Stewards Day at CSV – May 7, 2021
By Jennifer J. Montgomery

We were 21 strong this week:  UNH Stewards, Master Gardeners and Trail Team members from Havenwood Heritage Heights.  Dressed for the mild weather and prepared for spring chores at the Village, the groups reviewed their objectives for the morning.  The master gardeners were focused on the herb/medicinal gardens.  Stewards and the Havenwood Trail Team were to prepare the Turning Mil and Saw Mill trails for an upcoming foot race on May 15 and then address the invasive thorny bramble thicket surrounding the peach trees near the Granite Gardens.  But before departing to assigned tasks, everyone was warned to watch for and prepare to remove ticks.  It did not take long to find a few pesky insects on some of the Stewards!

Approaching the mid-point of the Turning Mill Pond trail we witnessed a number of geese gently glide to land on the pond.  We shared stories of an earlier Steward session to rid the berm over the pond of invasive plants. That day was so cold that we warned each other not to fall into the water! 

As Stewards, we completed the assigned task to prepare the path for the race quickly.  Then we turned attentions to address the bramble patch in the pasture that was home to a few original Shaker Village peach trees.  During a heat wave in the summer of 2020, a number of Stewards worked together to remove a thick canopy of invasive vines from two historic peach trees.  Today we noticed the results of that session and felt joy for the trees as we viewed pink peach blossoms and heard the hum of bees as they soared from branch to branch.

Meanwhile, the Stewards attacked the giant bramble of thorny invasive plants with saws and pruners to discard the vines to the waiting brush pile.  The slope of the pasture emerged as branches and vines were tossed away.  The teamwork of the Stewards and Havenwood Trail Team worked to deliver a stunning “before and after” scene of jobs well done for the day.