Article and Photos by Joe Sapia
Note: The yard references are to my house in the section of Monroe between Helmetta and Jamesburg in South Middlesex County. My yard is in a Pine Barrens outlier on the Inner Coastal Plain, the soil is loamy, and my neighborhood is on the boundary of Gardening Zones 6b (cooler) and 7a (warmer). Afield references are to the Pine Barrens around Helmetta, unless otherwise noted. Photographs are for the period covered, unless otherwise noted.
The Van Dyke Farm at Pigeon Swamp, South Brunswick/Middlesex County, where growing crops meets the woods.
VAN DYKE FARM: A favorite place to shoot photographs of mine is the Van Dyke Farm at Pigeon Swamp in South Brunswick/Middlesex County. It offers big-sky views to the west and the setting sun. See http://www.middlesexcountynj.gov/About/ParksRecreation/Pages/PR/VanDyke.aspx.
SOURLAND MOUNTAIN: I hiked one of my favorite Midlands places, Sourland Mountain on the boundary of Somerset, Hunterdon, and Mercer counties with a club I have been a member of for about 35 years, the Outdoor Club of South Jersey. On the mountain, I saw various flowers in bloom: showy orchid, “Galearis spectabilis,”; rue anemone, “Anemonella thalictroides”; and spring beauties, “”Claytonia virginica.” Being on the Piedmont with its rocky terrain, Sourland Mountain is much different than my generally flat and sandy Pine Barrens around Helmetta.
The Roaring Rocks boulder field on Sourland Mountain. Notice the hikers in the upper part of the photo.
A showy orchid on Sourland Mountain
FLATLANDERS VERSUS HILLTOPPERS: For purposes of this writing, New Jersey has four geological areas, which run northeast to southwest: from west to east, Ridges and Valleys, Highlands, Piedmont, and Coastal Plain. (The Coastal Plain can be divided into two areas, Inner and Outer, making it five regions.) Generally, the Midlands are divided into the Piedmont and Coastal Plain, with distinct characteristics. The generally flat Coastal Plain has white, sandy soil (think Shore and Pine Barrens) and dark soil (think conventional farming areas). The rolling Piedmont has red shale and traprock boulders.
Piedmont red shale at Sourland Mountain, which is in the background.
Traprock boulders on Sourland Mountain.
Coastal Plain dark soil at Cranbury/Middlesex County.
White, sandy soil in the Pine Barrens of Helmetta on the Coastal Plain.
FULL MOON AND PLANTING: The full moon was May 10, Wednesday, and some feel it is OK, now, to plant warm weather crops. Not me, especially with the cooler weather we have been having. I am still waiting for May 20 (if it warms up) to June 1 (if it remains on the cool side). Then, I will plant my warmer season crop – tomatoes, mushmellon, sweet corn, and cucumbers, along with zinnias to attract pollinators and for their beauty.
The near-Full Corn-Planting Moon. The full moon was Wednesday, May 10.
FOOD GARDEN: I weeded for the first time around the cool weather crops — “Salad Bowl” heirloom lettuce, “Rainbow Blend” carrots, and “Sugar Daddy” snap peas, all “Lake Valley Seed Company” brand — that have sprouted. I continue watering the garden.
Lake Valley Seed Company “Salad Bowl” heirloom lettuce growing in my garden.
WATERING THE FOOD GARDEN: My goal is to give the food garden a thorough watering by 10 a.m. This allows the garden to retain water, rather than have the water evaporate in the heat of day, and allows the garden to dry by the dewy nightfall to prevent fungal growth.
KEEPING WILDLIFE AWAY, CAYENNE PEPPER: I was talking a waitress at the Dayton Diner in South Brunswick/Middlesex County. An experienced gardener, she recommended using cayenne pepper as a method of pest control around the garden. I plan on trying that.
ALONG THE SOUTH RIVER: My travels took me across the South River at Old Bridge village on the boundary of Old Bridge, Sayreville, and East Brunswick, all in Middlesex County. On my way back, I stopped to shoot photographs between Old Bridge village and the New Causeway on the boundary of South River and Sayreville, both in Middlesex County. The South River is formed by the meeting of Manalapan and Matchaponix brooks on the Spotswood-Old Bridge boundary at DuHerNaL Lake/Middlesex County. (DuHerNaL Lake gets its name from the three companies that had used it as a reservoir: DuPont, Hercules, and National Lead.) Normally, I do not think of inland self, 25 or so miles from the Atlantic Ocean, living near salt water, but the tidal effect begins at the bottom of the DuHerNal Lake dam, only a little more than 4 miles from my house.
The South River at low tide at Old Bridge village.
