Process and Progress at the Princeton Botanical Art Garden

This past Sunday's workday at Herrontown Woods' botanical art garden was made even more pleasurable by the beautiful sunlight that slowly shifted in angle as we worked. Complementing the now dormant native plants are the "found" structures that we installed this year--a shed, a gazebo, and the curious dugout boat that some highschool  kids created for their Odyssey project at Princeton High School. 

The gazebo, which we saved from demolition elsewhere in Princeton, is the latest addition. Our work at the botanical garden reminds me of jazz improvisation, in that we are constantly responding to each other's and nature's creativity. Until the light struck the gazebo in a certain way, I hadn't seen how the vertical lines of its balusters complemented the verticality of the bronze-colored broomsedge grasses growing nearby. 

That in turn led to the idea of planting native prairie grasses in a circle around the gazebo, to give mass and color to the garden in the winter when other plants are muted. Though grasslands are also native to New Jersey, they particularly thrived in Iowa, where the person who long ago acquired and then donated this nature preserve, Oswald Veblen, grew up. This is one of many ideas for the garden that come through the serendipity of the setting.

Nature, of course, is the greatest artist, limitless in the scope and variety of its creations.

Our work above all seeks to facilitate and appreciate nature's infinite creativity. 

But we are also collaborators, as when Rachelle turned a fallen tree and trimmed vines into a special spot to sit down and drink in the surroundings.

Though the pine grove that once grew here became the victim of windstorms, the sunlight now reaching the ground is driving the growth of many native shrubs and wildflowers that couldn't prosper elsewhere in the deeply shaded preserve. These catkins of hazelnut bode well for the food forest taking shape in one part of the botanical garden.

An important contributor to the serious fun is Victorino, who combines virtuosic chain saw skills with an artistic sensibility

and a sense of humor. 

Our workdays next to the Herrontown Woods parking lot begin around 10am on Sundays, but often run into late afternoon. This coming year, we hope to apply a similarly collaborative process to other cultural zones in Herrontown Woods, at the Veblen House and Cottage. The aim is for visitors to gain insight into Princeton's nature and history, combined with a healthy dose of delight. 

FOHW to Receive an Award of Recognition From Princeton Mayor and Council, Dec. 22

Great news! The Friends of Herrontown Woods will be receiving an award of recognition during Princeton mayor and council's Celebration of Community, this Tuesday, Dec. 22, starting at 6pm. To tune in to the event via zoom, here is some info for signing on at 6. Looks like we might be the first group to be honored:

Working link: https://princeton.zoom.us/J/86720974936
This meeting ID: 867 209 749 36

or go to the town calendar and scroll down to the agenda on the day of the event.

The award caps a year that saw a surge of interest in Herrontown Woods, as people sought refuge and renewal in the outdoors. The Botanical Art Garden took a leap forward, or FOHWard as we like to say, and trails benefitted from key additions and improvements. Our nonprofit officially leased the buildings from the town, and began work to clean and renovate the Veblen House. 

We are raising funds for the upcoming year's expenses. Your support will help us take the next steps as we care for and realize the potential of Herrontown Woods. It's easy to make an online donation.

A Practice Rescue by Princeton First Aid and Rescue Squad

On October 24, the Princeton First Aid and Rescue Squad (PFARS) came to Herrontown Woods to conduct an exercise in backwoods rescue. All of this came about through the initiative of Friends of Herrontown Woods board member Inge Regan, who is an emergency room doctor. 

With the Veblen Cottage in the background, PFARS volunteers clambered over rocks and fallen branches, fending off the thorns of multiflora rose as they carried the volunteer victim back to the trail and over to the ambulance. 

We're thankful to PFARS for all they do for Princeton, and for coming to Herrontown Woods to hone their skills under difficult backwoods conditions. Like FOHW, they are a spirited group of mostly volunteers, and though we've been fortunate not to have any accidents in the preserve, it's a great comfort that PFARS is gaining familiarity with our trails and stands ready to help if needed. It was also a pleasure to get to know PFARS leader and soon to be mayor of Princeton, Mark Freda, and introduce him to all we are doing in Princeton's oldest and newest nature preserve. 

