Mowing

Once a year I trim the edges of the trails with an all terrain mower. This keeps brush and poison ivy from establishing a hold. Today I used, for the first time, the older of the two refuge mowers. This one seems more powerful than the other and it has a differential locking device that makes it easier to get out of tough spots.

DR All Terrain Mower

I did manage to get smacked in the lip with a stone that ricocheted off a fallen tree

This week the Marsh Rose Mallow started to bloom and the Evening Primrose which started a week or two ago is really starting to make a show.

 Marsh Rose Mallow

Evening Primrose

Muddy Trail

For three years I've been frustrated by a muddy section of the old Reformatory Branch Railroad bed that passes Great Meadows. This trail is now known as the Bay Circuit Trail and run 200 miles from Plum Island on the North Shore to Duxbury on the South Shore.

A storm drain from Butternut Circle dumps it's water on the trail.

The ditches on either side of the trail are clogged with debris.

On Friday Walter Schafer, Terry and Laurie Gleason, and Francesca Belouin joined me in trying to fix some of the problems.

We cleaned some of the ditches, built a bridge and made a french drain.

And got a little muddy.