The South River at low tide at the New Causeway on the South River-Sayreville boundary. This scene looks upstream toward the railroad bridge and the South River Boat Club — Sayreville on the left, South River on the right.
KILLDEER: When I was at the South River at Cannon Brothers Park in South River, I spooked a killdeer, “Charadrius vociferous.” The species screeches a “kill-deer” call. Because of the way the bird was acting, panicked but not leaving the area, I suspect it had a nest nearby it was trying to divert me from. An adult killdeer will even fake a broken wing to get a predator to follow it, rather than have the predator attack the ground nest. I could not find a nest.
A killdeer along the South River in South River.
TURKEYS: Some thoughts from Bob Eriksen, the retired state turkey biologist, on “Meleagris gallopavo,” “…Wild turkeys that have adapted to suburbia will sometimes nest in among shrubs in a yard. I had one nest next to a gravestone in a cemetery. Most of the time turkey nests are in the woods or in an overgrown field. Hens will tuck in next to a tree trunk, at the base of a shrub, or in a blowdown, especially if there is a branch within a few feet. They like to have a bit of overhead cover. Once the grass in hayfields is tall enough to hide the hen crouched down (usually second week of May), a hen turkey will nest in a hayfield. Cover is the main consideration. Hens are pretty secretive approaching the nest. They may circle or use different approaches when they go to the nest to lay. When the clutch is large enough (10-12 eggs), she will begin to incubate. For the first couple of nights after she has completed her clutch, she may tree roost, but that changes fast. Once incubation begins, the hen will be on the nest 20 or more hours a day.” (A shout out to Bob for always being so helpful.)
JERSEY MIDLANDS LORE: Another good source of information is legendary Helmetta outdoorsman Ralph “Rusty” Richards, 84-years-old. During one of our occasional breakfasts of members of 100-year Helmetta families, Rusty was talking about deer-hunting. In the early part of the 20th Century, white-tailed deer, “Odocoileus virginianus,” were almost gone from New Jersey because of over-hunting. As the state brought them back, they gradually re-settled. About 1950, they were in the Broadway Woods area of South Brunswick/Middlesex County, only a few miles from Helmetta, according to Rusty. Then, about 1955, they were settled around Helmetta, Rusty said.
In 2011, Rusty Richards with “opienki” mushrooms, genus “Armillaria,” in the Pine Barrens around Helmetta.
BOBWHITE: Did I hear a bobwhite quail, “Colinus virginianus,” calling in my neighborhood? If so, it would have been a return to my childhood when one could hear the “Bob White” call at night. Bobwhites have become rare in New Jersey because of habitat loss, but, in recent years, there has been an effort to welcome them back. So, was it a wild bobwhite or not? I do not know….
TICKS: Reports are still coming in on how bad a tick season it is.
I am hearing reports of deer ticks, “Ixodes scapularis,” and lone star ticks, “Amblyomma americanum.” Various reasons may be causing the problem, including warm weather generating acorn growth and, in turn, the acorns providing abundant food to tick-carrying animals, along with the recent rainy weather. “More rain typically enhances tick season,” said meteorologist Steve DiMartino.
A lone star tick on my leg. Lone star ticks are easily identifiable by the yellow dot on their backs.
PINE BARRENS AROUND HELMETTA: Pink lady-slipper orchids, “Cypripedium acaule,” continue to bloom. I know of a spot that has about 75 lady-slippers, with about five in bloom. If you see a pink lady-slipper, look around for more in the area; I see them in clusters. And do not pick them!
A blooming pink lady-slipper orchid, with another, left and to the rear of the blooming orchid, poking through the ground.
SUNRISE/SUNSET: For the week of May 14, Sunday, to May 20, Saturday, the sun will rise at about 5:40 a.m. and set at about 8:10 p.m.
WEATHER: Go to the National Weather Service forecasting station for the area, http://www.weather.gov/phi/.
THE END-OF-THE-WEEK RAIN: I look to a thorough rain around May 15 to green up the woods for the season. The steady, heavy rain of Saturday, May 13, should have accomplished that. By late Saturday night as the rain continued, my rain gauge showed 2.3 inches.
WEATHER: Go to the National Weather Service forecasting station for the area, http://www.weather.gov/phi/.
A red-bellied woodpecker, “Melanerpes carolinus,” sitting in a pitch pine, “Pinus rigida,” in my backyard.
Joe Sapia, 60, is a lifelong Monroe resident. He is a Pine Barrens naturalist and an organic vegetable-fruit gardener.
