liable for a $750 replacement fee has been replaced by a better understanding that mistakes can happen.
Friday, November 25, 2022
The Case of the Disappearing Portapotty
Portapotty 15750, where are you?
Yes, our portapotty at Herrontown Woods has gone missing. Is portapotty theft a thing? Apparently yes, according to United Site Services, from whom we rent. Turns out that, as renters, we may have to bear responsibility for the replacement cost of the humble structure, plus delivery fee for a new one.Rumor has it that the half-marathon that's been going on in our part of town also had a portapotty disappear. We strain to understand the logic. Is there a black market in portapotties? Is it really that hard to find relief these days? Did someone fall in love with portapotty #15750 and decide to elope? Without regular servicing, that romance is not going to last.
Hopefully this mystery will be solved soon. The apparent theft has a potential silver lining, however. After meeting with a police officer on-site to file a report, I was about to head home when I saw a hiker emerging from one of the trails. I went over and started a conversation, thinking he might have been there earlier in the week and noticed something. He hadn't, but having first visited the preserve 25 years ago, he gave a testimonial about how neglected the preserve had been before we formed the Friends of Herrontown Woods in 2013. Then he said that he has worked at a number of historic houses, and is currently a docent and researcher at the Frelinghuysen-Morris House in Massachusetts.
My jaw dropped a bit, because the Whiton-Stuarts--the wealthy family that first owned what we now call Veblen House--lived for some time in Morristown, and had had a parcel of property near the Frelinghuysen Arboretum there. The Veblen House is a prefab that was originally moved by the Whiton-Stuarts to Princeton from Morristown. He also said that the Frelinghuysen family had a Princeton connection. We exchanged contact info, and will talk more. It would be quite the irony if a missing portapotty led me to someone who can help solve the riddle of the Veblen House's origins and why it was moved to Princeton.
Wednesday, November 23, 2022
Thanksgiving Weekend Nature Walk at Herrontown Woods
Update: A big blob of predicted rain has been sitting atop the planned timeslot for a nature walk this Thanksgiving weekend, finally causing us to delay the walk by a week. It is now planned for Dec. 4, 1-3pm.
Note: The consistency of the weather prediction, which showed the blob sitting in exactly the same Sunday time slot for five days straight, and which ultimately proved accurate, surely represents a triumph for meteorology.
Astute readers will note a distinct resemblance between the blob of rain that swallowed our nature walk and the drawing of a boa constrictor that had swallowed an elephant in The Little Prince.
A nature walk is planned for this Thanksgiving weekend, on Sunday, Nov. 27, from 1-3pm. If the weather looks iffy, check the events page of the HerrontownWoods.org website for an update.
We'll meet at the Herrontown Woods parking lot at 600 Snowden Lane, across Snowden from the Smoyer Park entrance. Sturdy shoes are a good idea. Maps at this link.
The photo is of a pokeweed that came late to the fall color party.
Leaves Take Flight at the OK Leaf Corral
On a spirited Sunday morning with an invigorating chill in the air, volunteers staged a leaf roundup at Veblen House.
Here's board member Keena, showing proper stance and form as she raked leaves onto a tarp. She's a natural, even though she grew up in the Arizona desert, where there were no leaves to rake.Delightful Writeup on Herrontown Woods in the Nassau Weekly
On October 9th, we had a particularly serendipitous Sunday at Herrontown Woods. It was our monthly May's Cafe at the Barden, mixing coffee, baked treats, socializing, and some volunteer work, followed by a nature walk. A new attendee was Juju Lane, a senior at Princeton University and senior editor at the Nassau Weekly.
She talked to many of us, watched as we collected seed from the many kinds of native plants in the Barden, then went along on the walk, taking careful notes.Later in the month, she wrote up her experience, capturing the spirit of the Friends of Herrontown Woods in a wonderful piece published in the Nassau Weekly.
Here, one of our volunteers, Carolyn, is collecting seed from a rose mallow hibiscus. May's Cafe takes place right in the garden, so in a way we are socializing with the native plants while socializing with people.