Saturday, August 15
Goldberry Woods Trails
Hikers turned out on a glorious morning for a walk through the trails of Goldberry Woods, an inn/bed-and-breakfast in Union Pier. Innkeeper Julie Haberichter (center in photo above) led the way along the banks of lake Potawatomi, a natural lake that partly silted in during the early days of settlement thanks to overcutting of timber for growing cities along Lake Michigan. New Buffalo’s yacht basin is a small remnant of Lake Potawatomi. Goldberry also has trails that lead to the banks of the Galien–a future hike, perhaps. After the hike, Haberichter spoke to the group about ticks and lyme disease, and how ticks can be controlled without indiscriminate use of insecticides. Some of the hikers made tick tubes, toilet paper rolls stuffed with insecticide-laced cotton. According to Haberichter, mice play a role in tick lifecycles. The rodents take the cotton from the tubes and use it for bedding–killing any ticks they carry.
Prairie Seed Mix
Several people who attended the Butterfly hike on August 8 asked for information about where to find seeds for prairie flowers and grasses like those used at the New Buffalo Elementary School’s recently planted prairie. The seeds came from Shooting Star Native Seeds (shootingstarnativeseed.com). Seeding rate: 3 lbs. per acre (21.7 seeds per square foot). Acres to plant: 5 acres. Total forbs lbs.: 5. Total grass lbs.: 10.
