Sun Set on Wolfe's Neck

A sunset view from Wolfe's Neck State Park in Freeport, ME

Wolfe's neck state park was founded in the late 1940s by Lawrence and Ellanore Smith of Philadelphia who were dedicated to developing a natural farming operation. The legacy of their goal exists today in Wolfe's Neck Farm which produces grass raised beef and is working with local farmers to find ways to produce local food in the best possible ways while also educating people on the importance of local, healthy foods.

The Smiths later donated over 200 acres to the state of Maine for the creation of a state park for hiking, camping, and exploring nature. Maine is known for its scenic shoreline, but that uniqueness of the working farm next to beautiful Casco Bay is quite striking to anyone who takes the time to go exploring in this area. The land itself takes the name from Henry Wolfe who was the first settler in this area and obviously had a good eye for real estate.

The picture included with this post came at the end of a cloudy day where on my way home from a meeting. I decided to take a walk down by the water. The sun broke through the clouds as it began to set giving quite the display of color before it disappeared

Needles of the Earth

Tiny pillars of ice, know as "ice needles", lift up forest debris in Bowdoinham, ME.

New Englanders often joke that the only thing our soil is good for growing is rocks. While obviously tongue-in-cheek, the saying comes from the observations of anyone who has done any farming or gardening that no matter how clear your tilled soil was before heading into the winter, by spring there would be another bumper crop of rocks to be moved and piled once again. Looking at stone walls throughout New England, you can actually tell if the wall lined an agriculture or livestock area by examining the size of the stones. If there are a ton of smaller stones piled up, it is pretty safe to guess that the area around there was for agriculture as they tossed them aside after the spring thaw.

The spring growth of rocks comes from the drastic freeze/thaw cycle that exists in temperate climates like New England.The ice needles, pictured above, are one of the coolest ways to see this type of upward movement of soil and rock. They form when the air above wet soil is colder than the earth itself and the water is pulled and frozen upwards. It is an amazing display of how unique water is and the impact that a little bit of moisture and shifting temperatures can have on the ground below our feet.

Queen Anne's Sunset

Sunset behind the dried remains of Queen Anne's lace on the edge of Macquoit Bay in Brunswick, Maine.

While Queen Anne's lace can be found throughout most of North America, it is actually an invasive species introduced by European settlers. Although its common name, Queen Anne's lace, makes reference to the lace like flowers that bloom in the late summer, it was most likely introduced to North America not for its flower but for its root which is similar to a carrot and can be eaten (another name for this flowering plant is Wild Carrot) and the seeds which for centuries were prescribed by physicians as a contraceptive. It makes sense that the Europeans brought  Queen Anne's lace with them, one didn't want to go exploring the New World without talking some Plan B along just in case you found some hot natives along the way. Nothing worse than leaving a trail of little "John Smiths" in the wake of your exploration and colonization. The seeds also have been used as a remedy for hangovers making it truly a wonder plant. 

And while you may think that we have moved past needed to grow our own morning after pill, there are numerous online communities and websites talking about using Queen Anne's Lace (or QAL as they call it)  seeds as contraceptive and groups of people doing their own studies to test if it works or not. Kind of like playing Russian Roulette to see how a gun works.