Nonprofit Aggregator: Catalogue for Philanthropy: Greater Washington

This post is a reprint of a post by Spur Local that originally appeared at Accokeek Foundation.

written by Interpreter, Kaylin Beach

The National Colonial Farm imagines a fictional family—the Boltons—to reveal the realities of life for non-wealthy landowners and enslaved people in early America.

How like a winter hath my absence been
From thee, the pleasure of the fleeting year!
What freezings have I felt, what dark days seen!
What old December’s bareness everywhere!
(William Shakespeare)

The spring equinox is just days away, purple crocuses have emerged as small pools of color among the brown landscape, and the song of the spring peepers serenades park goers each afternoon. It feels as if the change of seasons is well and truly underway, but before we move forward to warmer weather, we present you with a look back (way back, in fact) to winter on a small 18th century Maryland tobacco farm. Here are some lesser known facts about how early Marylanders braved the cold.

1. Biphasic Sleep Patterns

Did you know that, pre-industrial revolution, people had 2 sleeps a day? During the summer, folks like the Bolton family would sleep all night (10 p.m. to 4 a.m.) and then sleep again during the hottest part of the day (2 to 4 p.m.). The winter months yielded less light, so people would sleep from 6 p.m. to 12 a.m. and then awaken for a few hours. This was called first sleep. They would then go back to sleep around 3 am and wake up around 6:30 am. This was called second sleep.

During the time between sleeps in the winter, folks on rural farms would work on indoor projects (sewing, woodcarving, etc…) and eat breakfast or a late night snack. People in towns may call upon one another at 1 am in the morning, visiting friends and family. It was absolutely normal for everyone to wake up and break their fast with merriment and visiting. Imagine that!

Sleeping and waking periods changed throughout the year, but the 2 sleeps in winter are my personal favorite.

2. What do farmers do during the winter?

Farmers in the Chesapeake Bay region didn’t stop farming just because winter came. Winter is an excellent time to plant crops that will feed the family and the soil. If you stop by the National Colonial Farm this winter, you’ll see gardens and fields featuring cover crops such as winter wheat, red clover, mustard, and more. These plants will serve as food for the animals and for the soil, a necessary thing when you farm tobacco.

There are many fruits and vegetables that can be grown during the winter, such as lettuce, parsley, potatoes, kale, cabbage, and more. One of my favorites is the skirret, an 18th century vegetable that is a cross between a modern day carrot (taste) and a parsnip (coloring). Skirrets were very popular to plant in England because they like cold, wet weather (perfect for winter here in North America!). In 1770, they were used in place of carrots because carrots, at the time, were very tart and bitter. Now, due to genetic modification, carrots no longer hold the thick woody centers and tart taste that they once did. As a result, the popularity and use of skirrets died away.

Skirret crown. source: https://bit.ly/2XYTnkE

3. What did the Boltons eat during the winter?

Apples hung up to dry for the winter season.

Storing food in the 18th century was very different than it is today. Instead of refrigerators and freezers, the Boltons stored root vegetables and such in a root cellar. Cellars were commonly underground, sometimes under an existing building. At the Bolton’s farm, they use a hollow log filled with a sand/salt mix and covered with boards. In it one will find potatoes, turnips, carrots, skirrets, parsnips, and more.

They would also dry or jar a lot of their fruits and vegetables. One commonly dried item in the 18th century was beans/peas. In fact, dried beans looked so much like the britches made of leather that the men wore at the time that they adopted the name ‘leather britches’ to describe them.

This time of year, however, would be particularly hard for the Boltons. With winter starting in November, as it did at the time, most of the stores would be eaten or spoiled by late February. Mild winters were few and far in between, so people would need to find a way to obtain more food at this time of the year. That is why farmers would sow crops in the winter and early spring. For the Boltons, their diet changed based on what was available—soups and stews at this time of year were especially common due to having access to salted meat from the smokehouse and the last of the root vegetables from the cellar or the garden.

