Volunteer Work Day - September 18, 2022
New Signs popping up all over!
Notes From The Park
February 18, 2022
A lot has been happening since our last update. A brief list includes…
We have applied for and been granted tax exempt status by the county.
We have applied for a grant with the county for $5000 which will be awarded on June 1st. This grant proposal involves hiring a wonderful field biologist that we have been working with to conduct species surveys of plants, animals and insects in the park, conduct soil and water sampling, prepare some rather extensive mapping of the ecozones, plant communities and environmental types existent in the park. Among these maps will be a “Wetland Delineation Map” that is the first step towards working with the permitting process administered by the Army Corps of Engineers. If we want to build step bridges, boardwalks, change anything in the creek or other similar efforts we are required to notify the ACOE and work with their permitting process. We have contacted them and they have been extremely helpful, but this map is a necessary step in maintaining that relationship. This grant will also pay for some training and equipment to help us in our battle with the dreaded kudzu beast, so watch for those training days if we are approved for these funds!
New signs are popping up in the park providing information about the project. Another big sign for the entrance is nearly complete and will be up within a week or two. I will attach an image to this email if you are interested in seeing it.
After Glen discovered a huge number of Elderberry bushes buried beneath the kudzu we have been working to free them from their bonds. If you visit the park today you will see a large “corral” cordoned off in the center where the densest population of elderberries is to be found. With clippers and hedge trimmers and pickaxes we have been steadily removing invasive plants form this area so that the elderberry will spring up this season. This has been a regular effort and we are very happy with our progress.
Several of us have been meeting every Sunday at 1:00 pm and spending a couple of pleasant hours tending to these and other tasks. We aren’t trying to do everything in one day, but hope that with diligence and persistence we can make headway… and so far it has been very successful. During these work days we have cut new paths, made progress cutting English ivy from the trees, cleared overgrowth from the ruins of the lakehouse and the springhouse. Discovered new native plants in our midst and even got our friend Jay out there with his metal detector for an exploration of the woods. If anyone wishes to join us, we would welcome the company… just remember to dress appropriately with good sturdy footwear, gloves and warm clothes on these cooler days.
Lastly, I have been asked by the Swannanoa Valley Museum to conduct a tour of the property on Wednesday April 13 at 10:00am. For more information, and to sign up, please visit www.history.swannanoavalleymuseum.org/events.
More info will be heading your way, but for now I want to thank you all for your interest in this project, and I hope you will feel free to stop by any Sunday to say hello and, if inclined, lean in with a hedge trimmer!
Be safe everyone!
-Allen
Snowy images - january 16 2022
FOX CREEK WORK DAY #3
Sunday October 3,
The Friends of Fox Creek Park gathered once again for a fun and productive work day this past Sunday. About 16 folks, including some inspiring and joyful young people, spent a couple of hours lending their talents to the cause.
We began our day with a fun and informative plant identification activity designed and led by Belle Gironda and Glen Peterson. Volunteers were given a sheet with several images and descriptions of plants to be found in the park, whereupon they fanned out in groups to search for examples. None of us got them all. All of us got a few. In the end we all learned things we didn’t know and had fun doing it.
After “class” we put ourselves to the tasks of spreading mulch along the entrance to the park and picking up trash that has accumulated in the stream bed. (A special shout out to my friend Thomas, who not only gathered more than his share of trash but also helped with the mulch and later accompanied me on an adventure into the brush.)
Another highlight of a thoroughly enjoyable day was a couple of sightings of our namesake, the fox that has been prowling the property for generations. Jay even found the remains of a fresh meal in the form of dove feathers scattered in the hollow of a down tree. Other sightings were of a mud salamander, an unidentified frog and the majestic hawk that hunts the area.
Our new picnic table, or as I keep calling it the “World Headquarters”, came in handy as a buffet table when lunch arrived. We all tucked in to some Chopped Carolina Pork BBQ, Smoked Venison Sausage, Vegan Hoppin’ John and Macaroni and Cheese, as well as coleslaw, chips and fresh oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.
You see what you miss when you sleep in on a Sunday?
August Plant Focus
Jewel Weed or “Touch-Me-Not”
Jewelweed (Impatiens capensis) is a flowering annual that is visible throughout the wet areas of Fox Creek Park this time of year. This lovely herbaceous plan grows in thick patches reaching 3-5 feet tall, has alternately spaced oval leaves that are lightly toothed and is covered with little orange spotted flowers from Summer through the first frost in Fall.
The flowers are sometimes commonly known as “Touch-Me-Nots” due to their tendency to fling seeds away from the plant at the slightest touch when the seed pods are mature.
Jewel Weed is pollinated by native Bumblebees and Hummingbirds and is common throughout the eastern half of North American in moist, shady areas, disturbed land and roadside ditches.
Well known to Native American people, the sap of the Jewel Weed was used to treat itching and rashes such as poison ivy and also has been demonstrated to have anti-fungal properties.
The yellow variant (Impatiens pallid) while less common, is sometimes found in and around stands of the spotted orange variety, but in Fox Creek we see only the orange version.
This lovely plant grows in prolific stands surrounding the creeks and bog areas in Fox Creek Park from the spillway north in the shady areas beside the path.
image courtesy of Glen Peterson
What's happening at fox creek?
“In the South, history clings to you like a wet blanket. Outside your door the past awaits in Indian mounds, plantation ruins, heaving sidewalks and homestead graveyards; each slowly reclaimed by the kudzu of time.”
― Tim Heaton, Don't Be Ugly: The G-Rated companion book to "Momma n 'Em Said."
As a typically lush summer moves through the Swannanoa valley, so do the plans and activities surrounding our newest public space; “Fox Creek Park”.
In early June Larry Pierson, deputy fire chief of the Swannanoa Fire Department, sergeant with the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office and strong supporter of Swannanoa, spent a soggy day clearing out and hauling away several tons of logs and debris from what will become the entrance to the park on Ivanhoe Drive.
Passersby will also notice that the dense overgrowth of kudzu overwhelming the spillway has been slowly receding thanks to the efforts of one of our newest neighbors, Glen Peterson. Glen has been spending a lot of time and effort weeding and clearing our entrance and working to identify valuable plant species inside the boundaries of the park. Glen’s input reaches even further however, as he has inspired us to think more deeply about the vision for the future that is “Fox Creek Park”. With a better understanding of what is there and what needs to be preserved, we are starting to feel ready to take the first tentative steps towards preparing the space for visitors.
With all this in mind, the first general work party took place at Fox Creek Park on the morning of Saturday July 31st when a group of fourteen volunteers toured Fox Creek Park, cleared some brush, and enjoyed a picnic lunch beside the spillway. In a short time, we were able to clear much of the invasive ground cover from the future entrance to the park and began the work of cutting a path back into the property. If you take the time to walk down Ivanhoe drive, you’ll see what was accomplished. To really experience the fun and satisfaction of being part of such an exciting project you should join us next time.
More of these gatherings will be coming soon and all are encouraged to participate if you can.
A happy group of workers who met on Saturday July 31st to begin clearing Fox Creek Park