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  1. Spung-Man

    Sweet Sassafras

    M, Sure, I bet they still carry traps. If not, Gary can get what you need in a jiffy. Archie was (and still is) pretty cool. He love's taste-testing heirloom tomatoes. The name Archibald is popular around Buena, a vestige of the Swedish tar-kilners of Clan Campbell. The clan’s badge was a sprig...
  2. Spung-Man

    Sweet Sassafras

    Sadly, it appears that Richland General Store no longer stocks safrole-free sassafras extract. During today's visit I did find goodies like sarsaparilla, birch beer, and root beer extracts - next to the spruce-beer essence. Amazing. Oh, and that penny candy mentioned above, it was sassafras...
  3. Spung-Man

    Sweet Sassafras

    M, The fire hall truly was a local landmark, and the location of many important community events. It is a shame that the Pinelands cultural heritage remains under-appreciated. I even found between $30–60-thousand in CRDA funds to help preserve or move the structure, and had the support of the...
  4. Spung-Man

    Sweet Sassafras

    Manumuskin, Archie (Junior) and Antoinette are doing fine in retirement, and still live in town. I have fond memories as a wee lad buying penny candy there. That was my dad’s feed mill across the street where the deli now stands. Richland General Store, the last of its kind in the Pines...
  5. Spung-Man

    Federal Grant to Study Pond Ecology

    Gibby, It makes perfect sense that your North Carolina grandfather was attuned to spung topography. The Wilmington area is chock full of closed basins. Here’s a view of Blythe Bay. http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1391159 I can’t take credit for ferreting out...
  6. Spung-Man

    Federal Grant to Study Pond Ecology

    Gibby, Was your grandfather a tar-heeler? Pocosin is believed to be an Algonquin name for Carolina Bays, which is a Southern variant of spung. Closed basins pock-mark the Atlantic Coastal Plain in the thousands from southern New Jersey to northern Georgia. Many were destroyed through drainage...
  7. Spung-Man

    Federal Grant to Study Pond Ecology

    Another link: http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/local/burlington_county_times_news/pinelands-commission-to-undertake-ponds-study/article_8e862ae4-1c89-57c7-a28e-3f85a15cc0b3.html It's interesting that Carleton referred to these pockets of water as spongs, which is actually a modern version of...
  8. Spung-Man

    Federal Grant to Study Pond Ecology

    Intermittent basins are also noteworthy sites that have long cultural usage. Relicts of the Pinelands’ earliest cultures can be found by their rims. Some mark places of Colonial settlement, at the locus of early trails that went from pond to pond across the Pine Barrens. They remain valued spots...
  9. Spung-Man

    Once it’s gone, it’s unlikely to return.

    Boyd, You are right, loss of agricultural production land is a bigger problem outside the Pines, and certainly an unacceptable waste of a valuable resource wherever it occurs. We should be thankful that Mayor Cimprich is a preservationist, and not courting developers like other politicians. I...
  10. Spung-Man

    Once it’s gone, it’s unlikely to return.

    Here, here, Up at Rutgers Cook College, the old Ag School, I was taught that it took nature a thousand years to make one-inch of topsoil in the Garden State, and minutes to destroy it. The Garden State simply undervalues farmland. No other country in the world squanders this priceless resource...
  11. Spung-Man

    Federal Grant to Study Pond Ecology

    Bob, Guy, While pond specifics might be deemed proprietary, and for good reason, I can’t imagine why their locations would remain hidden. Spung integrity is a matter of water quality and quantity. We are learning that it is the smaller, more isolated pools that are most critical to habitat...
  12. Spung-Man

    Federal Grant to Study Pond Ecology

    The Pinelands Commission will use a $350,524 grant supplemented with $116,841 in conservation funds to study Pinelands intermittent pools (spungs). http://www.state.nj.us/pinelands/images/pdf%20files/press/PR_PinelandsEPAGrant.pdf "'We are thrilled to receive federal funding for a study that...
  13. Spung-Man

    All is safe in Mexico

    Given the large Mexican population working and living in the Pines, this topic is germane to the blog. I had accrued some airline points from workshops and conferences, so took the wife and daughter out to El Paso last spring for an extended weekend vacation before my daughter started college...
  14. Spung-Man

    Sweet Sassafras

    Yes, it is a great Pinelands plant! We’ve always included sassafras roots when making home-made root beer. This beverage was mildly fermented for carbonation in gallon jugs especially for Easter. Raisins were added for the wild yeast found on their skin to jump-start the process. Inevitably one...
  15. Spung-Man

    Razing of trees

    What is redevelopment? According to the New Jersey Redevelopment Authority, "Our mission is to provide a unique approach to revitalization (a) efforts in New Jersey's cities (b). We develop programs and resources to improve the quality of life by creating value in urban communities (c)." What...
  16. Spung-Man

    Razing of trees

    Boyd, Good gophering. It is unsettling to how far the scheme has advanced, isn't it? Do you have a shapefile map for Dorothy-Estell Manor for comparison? Richland is the first and so far only Village redevelopment zone. As such it is touted by politicians as a "redevelopment prototype for the...
  17. Spung-Man

    Razing of trees

    Looks like it’s time to save the Pine Barrens, again by Gabe Donio The above mentioned opinion is now online: http://www.hammontongazette.com/Weekly%20file/opin1.html "The sewer plants, if allowed to be built, will radically change the character of the Pinelands, create competition for...
  18. Spung-Man

    Razing of trees

    See today's opinion section of the Hammonton Gazette (September 28, 2011). Publisher Gabe Donio has written a detailed follow-up titled "Looks like it's time to save the Pine Barrens, again," which questions the wisdom of forcing Pinelands Villages to sewer. His commentary is not online, but is...
  19. Spung-Man

    Razing of trees

    Pinelands: Sewer plants OK – Package sewer plants allowed in villages by Gabe Donio, Gazette Staff Writer http://www.hammontongazette.com/Weekly file/news1.html "Building small community wastewater plants would allow the villages to develop, Leaken wrote, adding the Pinelands Commission...
  20. Spung-Man

    Granny Smith

    Orville, Your poison ivy cure listed above is remarkably similar to the one I learned as "Indian lore" growing up near Doughty's Tavern: http://forums.njpinebarrens.com/threads/chigger-bites-ouch.5836/#post-69208 Let me know if you find any other Pinelands place names associated with your...
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