He gardens the same backyard plot as did his Italian-American father, Joe Sr., and his Polish-immigrant, maternal grandmother, Annie Poznanski Onda. Both are inspirations for his food gardening. Joe is active with the Rutgers University Master Gardeners/Middlesex County program. He draws inspiration on the Pine Barrens around Helmetta from his mother, Sophie Onda Sapia, who lived her whole life in these Pines, and his Grandma Annie.
Water Protectors in Standing Rock, North Dakota protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline brought attention to serious flaws in the federal environmental review and approval process for crude oil and natural gas pipeline projects. The Water Protectors argued that all infrastructure projects need to include a truly comprehensive Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) that evaluates impacts to our natural and cultural assets.
While the federal oversights affecting Standing Rock were particularly egregious, the legacy of compromised Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) environmental review processes should be of concern to New Jersey residents as well. Oil and gas pipelines already fragment our environment as they crisscross the state. Our Lower Raritan Watershed may be impacted further by the proposed. This project includes a 3.4-mile-long, 26-inch-diameter pipeline loop in Middlesex County, and a 23.4-mile-long, 26-inch-diameter pipeline loop (called the “Raritan Bay Loop”) beginning at the Middlesex County coast and crossing New Jersey and New York State marine waters.
Because the Lower Raritan Watershed Partnership has concerns that the pipeline would have irreversible impacts on our communities, watershed ecology and marine habitat, we joined dozens of other concerned citizens and environmental groups at the April 20 meeting of the Middlesex County Freeholders to encourage elected officials to take action on a project that would pose significant risks. The Home News covered our public statements, and the Middlesex County Freeholder’s response.
And on April 25, the LRWP applied for intervenor status to address the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on the Williams/Transcontinental Application for the Northeast Supply Enhancement (NESE) Pipeline Project (Docket Number CP17-101). Becoming an intervenor provides legal standing in the proceeding, and obligates FERC to address any comments we may submit. The LRWP included the following in our application for intervenor status:
“The Transco Pipeline proposals pose significant risks to our Central New Jersey communities. These projects will solely benefit New York City markets, yet our New Jersey communities would bear significant public health and economic risks – including increased rates of leukemia, lymphomas, respiratory disorders and other diseases – while receiving little or no benefits. We must not expose our local communities to a high-risk proposition with little to no reward.
The Transco Pipeline proposals will harm our environment and the habitat of our Raritan Watershed and Raritan Bay. The building of pipeline infrastructure and the transport of natural gas from the Marcellus Shale region to New York will fragment our natural habitat, and disrupt commercial and recreational marine activities for residents and visitors. Our communities are working hard to restore landscapes destroyed by decades of industrial dumping and toxic pollution, let’s not reverse this positive trend.
The Transco Pipeline proposals are unnecessary. The Transco Pipeline would be a redundant expansion of industrial natural gas infrastructure through our Middlesex County, Somerset County and Bayshore communities. The LRWP recognizes that aging rail, bridge and other infrastructure that currently accommodates fuel transport poses risks that could lead to devastating spills in our waterways. This serious concern that can be addressed by two-pronged strategy: significant investment in the repair and maintenance of our existing infrastructure, and shifting investments to safe, clean renewable energy.
The Transco Pipeline proposals are not what our communities want. The overwhelmingly negative feedback on the project during community meetings has made it clear that this project does not have the support of community residents!”
Article and photos by Joe Sapia
Author’s note: The yard references are to my house in the section of Monroe between Helmetta and Jamesburg in South Middlesex County. My yard is in a Pine Barrens outlier on the Inner Coastal Plain, the soil is loamy, and my neighborhood is on the boundary of Gardening Zones 6b (cooler) and 7a (warmer). Afield references are to the Pine Barrens around Helmetta, unless otherwise noted.
The New Jersey state bird, an Eastern goldfinch. Here, a male adult, distinguished by its bright colors.
THE NEW JERSEY STATE BIRD: I saw an adult male Eastern goldfinch, “Spinus tristis,” in the yard and he was in his bright mating colors of yellow, black and white. Females and juveniles are duller in color.
“SNOWBIRDS”: I may have seen the last of the dark-eyed juncos, “Junco hyemalis,” for the season about April 17. These “snowbirds” will head north, possibly as close as North Jersey or Pennsylvania, possibly as far as Canada, and not return until the fall. I normally see their return to my yard around Halloween.
OTHER BIRDS IN THE YARD: Robin, “Turdus migratorius,”; house finch, “Haemorhous mexicanus”; mourning dove, “Zenaida macroura”; cardinal, “Cardinalis cardinalis”; pigeon, probably “Columba livia”; tufted titmouse, “Baeolophus bicolor”; red-bellied woodpecker, “Melanerpes carolinus”; brown-headed cowbird, “Molothrus ater”; white-breasted nuthatch, “Sitta carolinensis”; and white-throated sparrow, “Zonotrichia albicollis.” The house finch and pigeon are non-native, but naturalized, species.