It’s also calving season, so milk, cheese, and butter are plentiful!

4. No shoes to snow shoes?

Source: https://bit.ly/2F0dnef

The Native Americans wore snowshoes in the 18th century, but the colonists did not (at least not what we wear nowadays). Research on the topic references the use of pieces of wood and bark to keep shoes dry. Shoes are a fun subject in the 18th century, especially for a farm family like the Boltons. Shoes were expensive and usually foregone during the summer to save money. It would not be uncommon for folks in the lower middling class and lower class status to fair without shoes during the winter, or bind their badly worn leather shoes with cloth.

Another fun shoe conversation is the use of clogs in the American colonies. Most people think of clogs in relationship to the Scottish or Danish people, but wooden clogs were highly popular here in the colonies. They served as a means to avoid ruining good shoes (clogs being worn under the regular shoes to block mud and other unpleasantries). They also served farmers as they tended to their fields during wet, cold times of year.

5. Skirting the chill

Ladies in the 18th century seldom wore anything under their shift: a nightgown-like layer of clothing that served as underwear. This means that, under all of those skirts, they wore no bloomers or anything to keep a draft from going up their skirts. This may have served well during the summer (and for using the bathroom) but certainly proved cold during the winter. That is why women would take a loose strap of leather or cord and gird themselves, tying it around their waist and tucking the hem of their shift from the back into the strap in the front. This helped to block some of the draft.

6. A Frozen Potomac

Thomas Jefferson wrote about the winter of 1780, and how the Chesapeake Bay was frozen all the way to the mouth of the Potomac. It would not have been uncommon for folks to cross the Potomac river during freezes such as these by simply walking across the ice. Can you imagine a freeze of that magnitude?

Well, the winters during the 1700’s were unforgivingly cold. This part of the world was enduring a mini ice-age at the time, so a completely frozen Potomac river was not unthinkable. In fact, it was probably expected.

7. Let there be a tiny bit of light at an exorbitant price!

I’m sure you’re already aware of the dark days that winter holds, and the lack of light in the 18th century. At the National Colonial Farm, we make candles from October through December to educate visitors on the life of a candle. We’ve found that a candle made from beeswax and paraffin (candles were typically made of tallow in 1770) standing about 5 inches high will last for 30 minutes.

Let’s do some candle math:
If you wanted an hour of reading before bed and 2 hours of light between first and second sleep, you could use 6 candles (that’s one candle every half hour) in a day. Estimate 3 candles every half hour to provide light for the whole family. That’s 18 candles a day.
Multiply that by the number of days for an average winter season (November 17 to March 31) and you get 2,430 candles.
That’s a lot of candles for not a lot of light.

Not to mention the fact that candles were expensive to buy—due to need and taxation from England—so folks may choose to make their own. On average, I can individually hand dip 20 candles a day (the Bolton farm can’t afford a candle mold) while talking to visitors and dealing with the ever-changing temperature of the wax. Add the visitors’ candles and another interpreter helping; we might be able to reach 50-60 candles a day if we do it from 7am to 6pm. It would take us around 40 days to make 2,430 candles if we made 60 a day. That’s just dipping the candle, not making the wax from tallow fat, or building the fire.

8. Split and stack, gather and dry, without a fire we all may die.

We are all a little detached from the realities of wood burning. Even those of us with wood burning fireplaces still use another form of heat in the form of stoves, ovens, and microwaves. In 1770, on a farm the size of the Bolton farm (about 200 acres) firewood would be a necessity, especially in the winter. It is estimated that the Bolton farm, before the 1780’s, would use about 45 cords of firewood a year between cooking, laundry, and heat. That’s 128 cubic feet per cord, which adds up to a lot of wood!

