Vernon Doesn't Farm Avocados

 

I found in my compost a peculiar plant and so I gave it a firm tug in order to see from what it was growing. I stared at the foot long stem with a nut like seed dangling from it for a moment before realizing that what I had in my hands was an avocado tree. Well I guess in VT that makes perfect sense, for how was I to recognize the leaves of a plant native to Central America? 

Please allow me to explain why I found this experience so enlightening. Our daughter Kayden had recently visited from California and so I had purchased a couple of the exotic fruits in order to make my cooking seem more worldly. Okay, we were making nachos. I am certain however, that at some point here in Vernon, Avocados were thought of as an unusual and exciting culinary delight.

 Surprisingly, it wasn't my adventurous cooking that impressed Kayden's palette but rather it was our abundant and seemingly mundane backyard berries.  

In Title 24: Municipal and County Government Chapter 118: Conservation Commissions, 4505 Powers and duties of a Conservation Commission (2) it is stated, "Make and maintain an inventory of lands within the municipality which have historic, educational, cultural, scientific, architectural or archaeological values in which the public has interest."

There is that word again, "cultural." I think that I have come across it in many forms when researching the status of plants and wildlife. The Bald eagle is our National Symbol for example.  I learned that while the wild horse is not native to the West, it has been declared an "Icon" of the West. Could VT claim the White Tailed Deer or the cow on our state flag as our Icon? Senator George Akin once sat on our back deck in Westminster and talked the afternoon away with my brother and I about sheep, yet the Morgan Horse is our state mammal (which begs to question can cultural symbols change?)  Please permit me to press on; the VT Fish and Wildlife maintains a "Natural Heritage Inventory"  and I have often come across articles that mention that hunting is a heritage sport in Vermont. It would seem that icon, heritage and values relate to culture. 

I think that most people around here have noticed that identifying what Vernon is or isn't, what it was in the past, what it should or shouldn't be now or in the future, is sometimes a hotly debated topic. In fact, we have an entire commission here in town charged with planning out these sorts of visions as well as a volunteer organization Friends of Vernon Center focused on carrying out some of the Planning Commission's vision. We have a historical society in town painstakingly uncovering and documenting our past. We have bronze plaques on buildings and scattered throughout our landscape identifying what we deem important. There is a memorial to our fallen by the library, family cemeteries on farms, town cemeteries and even a rest area of sorts where an "unknown Indian woman" is interned. 

 I've talked with people who identify with the river, hills, forest and farmland; and still others who value the railroad, church, industry and our schools. We even have one resident who has suggested many times that we could really use a Dollar Store and laundromat in town. The individual Farmer's Markets, and Cold Brook Store in my estimation, speak to our culture. Many have expressed their sadness that the corn stand on the south end of town is no more. Clearly Vernon identifies with corn! Does the town of Vernon consider Lily pond and the Wanaquatok as much a part of our culture as our Chapel and the Governor Hunt House? Based on our town's support of the Farmland Conservation Commission, I would wager so. 

If you are from away you may have some inkling of who we are by the flags displayed throughout town as well as our signs for cow crossings, bicyclists and hiking. Our town pool generates a lot of outside interest as does the Vernon Dam. Many come to take advantage of our senior housing. Residents may be interested to learn that I have been informed by a few acquaintances since Vermont Yankee closed, that Vernon would make an ideal location for low income housing. Residents may be equally intrigued  that I often meet scientists and professors from UMass and Antioch holding workshops and conducting research in our natural communities. 

"I can float my boat in eight inches of water... I don't know what made me think that I could get it in here (Lily Pond)." -NH fisherman in the middle of August. We had a long conversation on how fishing has changed over the last eight years in Vernon and on the CT River. He mentioned his surprise at the plants in the pond and that fish spawning is happening further away from the banks of the river than it used to.

I suppose what I am saying here is that it's one thing to locate Lily Pond on a Vermont fishing map, it's entirely another to understand what to bring with you for a successful day of fishing. Likewise, The Vermont Natural Resources Conservation Service, USDA  provides the map of cultural resources; but it's up to Vernon to determine what parts of our culture we value here in our town. A local conservation commission can assist Vernon residents in identifying what we have, what we value and how we want to utilize it.