White-throated sparrow.
White-breasted nuthatch.
WHITE ROBIN: Hearing a report of a “white” robin in Cranbury Station on the boundary of Monroe and Cranbury, Middlesex County. Jean Wojaczyk describes it as having a pale orange chest and, basically, the rest being white.
BIRDBATHS: I got them filled at the normal backyard location and added another to the front yard. For years, I have used garbage can lids or shallow pans filled with water and placed directly on the ground.
HUMMINGBIRD FEEDER: Put it up April 16 to catch the “scout” hummingbirds, hoping to attract these early arrivals and, in turn, the others headed north. I have never been successful with hummingbirds, but I try again.
GREAT EGRET: Was able to photograph a great egret, “Ardea alba,” flying past my house.
Great egret flying by my house.
PINE BARRENS AROUND HELMETTA: I walked the local Pines April 17 with Priscilla “Peppy” Bath, 85-years-old, of Hamilton Square, Mercer County. Peppy and I are longtime members of the Outdoor Club of South Jersey. Peppy and I observed quite a bit in our approximately 3-mile walk, including blooming trailing arbutus, “Epigaea repens,” whose flowers produce aeguably the nicest scent in the local pines; cinnamon fern, “Osmunda cinnamomea,” in its fiddlehead stage”; beautiful green skunk cabbage, “Symplocarpus foetidus”; inkberry, “Ilex glabra,” in berry; and eastern tent caterpillars, “Malacosoma americanum,” on a wild cherry tree, “Prunus serotina.”
Eastern tent caterpillars on a wild cherry tree.
Cinnamon fern in its fiddlehead stage.
Skunk cabbage.
Trailing arbutus, “Epigaea repens,” – or “May pinks,” as Ma called them.
WANDERING BLACK BEARS: South Brunswick/Middlesex County, for example, had a sighting of a black bear, “Ursus americanus,” in recent days. So, just a heads up for the spring-summer roaming of bears. These wandering bears are likely to be young males, 80 to 100 pounds, chased off by older, larger males from traditional New Jersey “bear country” in the northwestern part of the state. So, the young males fan out, looking for their own territory.
CUTTING THE LAWN: I cut the lawn for the first time this season April 18 — and was aching that night.
WILD ONIONS: As I began cutting the lawn, I smelled onions – the wild ones growing in the lawn and now being mowed. I wish I liked onions more than I do, because there are plenty in my lawn.
SEEDING THE LAWN: As I maintain a no-fuss lawn and yearn for less and less lawn with more and more garden and wildlife patches, others want the magazine-looking lawn. I see these folks talking about seeding. Now is not the right time of year. Seed as early in September as possible and no later than mid-September is the advice I picked up a few years ago from the Rutgers University Cooperative Extension Service.
HOUSE PLANTS: I have about 30 house plants: devil’s ivy, spider plant, wandering Jew. On Easter Sunday, during my weekly-or-so watering, I was able to move some outside for watering, which is less messy, because it was so warm.
NIGHT SKY: Catch a look at the constellation Orion — easily identified by its belt of three stars before it disappears from view until the fall.
HUMAN-MADE OBJECTS IN SPACE: I always check out the night sky and, several days ago, I got a few-seconds view of a satellite or space junk. It was easy to pick out: moving across the sky, only a speck, not blinking. Not blinking because the light is the sun reflecting off it, rather than human lighting. So, as our sun-reflected view diminishes, the satellite disappears.
SUNRISE/SUNSET: For the week of April 23, Sunday, to April 29, Saturday, the sun will rise at about 6 a.m. to 6:10 a.m. and set at about 7:45 p.m. to 7:50 p.m.
WEATHER: Go to the National Weather Service forecasting station for the area, http://www.weather.gov/phi/.
A Virginia pine, “Pinus virginiana,” in the Pine Barrens around Helmetta
Joe Sapia, 60, is a lifelong Monroe resident. He is a Pine Barrens naturalist and an organic vegetable-fruit gardener. He gardens the same backyard plot as did his Italian-American father, Joe Sr., and his Polish-immigrant, maternal grandmother, Annie Poznanski Onda. Both are inspirations for his food gardening. He draws inspiration on the local Pine Barrens from his mother, Sophie Onda Sapia, who lived her whole life in these Pines, and his Grandma Annie.