Why so much? Well, fireplaces in the 18th century were especially inefficient. Instead of funneling the heat into the room, they absorbed much of the heat up the chimney, and replaced it with cold air (heat rises, cold air falls). Aside from the physics of the situation, what heat did survive in the house was lost quickly due to a lack of insulation. The Boltons would close off parts of their house to avoid losing the heat, cramming everyone into one room as a living space.

Hopefully they weren’t claustrophobic!

9. How did enslaved individuals survive the winter?

photo by Joe Tresh Photography, Inc.

On the National Colonial Farm, we tell the story of Cate Sharper, a real woman who lived on this land in the 18th century. Small farms may only enslave one or two people, so as the only slave on site, she slept in one of the outbuildings, like the kitchen. Just like the Boltons, she moved her bed linens close to the fire to obtain warmth. However, unlike the Boltons, she did not have the added benefit of additional bodies to share the bed with.

Firewood use for her may also have been limited. She was responsible for keeping the kitchen fire going, but a roaring fire was not necessary. As a result, she would use her spare time to create additional warm clothing to wear during especially cold nights. Most likely, she ate what was left after the Boltons ate,and if the farm ran short on food, she may have been the first to go hungry.

Life as the only enslaved woman on a tobacco farm was not pleasant during any time of year, but proved especially difficult during the winter.

10. Getting privy to the privy

If you’re not familiar with 18th century bathrooms, I’m sorry to say that the Bolton farm doesn’t have one. At least not like we’re accustomed to today. Instead, one would go outside into the woods to relieve themselves—an especially chilly experience during the winter.
So, instead, the chamber pot (used inside) acquired a lot of use in colder months. Of course, this still meant the freezing sensation of cold pewter, stoneware, or porcelain as one perched upon it to relieve themselves. At least you were inside! Although, you’d have to hope the pot had a lid to place on it after you’d gone. Otherwise, your whole house would stink!

The fun came after it grew full, as the youngest in the family or a slave was tasked with dumping the chamber pot. Can you imagine? I suppose one could be glad to have frozen water nearby to wash it out with instead of having to walk to the creek during the summer to clean it.

The joys of no indoor plumbing.

Bonus winter fact!

During the winter, cows ate a lot of rutabaga.

To read more about the topics discussed above, check out these resources:

https://www.history.org/foundation/journal/winter09/cold.cfm

http://www.lincolnjournalonline.com/news/2017-03-23/Editorial_Page/The_Humble_Chamber_Pot.html

http://research.history.org/DigitalLibrary/View/index.cfm?doc=ResearchReports/RR0033.xml

http://www.foodtimeline.org/foodcolonial.html

http://www.history.vt.edu/Ekirch/sleepcommentary.html

 

This post is a reprint of a post by Spur Local that originally appeared at Accokeek Foundation.

This post is a reprint of a post by Spur Local that originally appeared at Accokeek Foundation.

Cate Sharper as portrayed by Shemika Berry. Photo by Joy White.

Cate Sharper was an enslaved woman in the mid to late 1700s. Her name, and that of her son Jack, appear in the probate records of the Prince George’s county family that enslaved her. How she came to this land and what happened to her and her son we do not know from the records that survived the intervening 250 years. But because she was a real woman who lived and worked this land, we want to remember her. With the help of staff and research, we have created a story that could have been her story—or the story of any enslaved woman during this period of Maryland history. Shemika Berry, the Interpretation Coordinator at the National Colonial Farm, portrays Cate Sharper on site.

This is Cate Sharper in her own words, as we imagine them.

