High summer is presently in full swing everywhere at the Sanctuary. These are a few of today's sightings.For those of you who are members, we welcome you to set up a visit, or plan an event with other members to meet up together and share in the joy. The Sanctuary awaits you.
Hi Everyone! I apologize for the delay in posting. I have been working on a project needed by EGLE for getting our permits to do the permaculture landscaping for the pond and gathering areas that we've been working on these last several years. After going through an engineering company for our first meeting with EGLE earlier this spring, Dan and I were given a quote by the engineer for $11,000 to do a "forensic wetland analysis" to ...
I will be out of town for the next couple of weeks with my family, but before we go, I am very excited to share with you this drawing I received yesterday from Garden Juju Collective. It is the first draft of our land design for the front field area. Behind the county drain (blue line marked at the top), is about ten acres of woods with trails throughout that is not shown on the drawing. This ...
(Aromatic Aster and Honeybee ~ October 2022) Last week, Dan, Brennah, and I met with Bridget and Charlie of Garden Juju Collective to receive an update on their progress with creating the design for the Sanctuary land. They are working on taking the plan that we have communicated to them and putting the design on paper using aerial photos, topographical maps, and making multiple visits to observe what's been happening on the land. They are currently still ...
One of the gardens at Crossing Hedgerows Sanctuary Last week we had our third consultation with Garden Juju Collective as they continue to work on the design and project management of making our vision a reality for the Sanctuary land. (As I write this, I realize that I neglected to let you all know that we had actually contracted with them to help us continue the pond excavation, land preparation, and building project.) "Garden Juju Collective is ...
Photo by Brennah Cavanaugh Photography LLC We have entered the heart of winter now with some frigid temperatures, ice, snow, and significant gales coming through. Here at the Sanctuary, you can see how the wind blew the snow a few days ago so as to accumulate on the side of the tree in this picture. Fortunately, everything is holding up well - the new chicken coop, the hoophouse, and all the rest. On Sunday ...
I am delighted to share with you that we (the Cavanaughs) have signed on a new contractor to resume the work needed for digging the pond and the water management of our land. This is a crucial main element in our design for creating an abundant life-sustaining ecosystem. This plan allows us to manage the flooding in such a way as to to keep the water on site to use more effectively, while also giving us some ...
In my last post, I talked about the construction plans for the Sanctuary. I want to make clear that this is part of a larger plan that allows for many wild spaces, much of which will not be touched by the construction at all. The area where we are creating the pond, along with the future building site and food forest, includes about five acres. It was all a cultivated farm field with very degraded and compacted ...
Though the pond is still under construction, it's already beautiful and teeming with life. (Be sure to watch through to the end to see who's making the chirping noises in the video.) And the recent rains have added enough water to be able to have a good sense of what it will look like when it's complete. https://youtube.com/shorts/MR0PB1G9tP8?feature=share The site plan for the pond area is to have a small campground on one side ...
We’ve been working on an earthworks project at the sanctuary to manage the annual flooding. We want to manage the water in such a way as to be able to store it for the dry season rather than simply draining it all away. Instead it will go through a system of little rain gardens and overflow into a one acre pond when it floods. If the pond gets too full there will be a spillway to allow ...
Continuing the theme of water, it's exciting to see that the "pond" is starting to ice over. Although it's still only the beginnings of the pond that we have planned, it's already a fairly significant body of water nevertheless. And it makes it really easy to envision what it will be like when it's finished. Pond Construction 2020 This week we had the survey done that was required by EGLE for us to ...