Article and photos by Joe Mish
Areas which flood each spring are called vernal pools and attract several species of frogs. Each species produces a distinctive call, all in an effort to attract a mate. The orchestral performance this spring night was provided by spring peepers, pickerel frogs, green frogs and American toads. This green frog wears the equivalent of a lamp shade on his head after a night of froggy frolic.
The moon would not be full until the next night, though the difference could not be told without a lunar calendar. As the moon rose above the horizon it was shrouded in low clouds and tinted orange by the earth’s atmosphere. The moon appeared as if hiding behind a shear white veil, drawing more attention and holding a glance until it became a stare.
From the highpoint above the river, the first full view of the moon rising thru the thin white haze was screened by a loose weave of fine treetop branches. The delicate stems stood out in sharp contrast against the brilliant orb and moonlit clouds.
A tall cherry tree, growing out of a line of dark pines on a low ridge parallel to the river, perfectly balanced the moonlit scene with a staircase of blossoms turned luminous in the rising light.
A landscape painter could ask for no better inspiration than presented on this spring evening.
The overgrown path to the river was paved with fragments of white flowers from the blooming thornapple trees. The small round petals took on a glow in the rising moonlight to mark the trail, making it easier to follow.
A chipping sparrow, out later than it should have, hung onto a stem of tall amber broomsedge grass, as if it were a pole vaulter, caught in midair, hanging on to a pole at maximum flex.
The slow moonrise was reversed, as the trail to the river descended and hid the moon below the horizon.
Before the full moon reaches its zenith, visibility is lost in a temporary moment of deepening darkness, though a sense of night time vision may be provided by listening to the sounds of nature.
The call of geese from the river vibrated through the darkness to dominate the night. Their conversation was even and constant as they settled in for the night.
Their calls would pick up in response to late arriving flights validating a safe harbor below.
At night, geese dispense with circling and come right in with wings set and feet outstretched for touchdown. The sound of geese landing on water at night is a gentle extended, woosh, as their feet skim the water’s surface to slow the landing speed, followed by a barely perceptible splash.
The wind whistling through the primary feathers on birds wings, makes an odd creaking sound to betray their otherwise invisible night time approach. Straggling flocks of common mergansers and wood ducks landed parallel to the shoreline, mid river, and then dispersed to spend the night on the water in some eddy or quiet water below a fallen tree.
When the moon rose high enough to shed its gossamer haze to float above any earthbound obstruction, the moonlight intensified and now reflected on the river. Each ripple appearing as a silvery diamond. The ducks and geese became silhouettes as they drifted across a bejeweled stream of silvery light as viewed from opposite the light source.
Occasionally a call from an unidentified bird could be heard among the intermittent wood duck whistling and goose banter. The calls generated speculation, perhaps a black or yellow crowned night heron or just an irritated great blue heron.
The steady drone of spring peepers went nearly unnoticed as white noise, as it was separated from the sounds along the river by a good quarter mile. When attention was focused on the spring peepers which dominated the vernal pools, the solo calls of competing pickerel and green frogs could be heard. Focusing on sounds in the night, coming from opposite directions, was like simultaneously listening to two radio broadcasts; each source competing for attention.
American toad
carpenter frog, alias wood frog
pickerel frog
spring peeper/hyla crucifer
Author Joe Mish has been running wild in New Jersey since childhood when he found ways to escape his mother’s watchful eyes. He continues to trek the swamps, rivers and thickets seeking to share, with the residents and visitors, all of the state’s natural beauty hidden within full view. To read more of his writing and view more of his gorgeous photographs visit Winter Bear Rising, his wordpress blog. Joe’s series “Nature on the Raritan, Hidden in Plain View” runs monthly as part of the LRWP “Voices of the Watershed” series. Writing and photos used with permission from the author.
Article and photos by Joe Sapia
The Full Easter Moon rises over the Manalapan Brook floodplain in Monroe, Middlesex County, on the April 10-11, Monday-Tuesday, overnight. The white speck to the right of the moon is Jupiter.
Author’s note: The yard references are to my house in the section of Monroe between Helmetta and Jamesburg in South Middlesex County. My yard is in a Pine Barrens outlier on the Inner Coastal Plain, the soil is loamy, and my neighborhood is on the boundary of Gardening Zones 6b (cooler) and 7a (warmer).
FIRSTS OF THE SEASON: For the first time this season, I saw a bee, bat, and cabbage white butterfly – all on the same day, April 10. The bee was in my side yard, the cabbage white in my garden, and the bats, both flying over my yard and near woods edge at Manalapan Brook. (Also, it was the first day I heard my attic fan kick in.)
A cabbage white butterfly in my garden, near an oak leaf for a size comparison.