Trail Work in Herrontown Woods in 2020

Herrontown Woods gained a new trail in 2020, a loop trail that winds through 7.5 acres donated by the Windy Top development that fronts on Snowden Lane. A couple years ago, FOHW convinced the developer that our environmental nonprofit was much more likely to take good care of the greenspace than the homeowners association that would otherwise own it. FOHW then convinced the town of Princeton to accept the donation, which actually took some lobbying. 

Since then, with help from a crew contracted by Princeton, FOHW has been battling a massive clone of wisteria that had already overwhelmed and downed several trees. But nothing compares to this year's transformation of the forest by Kurt Tazelaar, who built the trail using large stepping stones scavenged from the building site, and cut down masses of invasive shrubs that were clogging the understory and blocking views of the scenic valley. The trail includes several carefully crafted stream crossings and passes by some impressive trees that have thrived on the slopes overlooking the stream. 

The trail can be accessed by heading down the red trail from the parking lot, then taking a left just before or after reaching the stream.

Other projects Kurt undertook in this year were scenic bypasses of two badly eroded sections of the red trail, and some clearing of invasive shrubs near the cliff. After nearly a year fighting an illness, Kurt was able to return and has again made a big difference in Herrontown Woods this year. 

"A Minute of Calm" Video Series

Board member Inge Regan captured the elemental beauty and peacefulness of Herrontown Woods this year in a series of Minute of Calm videos. Frogs, butterflies, woods, rocks and water all find their way into these captured moments, beautifully framed and edited by SMP Video LLC of Princeton , NJ.

Below is an example. Follow the link to access the full series.

Pigs Fly at Herrontown Woods

If pigs could fly, 

we'd save from a sorry fate this elegant gazebo, with its porcine weather vane, 

and its mahogany benches

that give comfort and a view up and out and all about.

One of the views the gazebo framed for untold years was of this house on Ewing Street, parts of which date back to 1755. A few of us feel lucky to say we recently helped save this house from demolition.

If pigs could fly, we'd also save this shed, with its unusually shaped roof, to store stuff. 

But wait! Where is that shed going?

And the gazebo's mahogany floor?

And its mahogany benches?

And the gazebo itself!?

To Herrontown Woods they're going, to its Princeton Botanical Art Garden, to offer rest and social space, and frame views of native plants along winding pathways. 

Turns out that all it takes is a trailer, some help, and some ingenuity and perseverance to make pigs fly, and horses ride, and gazebos pick up and head off to a new life. 

A Botanical Art Garden for Princeton

One volunter project that has taken a leap forward during the pandemic is the Princeton Botanical Art Garden next to the parking lot for Herrontown Woods. Families seeking safe diversions and learning opportunities are discovering the garden and the deep woods beyond, which together serve as an introduction to Princeton's flora.

Now in its third year, the garden's collection of more than 100 native species continues to gain in signage and diversity. 

Whimsical, rock-lined trails and craftings of wood delight the kids while the parents check out what's in bloom. 

Visitors can work at the names--"Joe Pye Weed", "Ironweed", "mountain mint"--or just check out the colors and the many pollinators that the wildflowers now sustain.

The botanical garden is in turn sustained by volunteers who come Sundays 10-12, and Wednesdays as well from 4-6. Social distancing is maintained, while families can work closely together. All victories in gardening are provisional, but we're having surprising success weeding out the invasive plants that would have surely taken over if not for human intervention. Though many people equate nature with trees, this storm-damaged clearing allows sunlight to reach the ground, where the many native flowers, grasses, and shrubs that need direct sunlight now have a place to thrive.

The garden site's history is also an important part of its habitat. Snags and fallen trees provide habitat for insects and birds. Small tree trunks provide the makings of a tripod that holds a mobile made of the craggy roots exposed when a tree falls.

Next to one of the snags, a Princeton University professor recently mounted a sensor designed to measure rain and sense whether plants around it are healthy.  The sensor is part of a class experiment, producing data that will automatically be posted online. 

Several families of volunteers collaborated to make a little frog pond. They dug and dug until a small plastic tub would fit in the ground, then lined the area with flat stones and moss, adding a small solar powered fountain that spurts water when the sun reaches the panel. Local frogs have given the pondlet their seal of approval,

as did some kids who were passing by.

