Program participants amend the soil before planting their vegetable garden Click to Enlarge
A sad moment: a diseased squash plant must be pulled out.
Click to Enlarge
A "baby" watermelon is always an exciting discovery! Click to Enlarge
Chrysalis House gardeners take a break from weeding. Click to Enlarge
Maryland:
The Biophilia Foundation
PO Box 1753
Easton, MD 21601
New Mexico:
The Pritzlaff Ranch
HC 68, Box 11A
Sapello, New Mexico 87745
Telephone: 505-454-8382
Projects
Pritzlaff Ranch, San Ignacio, New Mexico
The Foundation has invested in restoring the Pritzlaff Ranch facilities, including the beautiful Pueblo frescos painted in the 1940’s by Ma Pe Wi. Habitat and forestry restorations on the Ranch include 170 acres of Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) riparian restoration, over 645 acres of forest thinning, and the planting of native warm season grass test plots for future pasture restoration. These habitat restorations and enhancements were made possible with the help of our funding and technical partners: Chesapeake Wildlife Heritage; The Natural Resource Conservation Service and Farm Service Agency of USDA; and the New Mexico EM& Natural Resources/Forestry Division.
The Ranch serves as an exceptional resource for the education and training of private citizens, public school students and teachers, university students, local landowners and business managers, and professional forest workers on topics of conservation and sustainable management of forests and watersheds. The vision for the Ranch is to become a model area for rehabilitation and management practices to restore natural processes (e.g., fire, erosion, nutrient cycling, etc.) to their natural range of variability prior to European influence. Toward this end, the foundation has formed numerous collaborations and partnerships, including the New Mexico Forest and Watershed Restoration Institute at Highlands University. These collaborations and partnerships support a variety of programs that are actively researching and addressing resource issues facing the forests and watersheds of northern New Mexico and the southwest.
Mudford Farm, Sudlersville, Maryland
In 2005, the Biophilia Foundation purchased Mudford Farm in Queen Anne's County, Maryland. Mudford Farm lies within the headwaters of the Chester River, which runs approximately 40 miles from Delaware to the Chesapeake Bay. The Chester River watershed is home to a wide variety of wildlife. Historically, the river has been recognized as one of the most important waterfowl areas in the Chesapeake Bay region, and major portions of the river are on the Maryland Department of Environment's "Impaired Waters" list.
Located near the town of Sudlersville on Maryland's Eastern Shore, Mudford Farm consists of 275 acres, including 113 acres of woodlands. As part of our close partnership with CWH to restore and protect wildlife habitat on farms to further biodiversity conservation in working landscapes, CWH restored 30 acres of wetlands, 30 acres of warm season grass meadows, and planting 10 acres of trees. This habitat will benefit wildlife such as waterfowl, turkey, and quail, and will improve water quality in the Chester River. In December of 2010 Biophilia Foundation sold an easement to the State of Maryland that will allow for the adaptive management of the habitat practices in perpetuity. The easement will allow one new home site, and will restrict future farming on the property to the remaining 90 acres of agricultural land possessing the most productive soils.
After acquiring a purchase option from the Trust for Public Land, which unfortunately had been unable to secure federal acquisition funding through the Forest Service, the Biophilia Foundation purchased this 1,477 acre property in February of 2007. It consists of mountainous terrain with approximately 99% of the property in forest. The property is surrounded by the Jefferson National Forest on three sides, and thus decreases the habitat fragmentation along this National Forest boundary. Hutson Creek, which runs through the property, is one of the headwaters of the New River. In December of 2007, the Foundation donated a conservation easement on the entire property to the Virginia Outdoors Foundation. The easement allows for a main residence and two cabins to be built in reserved “building envelopes,” and allows forestry that will only enhance forest health and protects wildlife habitat and water quality.
To view a color brochure highlighting this conservation property please click here, and for more information please contact our office at 410-268-1802.
Click to enlarge map showing reduction in fragmentation of the Jefferson National Forest boundary.