MULCHING TREES: Oh, no, mulch “volcanoes”! Those are the volcano-shaped mulch structures around tree trunks. Mulching is done for a variety of reasons, such as providing moisture and drainage, while serving as a buffer against yard equipment and giving the yard a neater look. But volcanoes are bad for the tree – they can lead to over-moisture and the introduction of disease. So, go for the “doughnut”: creating a doughnut-like circle around the tree, the inner circle having no contact with the tree or its roots, the outer circle 2 to 3 inches of mulch either to the end of the root ball or the tree’s drip line.
MA’S FLOWERING QUINCE: My family is the original owner of my house, going back to 1953. I was born in 1956 and never recall a time without Ma’s flowering quince bush. So, I figure the bush was planted soon after the family bought the property in ’53. This year, the flowering is not looking good, probably because of the warm weather inducing budding, followed by cold weather killing the buds.
Ma’s flowering quince not looking too good this season, probably because the flowering was affected by the warm temperatures that prompting budding, followed by cold killing the buds.
The flowering quince during a nicer bloom in spring, 2012.
FLOWERING AT “THE MASTERS” GOLF TOURNAMENT: The Masters Golf Tournament played annually in Augusta, Georgia, is known for its flowering beauty. This year, though, Augusta had a warm winter followed by cold spring days, prompting an early bloom followed by killing freezes. So, when the Masters was played April 6 to 9, the flowering was not that vibrant.
HELMETTA POND FISHING: Helmetta Pond is a typical Pine Barrens “tea water,” acidic body of water, here in the Spotswood Outlier of the Pines. Joey Slezak, my local go-to science person, fished the Pond April 12 and caught pickerel and largemouth bass.
BIRDS SINGING: Listen to the spring songs of birds, probably asserting territory or seeking mates. This week, I heard them as early as about 5:15 a.m., or more than an hour before sunrise.
SNORTING DEER: On the overnight of the full moon, I walked across the street to Manalapan Brook, spooking some deer. At least one gave out a few loud snorts, probably alerting other deer of my presence and maybe trying to spook me. The snort is sort of spooky, but something I get a kick out of, wildlife communicating because of me. Then, the deer bolted.
MA’S FLOWERS: Ma died at 81-years-old in 1995, but, come spring, her front yard daffodils and crocuses continue blooming.
Ma’s daffodils, still blooming in the front yard, 22 years after Ma died.
MORE NATURE NEWS FROM THE JERSEY MIDLANDS: See the observations made by naturalist Bill Simmons, http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/wsimmons. Bill is the retired environmental coordinator for the Monmouth County Health Department. He also is at @BillSimmonsNJ on Twitter.com.
SUNRISE/SUNSET: For the week of April 16, Sunday, to April 22, Saturday, the sun will rise at about 6:07 to 6:15 a.m. and set at about 7:38 to 7:44 p.m.
WEATHER: Go to the National Weather Service forecasting station for the area, http://www.weather.gov/phi/.
— Joseph Sapia
2017, April 15, Easter Saturday,
Joe Sapia, 60, is a lifelong Monroe resident. He is a Pine Barrens naturalist and an organic vegetable-fruit gardener. He gardens the same backyard plot as did his Italian-American father, Joe Sr., and his Polish-immigrant, maternal grandmother, Annie Poznanski Onda. Both are inspirations for his food gardening. He draws inspiration on the local Pine Barrens from his mother, Sophie Onda Sapia, who lived her whole life in these Pines, and his Grandma Annie.
Article and photos by Joe Mish
RAINFALL: It rained about 2.5 inches in the New Brunswick-Trenton area at the end of last week. So, it will be interesting to see what this week’s drought maps say.
Garbage floating in a Monroe, Middlesex County, drainage ditch
Garbage caught on a tree snag
in Manalapan Brook, Monroe, Middlesex County
NON-POINT SOURCE POLLUTION: During and after the week’s rains, the flow of non-point source pollution was obvious in our waterways. The cost-free way of dealing with it is, do not litter and do not leave stuff out in the yard, then it will not float into waterways.
A spring peeper treefrog, found in the Manalapan Brook floodplain
FROGS: I walked into the swamp hardwood forest of the Manalapan Brook floodplain between Helmetta and Jamesburg early in the week. The sleigh bells-like sound of spring peeper treefrogs, “Pseudacris crucifer crucifer,” was obvious. I also heard monkey chattering-like sound of wood frogs, “Rana sylvatica.”
RASPBERRIES: I planted five bare-root Burpee seed company Caroline raspberry plants.
