Helping individuals, groups & communities conserve their land and water by providing education, information, workshops and technical assistance.
District Manager - Linda Schneider
802-295-7942 x11 linda.schneider@vt.nacdnet.net
Time to start thinking about ....
Click on links or scroll down for workshop dates
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Horse and Livestock
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Logging and Clearing of Land
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Soil test for your garden or pastures
Available at the ONRCD office
28 Farmvu Drive, WRJ, VT (by the post office)
drop by or call and we will be happy to give you a kit
Food Scrap Reduction Program
Treat food scraps as a resource, not a waste
Food scraps can be a valuable source of nutrition for animals as feed and the soil as compost
Diverting food scraps from the landfill conserves landfill space and reduces green house gas emissions
1. Small scale project -Food scraps from local restaurants to farms as animal feed for chickens.
Project Update - June 2009
SUMMER VOLUME
800lbs per day x 7 days = 2.8 tons per week x 4 weeks = 11.2 tons per month of food NOT in our landfill
2. Community project -To reduce food scraps on a larger scale by making it into compost at a facility
Chickens can eat most everything, they love vegetables and breads.
To learn more about this project go to: Food Scrap Reduction Project
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ONRCD and it's partner organizations
offer workshops throughout the year on a variety of interesting topics
Japanese Knotweed workshop - 2008
Buffer Planting Project - 2009
Billings Farm Buffer Planting Why Stabalize a River Bank?
2009 Calendar of Events
 Managing Invasive Plants in Your Forests:
June 30, 8:45 – 3:30 pm.
Hildene, Manchester.
Intensive 6 hour workshop: including identification, treatment methods, and how to prioritize sites and species. Co-sponsored by The Nature Conservancy, Bennington County Sustainable Forest Consortium, VT FPR, and VT Coverts, and Polatin Ecological Services. Contact Shelly Stiles for more information. http://www.bccdvt.org/.
Invasive Species Alert!
Wild Chervil
provided by Victoria Weber
If you are seeing a robust Queen Anne’s Lace blooming along roadsides mid-May to mid-June, it is wild chervil, a new invader to Vermont. Anthriscus sylvestris is a member of the parsley/carrot family and is native to northern Europe & Britain, where it is called cow parsley. It looks like Queen Anne’s Lace on steroids, but Queen Anne’s Lace blooms in July/August.
Leaves of wild chervil are ferny, triangular-shaped, and quite sharply pointed. Garden chervil is a tiny, 3’ tall, herb in the same family but an entirely different plant.
Life Cycle: Wild chervil exhibits many strategies that allow it to out-compete most other plants. It sprouts early in the spring, grows rapidly and can shade out other plants. It reproduces by seeds (800-1200 per plant) and also vegetatively by producing small off-set plants around the parent. Seeds are moved by road and mowing equipment, by water, and by boots or deer droppings. Its strong root allows it to revive after it has been cut or herbicided, so it needs to be weeded out, smothered or cut repeatedly to use up the carbohydrates the root has stored.
Control: Prevention & Persistence pay off. The most important thing is to keep chervil from establishing itself in new areas. STOP and weed it out when you first see a small patch. Otherwise within 1-2 years it will be a large dense patch that is difficult to work on. Weed out the plant and root by loosening with a trowel or large knife and then pulling out by the crown. Easiest when soil is moist. If seeds are beginning to set, pile and cover with clear or black plastic to ‘poach’ the seeds. If not yet setting seed (until June 1 usually) you can spread widely to dry and die. Smother under several layers of black plastic or other heavy material for at least 2 years. Replant the area afterwards and watch that new plants don’t get established from nearby. If cutting, expect to contain, but not necessarily eliminate chervil. Cut repeatedly to keep plants from flowering and setting seed. Clean mowers well or you can easily move seeds to new areas. If string-trimming, cover up against the juice which, if activated by UV light (even on cloudy days) can cause skin burns.
Natural controls: These are few. Sheep and goats enjoy eating young plants. Cows and horses mostly don’t. Some deer are learning to eat it, but that means they also help spread it, and it is getting into the woods.
To Do: Prevention - Do not do nothing, because then a chervil infestation near you will surely get worse. Work with neighbors to weed out the first plants that come to your neighborhood and keep at it. PREVENT chervil from getting established. Ask your town and state road crews to mow the roadsides before mid-June to keep from spreading the seed. Early - Work on chervil early in the spring (April through mid-June is Chervil Season), and then in the fall. Also work early in an infestation.
http://www.nps.gov/mabi/upload/identifyinginvasiveplants2009.doc
Roadside Weed Management
(Partner Workshop)
Saturday, June 13 from 9:30 to 12:00
Location: Manchester, Vermont
Host and contact information: Hildene the Lincoln Family Home http://www.hildene.org/
The Nature Conservancy is collaborating with the Department of Transportation and the Vermont Local Roads program to train road crews on the best management practices for handling invasives along roadways. It will include an overview of invasive plants, fieldidentification, and tips for how to avoid spreading invasive plants while maintaining roads.
More information will be available about these trainings soon.