Finally, I would like to say that I find this idea of cultural conservation difficult to nail down. I do however think it's fair to say, that while picking Avocados is not,  picking blackberries is assuredly a part of Vernon's culture.  -Norma Manning

Post Note:

This week Paul messaged me about a climbing vine that he had photographed and wanted to know if I could identify it for him. Now if you know Paul and Mary, and I know that many of you do, you understand what an honor it is to have them ask such a question of me. I suspected that if Paul couldn't identify it, then it was probably an invasive or perhaps an ornamental hybrid. So I searched VT invasive plants lists, then MA , NH and before I knew it I was checking out Virginia's! Not wanting to admit defeat I then with no luck at all, scoured photographs of  ornamental vines and native vines.  I gained permission from Paul to post his vine here in hopes that one of my readers can solve the mystery. My best guess is some sort of climbing hydrangea. Please send me an email if you can identify it.

Reconnecting with Vernon

"I wouldn't say really good I just enjoy being in the woods " -Michael D Root

Some statements really resonate with me. They prompt me to form connections, then they start to form sentences which eventually turn into an entire blog. 

Wayne and I decided to be dedicated Candlepin bowlers pre covid pandemic, not because we initially loved the sport; but because we were in search of a thing to connect with. Truth be told, I was terrible at bowling and I never seemed to get any better with our weekly games. I looked forward to people watching, patting the owner's dogs, eating doughy pizza and laughing like a kid when our feet slid out from under us. So when our adult children visited, we brought them along for the whole experience, not just the stiff competition.

 I'm a firm believer in finding a reason to love something (or someone), perhaps this is why one of my all time favorite songs is R.E.M.'s Stand. 

When our kids were small, back in the days when we were chronically exhausted and we didn't have any money in the budget for entertainment, we used to pack them up along with a red and black checkered blanket to attend area concerts in the park. I'll never forget the one time I took the kids on my own and was happily watching them twirl and dance to the music, when a stranger with a baby in her arms walked over and sat down next to me on that blanket. Just like that I met a kindred spirit. 

Friends of Vernon Center hosted a community gathering last weekend at the Governor Hunt House as a way to celebrate what I think of as an initiative to rebuild connectedness. This is what small towns are all about. Though I think that when times and situations are tough small towns are at their best, there is important reason to gather without any other purpose than to talk with friends and meet new ones. Small towns after all, seem to be filled with old family history deserving to be told and those neighbors longing to begin their family's history in them. 

The band played music from an older generation but it felt like going home to me

I enjoy Donald's drive by conversations in the neighborhood. Once my hound quiets down I have just about one to three minutes to grasp some of the best updates with regards to nature doings in town. Don's a hunter, a dedicated Vernon Trail Breakers member and a quiet champion of conservation. If I could only learn to keep my own mouth shut once that truck window goes down, I'd know a lot more about Vernon than I do. On this day, I came away with his sentiment that neighbors don't seem to be outside this summer. I'm wondering Don, if that doesn't have something to do with these man eating mosquitos? But Don has a point, here we are almost at the start of school year and the neighborhood is quiet. 

Kids sent outdoors on long summer days often discover that the best toys are those they find when their imagination connects with nature.

Wayne and I have hiked the town forest trails together many times. I'm a bit of a slow hiker and so I am shy of joining others when venturing out. Wayne says that I am slow because I am always stopping to look at things and I suspect that he is partly right. I never seem to get tired of walking the familiar trails and taking the opportunity to get acquainted with something (okay, everything) I find along the way. 

One day Sandy, a coworker of mine at Vernon Elementary School, asked if I would be willing to show her around the J. Maynard Miller Town Forest; and before we knew it, an informal group of us had a budding tradition on our hands. Now I'm as eager as the next person to put my work life aside come summer; but this has become something of a truly special gathering of coworkers. At first I had thought that the point of the venture was to hike as much of the forest as possible in a couple of  hours. I soon became aware that my friends were falling further and further behind which is a position that I practically never find myself in. A quick refocus on my part and I discovered that they were talking about everything, and none of it had to do with hiking. On our subsequent ventures, I came less prepared for hiking and more prepared for reconnecting with good people in a place that I love.

