Diario del proyecto Heathfield Biodiversity

sábado, 19 de agosto de 2023

Paved paradise; and five new observations at Heathfield

After years of planning and months of delays, it seems the end has finally come for Heathfield's eponymous "back field". On Monday, August 21, much of the property (front and back) will be fenced off; the first step in a years-long construction project.

With this in mind, I spent some time in the back field yesterday evening.

I dug out a few more wildflowers for the pollinator garden we're installing at the front of the property. I snapped a few more photographs. I swatted a few more mosquitoes. I listened to the hum of crickets; a persistent chorus dulled only by the arrival of a passing rain shower.

Once home: a rainbow.

Ironically, I found five new observations at Heathfield this week! In shade by a ditch: Glyceria; a type of grass. In the back field (teeming with mosquitoes), a few stems of Bidens. And three new fungal species; including one awaiting identification (Conifer mazegill?), Red Raspberry Slime Mould (cool!) and this cutie, Yellow fieldcap: https://inaturalist.ca/observations/179138096

I wish I'd worked to coordinate a bioblitz on the property, or brought a botanist from Queen's to poke around the back field with me. Certainly, the pandemic affected outsiders' access to this site, as has the ambiguity around the construction's timing. But I am proud of the work I've done to document Heathfield's biodiversity, and I hope it will stand as a lasting record of this once-thriving landscape.

With any luck (and with some guidance given to the relevant decision-makers), Heathfield will retain some of its wild wilderness in future years. Heathfield Bioblitz 2027, anyone?

Publicado el sábado, 19 de agosto de 2023 a las 01:14 PM por botanising botanising | 0 comentarios | Deja un comentario

viernes, 17 de marzo de 2023

The end of an era

The snow lingers on the grounds at Heathfield: pushed up into craggy mountains, strewn with gravel and sand; dotted with human and animal tracks; rubbed into rivulets by the wind, and spray-painted with hot pink paint as the site embarks on a new chapter in its long history.

Within days, Heathfield's trees (some planted, others wild) will come down. Among them, a willow, arcing over the property's natural creek bed; a stand of pines planted by Sisters of Providence; a few Manitoba maples; a paper birch, and a couple of Ohio buckeyes.

Providence Village is the future home of a new long-term care facility, and a palliative care hospice—and while these are worthy causes, it is a sad milestone that this wild space (largely untouched since time immemorial) will be forever changed.

Here is a reminiscence from one of the Sisters of Providence, Sr. Anna Moran:

"On Heathfield

So what was the Motherhouse property like, back in the day? Sister Anna Moran describes quite a different picture from the well-kept lawns, trees and gardens of today, summing it up as a limestone bog:

There was a slough, or swamp, in the back, wet enough that nothing would grow. The land was deliberately and slowly cultivated. The limestone was covered by earth. One of the first flowers to bloom was a profusion of poppies, glorious to the Sisters. Deeper behind the house was wild, she says. A stream, or 'crick,' ran in the line between today’s gazebo and barn. 'We never went beyond that,' she says.

Oh how the Sisters worked to reclaim the land. Early on, each woman was given a six-foot square of land to grow vegetables. 'I worked hard but grew nothing, not even a carrot,' says Sister Anna. 'I gave up on that!' But other work bore more fruit. Some of the younger trees were planted by Sister Anna, when she helped Sister Mary Roberta with seedlings along the long fence on Princess Street. The Sisters were determined to make the grounds private and productive."

https://www.providence.ca/a-calling/vocation-stories/sister-anna-moran-has-100-years-of-story-to-tell/

Her remarks are fascinating: Heathfield's back field was a "limestone bog", "a slough, or swamp".

Wet enough that nothing would grow? I'm not so sure about that. From my own experience, a great number of plants grow in the property's wettest grounds. Here, the limestone (overlaid with a shallow lawn) gives way to a spongy, mossy area full of sedges, ash, goldenrod, bolete mushrooms, cohosh, violets, dogwood and willowherb.

But I'm sure Sr. Anna was referring to cultivated species: tomatoes, lettuce and leeks.

This line caught my attention: "One of the first flowers to bloom was a profusion of poppies, glorious to the Sisters." The wording is not completely clear, but, to my mind, it implies that these poppies grew spontaneously, perhaps stirred out of dormancy by the Sisters' cultivation.

The Sisters took possession of the Heathfield in the 1930s, and before then the property was residential and domestic farmland. I'd like to think that those poppies sprouted from a remnant seed bank from the 19th century. Perhaps there's a metaphor there. What seeds will sprout from the earth over the next few years, as Providence Village takes shape? I'll be watching.

In the meantime, much will be lost. I'm grateful to have had the privilege to document and get to know this property over the past few years.

Publicado el viernes, 17 de marzo de 2023 a las 12:31 AM por botanising botanising | 0 comentarios | Deja un comentario

sábado, 01 de octubre de 2022

Welcome to this project!

Located at 1200 Princess Street, in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, Heathfield is the present site of Providence Motherhouse, the home of the Sisters of Providence of St. Vincent de Paul and two other religious congregations.

In the 1830s, a cottage-style villa was constructed on the site at what is now 1200 Princess Street. In 1852, the property was acquired by Charles Heath, and from this time on it was known to Kingston residents as Heathfield. Heath sold the property in 1865 to Professor James Williamson, a brother-in-law of Sir John A. Macdonald, Canada’s first prime minister. Sir John A. Macdonald rented the home for his sister Louisa and, while he was prime minister, made it his home on his frequent visits from Ottawa.

In 1930, the Sisters of Providence of St. Vincent de Paul purchased the property. The villa served as novitiate until 1932, when it became a residence for Sisters teaching in the city. In 1964 the villa was demolished to make room for a new wing at Providence Motherhouse.

Today, 1200 Princess Street is the future home of Providence Village, where, over the next few years, a long-term care facility and palliative care unit will be built. In the meantime, this project is a space to document the biodiversity of Heathfield, which, in its present state, includes a thriving meadow, lawns, and a cultivated woodlot.

Heathfield provides exceptional habitat for native species, which thrive in the woodlot's undergrowth, and the open field behind the convent's buildings. These species include fungi, wildflowers, shrubs, vines and trees. Honey bees and Monarch butterflies feed on Goldenrod and Milkweed. Riverbank Grape tumbles over clumps of Dogwood and Ash. Oak, Elm, and (possibly cultivated) Ohio Buckeye stand at the margins of the meadow.

Please note: Heathfield is private property and should not be explored by users who do not have permission to access the grounds. Please ensure that your observations are gathered when the property is open to the public!

Publicado el sábado, 01 de octubre de 2022 a las 12:48 PM por botanising botanising | 0 comentarios | Deja un comentario

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