Dates and locations: (specific times TBA)
Manchester June 24
Ferrisburgh July 22
Woodstock August 26
Host and contact information: Vermont Local Roads http://www.vermontlocalroads.org/
The Nature Conservancy of Vermont offers a variety of presentations and workshops, as well as brochures and other print materials about invasive species. In 2008, we offered close to 40 workshops to conservation commissions, garden clubs, nature centers and schools; presented at annual meetings and conferences, and hosted display tables at special events. Talks can be tailored to specific interests.
To learn more go to www.vtinvasiveplants.org, www.nature .org/vermont or contact splumb@tnc.org or 802-229-4425 x120.
Water Basin 10 Planning Sessions
Important information regarding the water quality of the Ottauquechee River and tributaries
Forests and Forest Management Practices - Impact on Water Quality
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Bridgewater Grange on Route 100 A, south of Bridgewater Corners from 6:30 – 8:00PM
Jon Bouton - presenter
Upcoming Topics
Lakes and Ponds - July 21
Recreation - August 18
Invasive Species - September 15
Water Quality Conditions - October 20
Stormwater Issues and Low Impact Development - November 17
The EPA-approved 2008 303d list of impaired waters and the state’s 2008 list of waters outside the scope of 303d have been posted on the WQD home web page. The lists also appear on the planning home page in a similar location as well.
http://www.vtwaterquality.org/planning/docs/pl_2008.303d_Final.pdf
2008 EPA-approved 303d List of Impaired Waters
http://www.vtwaterquality.org/planning/docs/pl_2008.State_Lists_Final.pdf
2008 Final Listings of Waters Outside the Scope of 303d
http://www.vtwaterquality.org/planning/htm/pl_basin10.htm
Basin 10 website for more information
For direct information
Marie Levesque Caduto
Watershed Coordinator
ANR / Dept. of Environmental Conservation
100 Mineral Street, Suite 303
Springfield , VT 05156-3168
Ph: 802-885-8958
Fax: 802-885-8890
Marie.Caduto@state.vt.us
Gardening Workshops
helpful info
Early Spinach Trials.
High Mowings Seeds, Wolcott VT. June 10, 2009
Greenhouse Pest Management.
Killdeer Farm, Norwich VT. June 12, 2009
Zone-Till Demonstration.
Clearbrook Farm, Shaftsbury VT. June 17, 2009
Organic Strawberry Production.
Woods Market Garden, Brandon VT. June 30, 2009
GAPS Training for Farmers.
Vermont Technical College, Randolph Center VT. July 9, 2009
Weed Cultivation.
Intervale Community Farm, Burlington VT. July 21, 2009
Soil Health.
Wellspring Farm CSA, Marshfield VT. Sept. 2, 2009
For details on time, registration, directions, etc., go to:
http://www.uvm.edu/vtvegandberry/meetings/meetlist.html
Hartford Conservation Commission Newsletter
vernal pools
forest fragmentation
riparian buffer
wildlife habitat
invasive weeds
invasive landscaping plants
recommended plants
Miss one?
We can still get you the information
Manure Management Workshop
Manure storage, land application, composting, manure marketing, and Vermont's Accepted Agricultural Practices.
Specifics for all livestock will be addressed.
Free manure management guide & resource toolkit.
Technical assistance in manure management also available at no cost.
Contact Athena at (802) 254-3636 or athena@nerc.org or
Sylvia at (802) 254-5323 x105 sylvia.harris@vt.nacdnet.net to register.
13th Annual Vermont Grazing Conference
(Partner Workshop)
Held every January at various locations - check this website for future information.
Composting Manure
(Partner Workshop)
Was your New Year's Resolution to better understand
the composting process and become a more effective on-farm composter?
The UVM Center for Sustainable Agriculture, with the partnership of the Highfields Institute and VTC, is sponsoring a pre-conference On-Farm Composting Intensive for the upcoming Grazing Conference. Focus will be on site id, recipe development, pile monitoring and management. Workshop will include both classroom components and on-site demonstrations and activities.
links to workshops, more info, online reg, etc.
http://www.uvm.edu/~pasture/?Page=2009conference.html
http://www.uvm.edu/~pasture/?Page=2009pcworkshops.html
Contact Jenn Colby, Conference Coordinator, at
(802) 656-0858, jcolby@uvm.edu
Land For Good’s ONLINE TUTORIAL on FARM LEASING is now available.
Access to farmland is one of the biggest challenges for new farmers. For many, leasing may be an effective strategy. Leases can provide affordable, flexible and secure access to farms, land, and buildings.
Find out about leases and leasing -- what’s in a lease, types of leases and how to negotiate a good lease.
Four short, easy and informative modules will give you basic information, lease examples and lots of linked resources.
Upon completing the tutorial you are eligible for free technical assistance related to leasing. You will receive details via email.
Land For Good is a nonprofit organization specializing in working land. We work with farmers, landowners and communities on farmland access, tenure and succession.
Funding for this project was provided by the Northeast Center for Risk Management Education
the USDA Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service
Visit www.landforgood.org/leasing/online.php to take this free tutorial.
Annual Report see what we have been doing and are planning to do!
Articles of interest on Conservation
by Linda K. Schneider, District Manager
Brochures and Additional Information
Smooth Bedstraw (Galium mollugo)*
Smooth bedstraw is a weed that is rapidly becoming a problem in local pastures and hay fields. It is a non native plant that under less than ideal growing conditions and cutting or grazing management can quickly crowd out native crop plants. See factsheet for more details for combatting this pest.
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