Even the root balls of fallen trees, jutting up from the ground, have become backdrops--one for a lovely meditation garden, and this one--a mother/daughter project displaying native plants and bones found in the woods. 

A contribution of local stones, some Christmas ferns, and moss gathered from a roof gave it a more formal look.

Projects like this help shift the balance at the site from aggressive plants, like Japanese stiltgrass and native blackberry, to plants that "play well with others" even though they can be considered wild. 

Over time we hope to give visitors an experience of the abundance and variety nature is capable of when given the chance.

Regular workdays are on Sunday mornings, 10-12. All are welcome.

Herrontown Woods Gets a Bike Rack, and a Boat

Two fine Princeton institutions have donated interesting objects to Herrontown Woods. Thanks to the Princeton Recreation Department for delivering a bike rack to the Herrontown Woods parking lot. It's always great to see people reaching Herrontown Woods by bike, and now they have a place to put them. There's also a bike rack at Autumn Hill Reservation, Herrontown's companion preserve just up Herrontown Road.

Take a close look at the photo and you'll see a curious object just beyond the bike rack. 

It's a dugout canoe donated by Princeton High School. We'll tell a fuller story in the future, once we get enough people together to drag it up into the botanical garden for display, perhaps next to the yurt. Suffice it to say that some high school freshmen built it as part of their Odyssey project for english class. Once the class project was successfully completed and the english class moved on to other topics, the very heavy boat sat behind the school, reportedly for years. Overcome by inertia, it's real and fictional journeys seemed to be over. 

But FOHW board member Peter Thompson had the idea for another odyssey for the vessel, to Herrontown Woods. The school principal and english teacher got on board, so to speak, the students had long since abandoned their remarkable creation, and so we assembled a hearty crew of Kurt, Andrew and Steve to set sail eastward to Herrontown Woods' botanical garden, where the boat will either grow wildflowers or grow imaginations.

Veblen's Legacy and FOHW's Work Featured in Princeton Magazine

Don Gilpin's article entitled The Extraordinary Legacy of Oswald Veblen, in the summer edition of Princeton Magazine, tells the story of Oswald Veblen in this 140th year since he was born. The article also gives prominent mention of our nonprofit's efforts to restore the gifts the Veblens left to the public: Herrontown Woods and the Veblen House and Cottage. 

Thanks to Princeton Magazine for telling Veblen's story and letting people know about our work! 

More on the article can be found at FOHW's companion website, VeblenHouse.org.

 

FOHW Celebrates the Veblens' Birthdays With Jazz and Candlelight

On a lovely summer evening, the Friends of Herrontown Woods celebrated the birthdays of Elizabeth and Oswald Veblen, who donated the nature preserve and their homes more than 60 years ago. Research revealed that their birthdays are two days apart, on the 22nd and 24th of June. For Oswald it was his 140th, his legacy still going strong.

2020 marks our third annual birthday celebration. Normally, we would invite the public to attend, but this year mostly board members came to test the concept of “distanced gathering,” dispersed beneath the tall trees surrounding Veblen House.

Two days before the event, we still lacked tables, until our artist in residence Victorino came to the rescue, carving sturdy and attractive tables out of a fallen red maple in front of the house. Candles and flowers from FOHW vice-president Pallavi's garden added a festive ornament.

The event was the brainchild of board member Inge Regan, an ER doctor who labored long to come up with protocols that would keep everyone socially distanced.

A pandemic causes us to behave more like trees, keeping our distance one from another, though of course couples were still able to cluster.

On the edge of the celebration was the Sustainable Jazz duo, performing its original music for the first time since COVID changed everything. Herrontown friend Perry provided a battery to power Phil Orr's piano, and FOHW president Steve Hiltner explored the enhancing acoustical effects of a reverberant forest on his saxophone and clarinet. Since the Veblen House can't be used yet, they were termed the "Near the house band."

As the evening progressed, candlelight merged with the fireflies to create a magical effect, with the Veblen House playing for now the role of landmark to loosely congregate next to. Happy birthday, and thank you, to Elizabeth and Oswald Veblen!