Search results

I am sad to report that the old Parker Oak in Estell Manor was cut down this Spring. It was improperly pruned (topped) a decade ago, which led to its demise. Never top (stub cut) trees, especially mature ones because it causes irreparable harm. It was probably like the Wawa Oak a trail marker...

Actually, I think the name change occurred to entice Germans to settle there. Let me use a Buena Vista Township example. Folsom (a.k.a. New Germany) was probably the earliest ethnic settlement in the Pines (c.1848). It is on the Long-A-Coming Trail. The Weymouth Land and Agricultural Company...

I never saw a ground hog growing up in the Pines. It was said that the soil was too sandy for them to burrow. They've only arrived along with with all the new construction, which provided suitable man-made habitat to dig under. In 1999, I stated looking for cracks in earnest to prove that...

Two weeks ago I had this very same conversation with a group of Europeans after presenting on wind-faceted stones from the Pine Barrens in Portugal. I relayed that Berlin was my favorite European capital, and all shook their heads no and said I should have chosen Prague, including two Berlin...

Berlin is a great place for a capital city. I mean this in a nice way, the place is like a clean safe Baltimore with lots of arts and culture. Locals are addicted to currywurst (hot dogs swimming in spicy ketchup). Hey, we put maple syrup on scrapple, so who am I to judge? Eastern Germany is...

Actually, Berlin, Germany, looks a lot South Jersey. It is part of the great ice-marginal sand belt, with similar ice age features I work on here in the Pine Barrens. Berliners only learned how to productively farm their sandy ground during the last 200 years. That skill came in handy when...

Bob, Much has been written on the core area, yet much less is commemorated outside that zone even though it is spatially larger. The southern portion’s cultural map is much denser too. When invited to write the VAF essay a regurgitation of already published material like Wacker’s “Human...

http://vafnewsletter.blogspot.com/2014/07/sugar-sand-opportunity-landscape-and.html?spref=fb The essay “Sugar Sand Opportunity: Landscape and People of the Pine Barrens” was reproduced online as the Feature Article in the Vernacular Architecture Newsletter (Summer 2014) courtesy of NJ VAF...

Let's compare grape production with bell pepper production. NJ ranks 4th in nationwide pepper production. Grapes require about 20–40 pounds of nitrogen per acre, about 10% of that required by bell pepper (200–250 pounds of nitrogen per acre). Grapes require about 14,000 gallons of water per...

Every 4 years, research and extension workers from throughout North America and abroad meet to exchange ideas and research results on current blueberry issues under the auspices of the North American Blueberry Research and Extension Workers Conference. This year’s conference was hosted by...

Copa do Mundo FIFA de 2014 Super Bock Stout...

ditto...

Jeff, I missed the Desert of Maine in an earlier post of other inland sand-patch pine barrens: http://forums.njpinebarrens.com/threads/ny-new-england-vacation-ideas.9361/#post-112813 Thanks for pointing out yet another Pine Barrens "mini-me!" FYI, the Albany Pine Bush could shortly receive...

My fault, Boyd. We're on the same storm path. I worked my tail off covering tender plants in the garden, and battening down the hatches. So, of course it missed me too. Bet Manumuskin forgot to cover his petunias...

OK, now I know what happened to St. George's in Risley. According to Tom Ross's research notes provided by Carl Farrell at the Township of Hamilton Historical Society (Mays Landing), the church burned down about 1924. The fire started by Head-of-the-River, then burned all the way to Risley. The...

Bob, Even better, Ben wrote the Atsion narrative for the VAF proceedings. Way to go, Ben! Our good friend Jerseyman was busy on the Bayshore tour, along with West Jersey Round Table fellow Professor Mike Chiarappa of Quinnipiac University. All the heavy hitters were out for this event. South...

Here's an account of People, Places, and Sugar Sand – A Pinelands Tour, which went very well thanks to the help of a lot of folks, many who post on this very site. The goal to preserve, protect, and enhance the cultural resources of the Pinelands National Reserve is not forgotten. VAF is an...

As said earlier, the small rises are probably sandy dune or protodune remnants that veneer heavier soil. Flat sandy areas are often associated with "coversands" (broad sheets of windblown sand). Sand blew in from outside Bear Swamp when cold winds howled during the ice age. Pine Barrens flora...

The small islands are likely ancient dunes, and cedar was logged out a long time ago. The 1889 Cook/Vermuele map shows that there were cedar trees scattered across the eastern side of the swamp.

Did you notice that the mistletoe seemed to be on female trees? According to Engle et al. (1921: 41), around Millville, "Occasionally the swamp areas are full of small islands. This is particularly true of Bear Swamp between Cedarville and Dividing Creek. These islands are 2 to 3 feet above...