Chesapeake Program
The foundation has instituted a “top down, bottom up” approach toward its policy and watershed management work in the Chesapeake Bay, America’s largest and most threatened estuary. Engaging with state level agencies and NGO’s, Biophilia Foundation is currently assessing what four or five state wide policies would most benefit land use planning and funding to better conserve and restore the Chesapeake Bay. This represents the “top down” approach. The “bottom up” initiatives include work with local watershed organizations, landowners and counties to restore ecologic function to specific small watersheds. These projects involve local constituents taking responsibility for the health of their community, with the active help and participation of their local government. It is our intent that these local initiatives will act as successful watershed restoration and conservation demonstration projects, engendering local jurisdiction cooperation and support for the state level land use policy and funding initiatives needed to rationalize local land use planning and watershed management.
South River Greenway Project
Located just 10 minutes from the city of Annapolis, the South River Greenway, which has been designated an Important Bird Area by the Maryland/District of Columbia Audubon Society, includes 100 miles of perennial streams in four stream subwatersheds: Bacon Ridge, Broad Creek, North River and Tarnan’s Branch. These four streams flow into the South River – a tidal tributary to the Chesapeake Bay.
The South River Greenway Project is a comprehensive, long-term watershed protection, restoration, and community outreach initiative. The goal of the project is to create a “central park” in the heart of Anne Arundel County that will benefit the people and wildlife of the region, as well as protect the headwater streams flowing to the South River. This goal can be achieved through the permanent protection of 6,000 acres of land, the restoration and stabilization from erosion of 23 miles of first and second order streams, and the restoration and enhancement of upland wildlife habitat.
The Project was initiated by a $50,000 grant made to Scenic Rivers Land Trust (SRLT) by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. SRLT, the South River Federation, and Biophilia Foundation have assembled a growing list of partners who are working to plan and carry out this project. In addition to financial support, the Biophilia Foundation is providing its conservation real estate experience to help SRLT acquire priority property in the Greenway through educating landowners regarding available conservation options, funding sources, and other financial, estate, and tax incentives. Other partners include: Anne Arundel County, Maryland/D.C. Audubon, Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Maryland Environmental Trust, Trust for Public Land, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Nature’s Lessons
To further its mission to reconnect individuals with nature the Biophilia Foundatiion has developed the 'Nature's Lessons' program which provides hands-on activities such as learning to grow produce and gardening for wildlife, as well as discussion of environmental and conservation issues. Participants learn what they can do as individuals to benefit the health of themselves and their families as well as the environment as they acquire a greater appreciation for the natural world.
December 2011 Update
Mellwood in Upper Marlboro:
A new Nature’s Lessons program was introduced to Second Genesis Mellwood campus in Upper Marlboro in the late summer of 2010. The Biophilia Foundation partnered with Second Genesis to erect a 16’x45’ high tunnel hoop house. The hoop house enables the clients at Mellwood to grow produce for the facility year round.
Second Genesis, Inc. considers nutrition, gardening and physical exercise to be important components in working towards addiction recovery and developing a healthy lifestyle. This approach ties in perfectly with Nature’s Lessons’ belief that working with and working within the natural world provides psychological benefits to humans while it encourages a caring and respectful out look toward the environment.
It wasn’t until early spring before construction was completed and our indoor gardening efforts were underway. Through the spring and summer we grew heirloom tomatoes, peppers, herbs, and greens in the hoop house, as well as gourds and flowers in our outdoor garden. We are now focusing on crops such as kale, swiss chard, arugula and assorted lettuces to take us through the winter due to their tolerance for cooler temperatures.
Many of the clients at Mellwood have lived their entire lives in cities and have never considered where food comes from. Being directly involved in the planting and cultivation helps the women to acquire a new knowledge of how vegetables are grown, as some have expressed concern with the idea that the harvested greens come “out of the dirt”. Surprisingly, this is a concept that is completely new to some individuals. However, after sowing seed and watching them develop into plants that they have grown themselves, they become more willing to eat them. We are looking forward to the spring when we plan to experiment with some new crops such as kohlrabi, bok choy and carrots.
