Child-Friendly Community Leaf-Spreading Work-Parties on Levenseller Mountain
On Friday, Saturday and Sunday December 1st, 2nd and 3rd, 2023,
from 10am to 2pm,
all individuals and families are invited to help...
FALL 2023
If you would like to help with our rejuvenating spring burn, we are trading $20/hr. PYO blueberry credit, which comes to 4 raked and winnowed quarts of blueberries per hour of your help - or more if you finger-pick : )
In early spring we will appreciate field help raking to fire-proof the edges, gathering water, and burning.
FALL 2022
Elijah, Mary, and Gabrielle sitting, chatting and spreading leaves
Leah waving, Liza aand Isla hoisting a bag of leaves
Leaving the field, leaf spreading complete, December 5th 2022
Sandra Lee finishing the last patch of leaf spreading, happy in the sunshine on Dec. 5th 2022
Shana spreading leaves, last day! Sandra Lee pic
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Straw Party 2021
From Oct. 28 thru November 30, 2020 we packed 519 very large bags of leaves, mostly from roadside piles downtown and from the tall Belfast municipal pile, and spread them on the just-harvested lower 41⁄2-acre half of the field. The leaves offer rich leachates all winter, to restore nutrients lost when we take the berry crop. They also help to hold snow-cover, protecting roots and soil, while sheltering small residents of the field.
ANYBODY THAT MISSED OUT and wants to JOIN US NEXT YEAR, for this and other paid or blueberry-credit opportunities, should please call Shana: 338-3301 and leave a voicemail.
WE WILL NEED HELPERS ON THE BURNING DAY, probably sometime in April, ideally when the field is clear of snow with 3-4 dry days in a row, and snow remains in the woods.
Call Shana: 338-3301, and leave a voicemail! (yes, I am being redundant. Help is very welcome!)
In spring 2021, the faded leaves will fuel a traditional burning of the blueberry “vine” to the ground. A bright green flush of new growth will quickly follow, to grow one whole season without fruit. This rested and rejuvenated new vine will hopefully offer us a heavy and sweet crop in August 2022.
Our August 2021 crop will be from the top half of the field, burned with tree leaves last spring and looking beautifully lush and rose-colored even after leaf-drop.
Our “natural burn” fire moves quickly and lightly, biocharring twigs and blueberry leaf-drop. This biochar is evident throughout the top inch of our soil - was this from Gary Masalin just since 1990 after he re-created the field? More probably people were spreading and burning vine there long before the 80-yr.-old oaks and pines grew. Our thanks to them, as we suspect this magical black layer holds the moisture, nutrients and soil life that make our crop so reliable and sweet.
We used plastic contractor bags plus one set of new cloth bags, thanks to Griffin’s good deal on a roll of upholstery fabric, Shana’s cutting, and Art’s Canvas strong-threaded sewing services. We hope to continue to add more cloth bags to our system as the plastic ones wear out. Your FABRIC or SEWING can be traded for BLUEBERRY CREDIT!
Thanks to all the downtown folks who raked their lawns, which allowed us to leave the mountain woodlands their own moisture-retention and soil protection. Thanks to Gary Masalin who did used to rake the high woodlands for this purpose, feeding the field for so many years, and who raked the road and ditch for us this year.
THANKS TO ALL OUR paid and/or blueberry-credit HELPERS. We did so much, so endlessly, and SO WELL!
ANYBODY THAT MISSED OUT and wants to JOIN US NEXT YEAR, for various paid or blueberry-credit opportunities, should please call Shana: 338-3301 and leave a voicemail. (yes, I am being redundant. Help is very welcome!)
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