GARDEN ZONES: Depending on the source, the area is Garden Zone 6 (cooler) to Garden Zone 7 (warmer). That means our last frost generally is April 15 to 30; Our first frost is generally Oct. 11 to 20. Beyond that, I am playing it safe and sticking with Zone 6 for my Helmetta area, Middlesex County, home, although the area becoming a solid Zone 7 because of global warming is likely just around the corner.
OUTDOOR PLANTING FOR SUMMER VEGETABLES AND FRUITS: My rule of thumb is May 20 if it is a warm to normal and, if it is cooler, wait to June 1.
PREPARING PLANTS INDOOR: This year, though, I am trying something new, sowing plants indoors before the outside plant dates. So, I am experimenting with Kaleidoscope Blend Organic and Touchon carrots, Iceberg A lettuce, and Sugar Snap peas, all Burpee, which I began sowing about March 5. I added Rutgers tomatoes about March 25. I plan on sowing more tomatoes – Brandywine Red and Red Cherry, both Lake Valley brand – indoors in the next day or so.
HUMMINGBIRDS: Get the hummingbird feeders up by about April 15 to attract the early “scout” birds and they hopefully will lead later-arriving hummingbirds to the feeders.
NIGHT SKY: http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/sky-at-a-glance/this-weeks-sky-at-a-glance-march-31-april-8/.
SUNRISE/SUNSET: Approximate times are April 2, Sunday, 6:40 and 7:23 Eastern Daylight Time; April 3, Monday, 6:38 and 7:25; April 4, Tuesday, 6:36 and 7:26; April 5, Wednesday, 6:35 and 7:27; April 6, Thursday, 6:33 and 7:28[ April 7, Friday, 6:31 and 7:29; an April 8, Saturday, 6:30 and 7:30.
WEATHER: Local weather forecasts are available at http://www.weather.gov/phi/.
Carnegie Lake near the Kingston dam
on the boundary of Mercer, Middlesex, and Somerset counties
Joe Sapia, 60-years-old, grew up and lives in the Pine Barrens around Helmetta, where his family has resided for more than 100 years. He can be reached at Snufftin@aol.com or at P.O. Box 275, Helmetta, 08828.
The following are headlines to watch as the administration begins to cut protections to the environment:
Rollbacks on Obama-era environmental Protections: A sweeping new Executive Order passed on Tuesday March 28 includes rollbacks on emissions rules for power plants, limits on methane leaks, a moratorium on federal coal leasing, and the use of the social cost of carbon to guide government actions.
EPA Budget Cuts: The Hill reports that the new administration seeks to cut the Environmental Protection Agency budget by up to 31%.
Undoing the Clean Water Rule: On February 28, President Trump signed an Executive Order instructing the EPA to reconsider the Clean Water Rule. The Clean Water Rule, currently blocked by an appeals court, protects smaller creeks and wetlands under the Clean Water Act of 1972. Here’s more on the Clean Water Rule EO from The Hill.
Rollbacks on Bans of Known Neurotoxins: National Public Radio reported that the new administration decided not to ban the pesticide chlorpyrifos (see here for coverage by NYTimes), despite EPA’s own documentation of significant risks. The Pesticide Action Network reports that chlorpyrifos is moderately persistent in soil and can take weeks to years to break down. The insecticide can also reach rivers, lakes and streams, where it concentrates in the fatty tissue of fish. According to the National Water Quality Assessment Program, chlorpyrifos contaminated surface water in urban and agricultural streams at levels potentially harmful to aquatic life.
Article by LRWP Board President Heather Fenyk
Starting from a belief that enduring environmental values will help us withstand current shifts in political winds, the LRWP is initiating a series of short blog posts to reflect on the normative standards that structured the last several decades of environmental politics in New Jersey.
Throughout this series we will draw attention to those actions that relate most directly to improving the the health of our Lower Raritan Watershed. We will also highlight other successful regional approaches that we can learn from to benefit our Lower Raritan River and local streams. Topics will include state-based policy making as well as alternative approaches including court actions, collaborative politics, and “private” pathways e.g. land trusts, consumer purchasing power and business actions to achieve sustainability. We also expect to explore mitigation banking, and proposals for stormwater utilities. In short, we want to identify a compendium of actions that might be brought to bear to further protect, enhance and restore our central New Jersey environmental landscape.