“I grew up on a tobacco farm. My Grandparents came from the motherland. My mother Esther was born on another farm a little further away, and then I grew up on that land. Some of my earliest memories are with Grandmother and Grandfather out in the fields. Grandfather was teaching me the proper way of pulling off the horn worms, the most unappealing creatures that you’d never want to see! They can grow to be about the length of your finger, and can be as fat as your thumb. Now mind you, they are the same color green as the tobacco which makes it almost impossible to see, except for the fact they have little yellow stripes that go down the back and a little horn that just wiggles at you. You have to pull them off just so, lest they spit out everything they been eating all over your hands. Grandfather showed me long ago how to do it, but once you don’t pull them off just right you WILL suffer the consequences. Then you must wipe them on the ground and squish them lest they crawl right back and start eatin’ up on that tobacco. We call it “The Worm That Never Dies”. Now, if the tobacco starts to get holes in it, or is half-eaten away, that makes that leaf no good. I must be out there morning, noon, and night tending to the tobacco.

It can be very grueling work. The other creature that is dangerous to the crop is the flea beetle. They are the bane of my existence.

I came to the Bolton farm upon Mistress Bolton’s marriage to Master Bolton, some 20 odd years ago. My last name is Sharper because I’m married to Tom, who is a free man. Master and Mistress Bolton didn’t have no problem with us getting married for they knew I couldn’t go nowhere even though he was free. The Boltons used to pay him a small wage for his work on the farm because he is free, but Tom’s not here on the land with me no more. Some time ago the Boltons’ younger son, Josiah, took terrible ill. They thought that child was gonna die, but they used all the money that they had to get medicine for him, and he came to but because they didn’t have any more money, Tom had to go find work elsewhere. So, he’s a few miles up the road and found a more open-minded farmer who rents him land and he grows his own tobacco. At night, when the Boltons are sleepin’, and I’ve finished all my chores I steal away to help him tend to his tobacco.

Cate Sharper practices her letters through embroidery.

Now between the two of us we have a son named Jack. That is my pride and joy. He’s always so quick to help. I taught him to read early on. Oh yes, I can read too, it is not unlawful for slaves to know how to read. Miss Charity taught me my letters by embroidery and I stitched them on my pocket. Some of my favorite memories of that child were of him climbing up to the rafters hanging up some of those tobacco leaves. Jack would always say “Momma, don’t worry! Imma climb up there and hang the tobacco for you!” he’s not here to hang the tobacco no more neither.

A year after Josiah took ill, there was a swarm of flea beetles like something I ain’t never seen. Now flea beetles themselves are teeny tiny creatures, but when there is a swarm of them it’s almost like a cloud and they descended upon that tobacco like you would not believe. They eat up the seedlings when they first come out the ground and the Boltons lost nearly half their crop. Master Bolton was worried that they would lose the land, so he and Mistress Bolton discussed it among themselves and decided they needed to sell off some property so that they could buy enough seed to continue with the growing. They took my Jack from me. He was nearing his 12th year at the time. I’ll never forget that day when they took him down to the Potomac. Sent him up the river. I felt like my heart was ripped out and went right on up the river with him. My husband is gone. My son been sold away. I thought I was gonna die right then and there. I took to my bed for 3 weeks. Missus was afraid I would die, and Master was concerned about losing another piece of his property. Then he had the idea of giving me a little plot of the garden so that I could tend to it, to have something living to tend to and take care of. He thought me tending to a garden would make up for losing my child.

Mama always said I was a clever one. After a few weeks of toilin’ and plantin’ I came up with the idea that if Tom could sell his tobacco and have the money for himself, then why not could I sell some of my fruits and vegetables and have it for myself? When Tom comes to visit with me, I grow some extra fruit and vegetables and send it back with him. I did say I steal away at night times and help him pull off his horn worms; I take some extra to him during those times, too. Our hope is that we are able to save enough money between his tobacco and my fruits and vegetables so that we can purchase Jack’s freedom. You know, he is in his 16th year now and nearing a man. It doesn’t matter that Tom is a free man, my child being born of me makes Jack a slave. It is all I want in this world, for him to be free like his father, and not a slave like his mother.”

This post is a reprint of a post by Spur Local that originally appeared at Accokeek Foundation.

Cate Sharper as portrayed by Shemika Berry. Photo by Joy White.