Second Genesis in Crownsville:
Meanwhile, at the Second Genesis facility in Crownsville, our horticulture endeavors have been so successful that we have doubled the size of the existing garden. We found that we just didn’t have enough space to grow all the produce that could be used in the kitchen.
A spring project, in addition to the vegetable garden, is to install a large pollinator garden using deer resistant perennials and shrubs that will attract butterflies, hummingbirds and bees. We will also put up bee boxes to encourage nesting of native species.
With the coming of the new year, we also plan to begin a major recycling program at Second Genesis. The director has been very interested in doing this for quite a while but just has not had the time to get it going. As we found at Chrysalis House, it will take a few months to get everyone to start thinking about saving and sorting materials, but it will eventually become routine. We are already recycling leftover food scraps from the kitchen by composting them.
Chrysalis House in Crownsville:
Nature’s Lessons continues into its third year at Chrysalis House. We now have a strong recycling program in place and are making good use of a large compost area that a couple of men from Second Genesis volunteered to build.
A major focus of our program is nutrition as the women are without an in- house cook and are responsible for preparing meals themselves. Some possess a degree of knowledge about cooking and healthful eating, while others do not. The emphasis is to encourage a diet with less meat, fat and salt while adding more whole grains and, most importantly, increasing vegetables and fruits. With access to a garden the women are able to choose what they want to grow and incorporate into their meals. In the spring we will install an herb garden to enhance flavor as well as stimulate the interest in preparing meals from scratch.
Getting through a drug addiction recovery program is intense and requires a lot of self-reflection and determination. It is our attempt to bring a form of respite to the clients by directing their attention away from themselves and focusing on the beauty of the world around them. Most respond quite favorably to this, although there are always a handful who refuse to take part in any of the activities. These are the people who are the most challenging.
We had a wonderful moment at Mellwood one day this fall when one of the women discovered several monarch butterfly chrysalises hanging on the wire that surrounded the garden. In the spring we had planted milkweed flowers especially for the monarchs to nectar on. They thanked us by leaving their offspring behind. The women, even those who held little interest in any of it, were simply fascinated by these little gold studded green bags from which butterflies would eventually emerge. And THAT is what Nature’s Lessons is all about.
July, 2010 Update
Members of the staff at Second Genesis in Crownsville love how their clients are responding to our program. After choosing a site for a vegetable garden, the men went to work putting up a 7’ fence to keep out unwelcome four- footed ( and hooved ) visitors. The soil was then amended with many bags of leaf-gro before plants were installed and seeds were sowed.
The garden is now thriving! It is a complete carpet of sprawling melon vines with climbing cucumbers and tomato plants standing tall! One individual at Second Genesis is particularly devoted, watering every morning at 6:30 and again in the evening; he loves being outside and checking on every single one of his plants. He says the garden is what has kept him going in his recovery. When he gets upset about something he goes out there to find peace.
After we finished planting the vegetable garden, the men built a large compost bin of wooden pallets directly outside the kitchen door for all of the food scraps. It is filling up faster than it is breaking down, so we have stopped adding to it and will let it “rest” for a couple of weeks. We have just started our next project which is digging a shallow frog/ dragonfly pond. This will be surrounded by a large butterfly/hummingbird garden eventually. We hung a hummingbird feeder on the garden fence and within one week there were hummingbirds! It was surprising how quickly they found it as the whole Crownsville Hospital facility is simply acres and acres of lawn with meager offerings for wildlife.
We were recently asked to consider starting another Nature’s Lessons program at the Second Genesis location known as Mellwood in Upper Marlboro, a drug rehabilitation center for women. The site is set on 68 acres of woods and fields with horses and some goats as neighbors. Some great nature walks will be had there! The facility is similar to the Chrysalis House with around 30 women residing there. It is always exciting to begin a new program and it is nice to know that the staff appreciates what we are doing for their clients.