In this first entry we observe that while federal legislative changes may not currently be pro-environment (see our blog post here on environmental headlines), alternative pathways to positive environmental outcomes can be as simple as holding our state Department of Environmental Protection accountable for specific promised actions to protect our rivers, streams and watersheds. For example, we can regularly check in with NJDEP to request updates on the following on-going initiatives:
-Toxics reductions initiatives
-Water Quality Standards
-Maintaining the NJDEP water quality program
-Non Point Source reduction planning
-Communication of EPA/NJDEP TMDL prioritization work
-Legislative updates
-Permits updates
-Innovations
-Grants and loans, funding opportunities and state priorities review
Institutionalization of all the above on-going project and program efforts at NJDEP speaks to a on-going commitment to environmental priorities for New Jersey’s future. As environmental non-profits and concerned citizens we must regularly articulate our expectations associated with these priorities and hold NJDEP accountable for meeting our expectations.
Our April 17 meeting will focus on stormwater management, and will include a discussion of regional approaches to stormwater management.
The agenda will include an overview of federal expectations with respect to MS4 requirements, with Matt Klewin (NJDEP) presenting on “Update on Changes in the New MS4 Revision”. Manville Borough Administrator Andrea Bierwirth will speak about challenges to meeting MS4 requirements in the upper portion of the watershed.
The meeting will be held from 10-noon in the Middlesex County Planning Offices at 75 Bayard Street, New Brunswick, NJ – 5th floor mid-size conference room.
Parking is validated for those parking on floors 5 and higher in the RWJ Wellness Parking Deck located at 95 Paterson Street, New Brunswick, NJ 08901. Be sure to bring your ticket to the meeting for validation.
For more information contact Heather: hfenyk AT lowerraritanwatershed DOT org
Article and photo by Joe Mish
Field and Stream dreams come true on the South Branch of the Raritan. Opening day of the NJ trout season stirs memories as strong as a lifetime of Christmas morning and birthday surprises.
Right along with the anticipation of presents on Christmas morning, April and the opening day of fishing season both involved a dedicated countdown. For a month, each passing day was marked with a big X on the complimentary Esso service station calendar. It was understood, there would be no sleep on the eve of this once a year event.
Times have changed but tradition still lingers as many NJ anglers prepare for the opening of trout season in early April. One of the best places to live out a fishing fantasy is in Branchburg. As the name implies the township is bound for the most part by the North and South branches of the Raritan River, both heavily stocked with trout by the NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife.
Of course trout are not the only game in town. As the river flows from the mountains to the sea, fish can swim upstream as well as down. What that means is tiger muskies and hybrid bass can find their way downstream from Spruce Run as well as stripped bass, hickory and American shad can migrate upstream from the Atlantic Ocean. The state had been using an underwater camera to monitor quantity and species of fish in the area around the confluence of the Raritan and Millstone rivers, species you wouldn’t believe were observed. It was reported in a news article several years ago that trophy brown trout, walleyes, muskies, stripped bass, shad and several forage species were recorded. The beauty of fishing a river is you never know what you might catch.
While trout get the most press, the lower river is primarily a seasonal trout fishery with most angler activity occurring around opening day and subsequent stockings. It is considered to be ‘put and take’ fishing. There are holdover trout but you have to search for them. It is reported trout will travel distances to find suitable habitat with the water temperature being a prime factor. Each species has a preference for a specific temperature range so be sure to carry a thermometer if you want to become serious about your fishing.
The South Branch is also chock full of smallmouth bass which are a year around fish. Fish in the twenty-two inch range have been reported. Smallmouths in the twelve to fifteen inch range have a tendency to tailwalk on the surface of the water while their big brothers often stay deep and pull hard. My favorite lure for these ‘bronzebacks’ is a Panther Martin spinner with a small curly tailed grub on an ultralight fishing rod. Always have a hemostat or thumb forceps handy to remove the hook from any fish you wish to release.
Fishing methods and equipment span the spectrum of human imagination and most are effective on any given day. Expensive Orvis fly rods to lawn chairs and igloo coolers, garden worms to woolly buggers to Mepps spinners all take their share of fish. Fishing allows for as much science, superstition or tradition you might want to use in your piscatorial pursuits. There are even solunar tables which scientifically predict the best days to fish, however, everyone knows the best day to fish is whenever you get the chance.
So if your bumper sticker proclaims, “the worst day of fishing is better than the best day at work”, you already have your gear in ship shape condition and have started your countdown to the April 8th NJ trout season opener for 2017.
Author Joe Mish has been running wild in New Jersey since childhood when he found ways to escape his mother’s watchful eyes. He continues to trek the swamps, rivers and thickets seeking to share, with the residents and visitors, all of the state’s natural beauty hidden within full view. To read more of his writing and view more of his gorgeous photographs visit Winter Bear Rising, his wordpress blog. Joe’s series “Nature on the Raritan, Hidden in Plain View” runs monthly as part of the LRWP “Voices of the Watershed” series. Writing and photos used with permission from the author.