Cate Sharper was an enslaved woman in the mid to late 1700s. Her name, and that of her son Jack, appears in the probate records of the Prince George’s county family that enslaved her. How she came to this land and what happened to her and her son we do not know from the records that survived the intervening 250 years. But because she was a real woman who lived and worked this land, we want to remember her. With the help of staff and research, we have created a story that could have been her story—or the story of any enslaved woman during this period of Maryland history. Shemika Berry, the Interpretation Coordinator at the National Colonial Farm, portrays Cate Sharper on site.

This is Cate Sharper in her own words, as we imagine them.

“I grew up on a tobacco farm. My Grandparents came from the motherland. My mother Esther was born on another farm a little further away, and then I grew up on that land. Some of my earliest memories are with Grandmother and Grandfather out in the fields. Grandfather was teaching me the proper way of pulling off the horn worms, the most unappealing creatures that you’d never want to see! They can grow to be about the length of your finger, and can be as fat as your thumb. Now mind you, they are the same color green as the tobacco which makes it almost impossible to see, except for the fact they have little yellow stripes that go down the back and a little horn that just wiggles at you. You have to pull them off just so, less they spit out everything they been eating all over your hands. Grandfather showed me long ago how to do it, but once you don’t pull them off just right you WILL suffer the consequences. Then you must wipe them on the ground and squish them lest they crawl right back and start eatin’ up on that tobacco. We call it “The Worm That Never Dies”. Now, if the tobacco starts to get holes in it, or is half-eaten away, that makes that leaf no good. I must be out there morning, noon, and night tending to the tobacco.

It can be very grueling work. The other creature that is dangerous to the crop is the flea beetle. They are the bane of my existence.

I came to the Bolton farm upon Mistress Bolton’s marriage to Master Bolton, some 20 odd years ago. My last name is Sharper because I’m married to Tom, who is a free man. Master and Mistress Bolton didn’t have no problem with us getting married for they knew I couldn’t go nowhere even though he was free. The Boltons used to pay him a small wage for his work on the farm because he is free, but Tom’s not here on the land with me no more. Some time ago the Boltons’ younger son, Josiah, took terrible ill. They thought that child was gonna die., but they used all the money that they had to get medicine for him, and he came to but because they didn’t have any more money, Tom had to go find work elsewhere. So, he’s a few miles up the road and found a more open-minded farmer who rents him land and he grows his own tobacco. At night, when the Boltons are sleepin’, and I’ve finished all my chores I steal away to help him tend to his tobacco.

Cate Sharper practices her letters through embroidery.

Now between the two of us we have a son named Jack. That is my pride and joy. He’s always so quick to help. I taught him to read early on. Oh yes, I can read too, it is not unlawful for slaves to know how to read. Miss Charity taught me my letters by embroidery and I stitched them on my pocket. Some of my favorite memories of that child were of him climbing up to the rafters hanging up some of those tobacco leaves. Jack would always say “Momma, don’t worry! Imma climb up there and hang the tobacco for you!” he’s not here to hang the tobacco no more neither.

A year after Josiah took ill, there was a swarm of flea beetles like something I ain’t never seen. Now flea beetles themselves are teeny tiny creatures, but when there is a swarm of them it’s almost like a cloud and they descended upon that tobacco like you would not believe. They eat up the seedlings when they first come out the ground and the Boltons lost nearly half their crop. Master Bolton was worried that they would lose the land, so he and Mistress Bolton discussed it among themselves and decided they needed to sell off some property so that they could buy enough seed to continue with the growing. They took my Jack from me. He was nearing his 12th year at the time. I’ll never forget that day when they took him down to the Potomac. Sent him up the river. I felt like my heart was ripped out and went right on up the river with him. My husband is gone. My son been sold away. I thought I was gonna die right then and there. I took to my bed for 3 weeks. Missus was afraid I would die, and Master was just concerned about losing another piece of his property. Then he had the idea of giving me a little plot of the garden so that I could tend to it, to have something living to tend to and take care of. He thought me tending to a garden would make up for losing my child.