Cheryl telling us the story about how the hawk she rescued from a treacherously busy road took off the moment she and Peter released it.

Jill shares pictures from her vacation out west.

Jill and Helen take a minute to catch up. 

On the day that it was announced that the Vernon Recreation Department's new nine hole Disk Golf course was ready to go, without asking Wayne, I purchased a beginner disk set for each of us. When the sets arrived, Wayne and I walked over to the course where I learned that I am worse at Disk Golf than I am at Candlepin Bowling. Soon, I began to lament that someone had mistakenly wrote "par 3" where they actually meant to write par 10! The course begins in the open ball field which can be looked at in two ways. On the one hand the disks were safe from being lost as they sailed in the complete opposite direction at which I was throwing them. On the other hand, there I was with the whole town having an unobstructed view of my "skills." It was with some relief that we entered the woods in spite of the mosquitoes feasting upon us and the poor trees taking on a good battering from my disks. 

Somewhere along the course we discovered a Geo Cache box and after I had posted about it on the Vernon Vermont Facebook Group, I fell into a conversation with Michael D Root from where the beginning quote in this entry came. My readers can only guess how relieved I am to connect with another resident who joins in on games because of some other more poetic reason than being a pro at it.

I stopped counting on the first hole, but still I felt like a champion when it went in!

Now how did this picture of me and Jen winning the silver medal in Cornhole get here? -Norma Manning

Starting Vernon's Conservation Commission Proposal

 

The Vernon Select Board has given the nod to proceed with an attempt to reestablish a Conservation Commission in town. In 2018, the VT Fish and Wildlife Department published Why Have A Conversation Commission? which not only lays out the purpose for such work; but also identifies the process for establishing a commission and a source of funding for such an endeavor. 

Vernon already has a highly effective Farmland Conservation Commission and an engaged Planning Commission. Some of the cited responsibilities of a Conservation Commission are already being undertaken by these entities. For example, with regards to developing the Town Plan, which is an undertaking of the Planning Commission, the VTFW positions Conservation Commissions as "advisory." Why some might ask, are we then attempting to add another step to an already successful process? In short because a Conservation Commission's lens is focused squarely on identifying, enhancing an understanding of and conserving our environmental assets. 

When environmental professionals (as they did in the 2013 Vernon Town Plan) recommend that the impact from soil compression and runoff due to hiking in the Black Gum Swamps be addressed by: the Vernon Municipal Forest Committee coordinating with the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation "to develop a master plan for the protection of the Black Gum Swamp"(pp 27 Fragile Areas Recommendations)  Vernon's Conservation Commission could then pick up the ball and pursue that recommendation. I use this as an example, because having a question about the above recommendation, I was directed to the Vernon Rec. Trails Committee by a former select board member as the Forest Committee was nonexistent at the time. It was then relayed to me that what I was asking about was deemed outside of Rec Board's purview. A Conservation Commission could fill in such gaps.

Another task of a Conservation Commission could be to reduce the confusion as to where exactly the 50 foot state mandated protective buffer is located at Lily pond and to seek funding to post educational signs alerting the public to the protective buffer. With Lily Pond now being identified as Vermont's only example of an Outwash Plain Pondshore, such a commission could advise on ways to educate the public on this unique community which includes numerous rare plants and animals and perhaps develop a information site for Vermont, similar to the one I linked here for Maine. 

After many inquires with different aspects of town government, I have finally learned that it is the town that owns the islands within Lily Pond and the town is responsible for the islands as well as the access road and the parking area. An advisory commission could help guide the town on how best to manage these assets in a way that both preserves their recreational use and the wildlife and plant communities there. 

Finally, I would like to point out that the state /VTFW/ Roaring Brook Wildlife Management Area has been acquiring land in Vernon  in recent years and are in the process of acquisitioning more. Martin recently suggested and I echo him here, "Better to have local oversight by local people than "the state telling us what we can't do." Giving Vernon residents an advisory seat at the table on matters of conservation and land use within our town makes good sense.

To those residents who would like to participate in such an endeavor, I encourage you to email Nature Finds at eaglestailvt@gmail.com with your contact information. If there is enough interest, I will set up a time to meet with our town select board-Norma Manning