Mama always said I was a clever one. After a few weeks of toilin’ and plantin’ I came up with the idea that if Tom could sell his tobacco and have the money for himself, then why not could I sell some of my fruits and vegetables and have it for myself? When Tom comes to visit with me, I grow some extra fruit and vegetables and send it back with him. I did say I steal away at night times and help him pull off his hornworms; I take some extra to him during those times, too. Our hope is that we are able to save enough money between his tobacco and my fruits and vegetables so that we can purchase Jack’s freedom. You know, he is in his 16th year now and nearing a man. It doesn’t matter that Tom is a free man, my child being born of me makes Jack a slave. It is all I want in this world, for him to be free like his father, and not a slave like his mother.”

This post is a reprint of a post by Spur Local that originally appeared at Accokeek Foundation.

The Accokeek Foundation’s Board of Trustees announces their appointment of Laura Ford to serve as the Foundation’s new President and CEO. Laura, who joined the staff in 2004 and previously served as Vice President of the Foundation, led the Accokeek Foundation during a leadership transition after former President and CEO Lisa Hayes resigned in March.

Virginia Busby, Chair of the Accokeek Foundation’s Board, said the Board selected Laura as someone who can bring a fresh vision for the future with an appreciation for our history and accomplishments. “Laura brings passion for our work, deep connections with our staff, volunteers, partners, and donors, and a commitment to public service through the Accokeek Foundation’s mission-focused work.”

“I’m honored to be able to serve the organization at this time,” shared Laura. “As we build on this amazing history of innovation and leadership at the Foundation, we are committed to inspiring people to care about the environment by connecting them to the landscape of Piscataway Park. The park has always been a place of convergence, connecting people to one another and to nature.”

The Accokeek Foundation’s mission is to cultivate passion for the natural and cultural heritage of Piscataway Park and commitment to stewardship and sustainability. Founded in 1957 to protect the view from George Washington’s Mount Vernon across the Potomac River, the Foundation was one of the nation’s first land trusts and continues land conservation efforts today to ensure protection of the viewshed and working landscapes in the region. The Foundation stewards 200 acres in Piscataway Park, which is open daily to visitors of all ages who enjoy a quiet landscape for recreation and reflection. Educational programs connect people to the landscape through hands-on interdisciplinary learning experiences via school trips, visitor experiences, volunteerism, and internships. The Foundation serves about 50,000 visitors annually from around the region, including 4,000 schoolchildren.

During her tenure with the Foundation, Laura has been responsible for organizational advancement, including fundraising, communications, and strategic initiatives like the Foundation’s sustainable agriculture program. From June 2014 to December 2016, Laura was the Director of Program Advancement at the Alice Ferguson Foundation, where she supported their capital campaign, raised funds for operations, and oversaw environmental education programs. Laura started her career in environmental education as a project manager and technical writer for the Maryland Center for Environmental Training at the College of Southern Maryland.

Laura holds a bachelor’s degree in Language and Literature from St. Mary’s College of Maryland and an Executive Certificate in Nonprofit Management from Georgetown University’s Public Policy Institute. Laura is the Executive Trustee with the Corina Higginson Trust, a grantmaker in the Washington DC metropolitan region. She has a special interest in social justice, equity, and food systems work and is a member of the Washington Regional Food Funders and the Chesapeake Bay Funders Network. She also is a certified horseback riding instructor and owns a small farm with her family in Southern Maryland.

To learn more about the Accokeek Foundation, Laura can be reached at lford@accokeek.org or 301-965-9569.

This post is a reprint of a post by Spur Local that originally appeared at Accokeek Foundation.

*This recipe is adapted from Townsend’s “Harvest Succotash“

Looking to experience the tastes of the season, while exploring some of the food traditions of the 18th century? We made this delicious recipe on the National Colonial Farm during the 2018 Children’s Day festival and it was a hit with staff and volunteers.

We hope you enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups dried beans
• 2 cups dried hominy corn
• 1 diced winter squash
• 1 lb. beef, cubed*
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 chopped white or yellow onion
• 2 large carrots, chopped
• 2 large parsnips, chopped
• 1/2 rutabaga, chopped
• Salt
• Pepper
• 2 bay leaves
• Broth, stock, or water

Directions:

Soak beans and hominy in a bowl of water overnight and drain.

In a large pot, brown your cubed beef and onions in butter. Season with salt, pepper, and bay leaves.

Add a large amount of broth as well a soaked beans and hominy, and let simmer for three hours. Add vegetables and simmer for another half-hour or until vegetables are tender.

*A dish of this type may have also been made with wild game, even bear meat. Make it vegetarian by leaving out the meat and using vegetable stock. 

This post is a reprint of a post by Spur Local that originally appeared at Accokeek Foundation.

*This recipe is adapted from Townsend’s “Harvest Succotash“

Looking to experience the tastes of the season, while exploring some of the food traditions of the 18th century? We made this delicious recipe on the National Colonial Farm during the 2018 Children’s Day festival and it was a hit with staff and volunteers.

We hope you enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups dried beans
• 2 cups dried hominy corn
• 1 diced winter squash
• 1 lb. beef, cubed*
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 chopped white or yellow onion
• 2 large carrots, chopped
• 2 large parsnips, chopped
• 1/2 rutabaga, chopped
• Salt
• Pepper
• 2 bay leaves
• Broth, stock, or water

Directions:

Soak beans and hominy in a bowl of water overnight and drain.

In a large pot, brown your cubed beef and onions in butter. Season with salt, pepper, and bay leaves.

Add a large amount of broth as well a soaked beans and hominy, and let simmer for three hours. Add vegetables and simmer for another half-hour or until vegetables are tender.

*A dish of this type may have also been made with wild game, even bear meat. Make it vegetarian by leaving out the meat and using vegetable stock. 

This post is a reprint of a post by Spur Local that originally appeared at College Bound.

This post is a reprint of a post by a Catalogue nonprofit that originally appeared at Accokeek Foundation.

This post is a reprint of a post by Spur Local that originally appeared at Accokeek Foundation.

an illustrated exploration by Casey Harlow

When we started talking about meadows, we couldn’t get this scene from the movie I Heart Huckabees out of our minds.

“Albert Markovski: No, I’m not. I’m talking about not covering every square inch of populated America with houses and strip malls until you can’t even remember what happens when you stand in a meadow at dusk.
Bret: What happens in the meadow at dusk?
Albert Markovski: Everything.
Mrs. Hooten: Nothing.
Albert Markovski: Everything.
Mrs. Hooten: Nothing.
Albert Markovski: It’s beautiful.
Tommy Corn: It’s beautiful.”
—I Heart Huckabees, 2004

Grassland habitats are disappearing at an alarming rate, and we felt that the loss of those spaces was not only tragic for the flora and fauna that thrive there, but for the people that might never experience the energy and life that meadows provide. So we asked ourselves this same question: What DOES happen in a meadow at dusk? Is it everything? Is it nothing? Should we care what happens in a meadow at dusk?

Let’s start our exploration in Piscataway Park and focus on three specific park ecosystems: the “Food Forest,” savannah pasture, and meadows.

Are you ready to have a hand in our meadow experiment? You can start by saving the date for the 2018 DoMore24 campaign. From noon on May 17 through noon on May 18, the Accokeek Foundation has a goal to raise $6,500 for a “Meadow Fund” to support the meadow. Each Donation will fund soil sampling, purchase seeds, provide volunteers with tools and safety equipment, and support wildlife inventories. Learn more at domore24.org/meadow.