{"id":3676,"date":"2012-05-23T08:45:53","date_gmt":"2012-05-23T12:45:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/?p=3676"},"modified":"2012-05-23T08:45:53","modified_gmt":"2012-05-23T12:45:53","slug":"land-conservancy-unveils-new-leaf-eco-center","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/?p=3676","title":{"rendered":"Land Conservancy unveils New Leaf Eco-Center"},"content":{"rendered":"

New ecological initiative situated on the Vincenti Preserve in Kennett<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

By P.J. D\u2019Annunzio<\/strong>, Staff Writer, KennettTimes.com<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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Kennett residents learn about composting at the Southern Chester County Land Conservancy's New Leaf Eco-Center.<\/p><\/div>\n

KENNETT \u2014 The buzz surrounding a new apiary and ecological center being developed on the Southwest Corner of East Hillendale and Rosedale Roads hit residents at the Kennett Township Board of Supervisors on Monday night.<\/p>\n

The New Leaf Eco-Center is located on the Vincenti Preserve, an 11-acre public preserve located in the south-central portion of the township. The preserve currently features a 2-acre mesic (referring to a well-balanced source of moisture) woodland restoration of over 450 trees planted in 2004 serving as a riparian buffer zone for the Burrows Run Tributary of the Red Clay Creek, and Delaware River Basin, surrounded by lowland and mesic woodlands.<\/p>\n

\u201cA riparian buffer serves to protect the waterways from pollutants and sediments that come into the waterway,\u201d Land Conservancy for Southern Chester County Educational Director Maya Baruch said during her presentation to township residents. \u00a0\u201cThe remaining majority of the property is planted with cool-season grasses, currently in hay production for the region’s mushroom farms.\u201d<\/p>\n

Baruch said that the goal of New Leaf is to teach residents about utilizing the environment for human needs with \u201csustainable alternatives,\u201d that is using natural resources in a manner that is not detrimental to the environment.<\/p>\n

Some of the design plans for the preserve include holistic land management of the preserve natural lands, ecological habitat restoration, an educational trail system across the entire preserve, and the creation of educational gardens that are based on the \u201cfood forest\u201d perennial agriculture model.<\/p>\n

Already put in place is a composting demonstration garden where residents can learn how to effectively install their own backyard composting site.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe composting demonstrations were kicked off with two public workshops that were free,\u201d Baruch said. \u201cWe had max participation with 30 people each day. And continuing to this day we offer home composting workshops on a seasonal basis and also by appointment. We also host them for school groups, scout troops, etc.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The new honey bee hives, or apiary, at the New Leaf Eco Center.<\/p><\/div>\n

Also installed at the preserve is a three-hive apiary, made possible through funding by the Sara Bowers Fund and the Chester County Bee Keepers Association. The Conservancy\u2019s apiary serves to contribute to the conservation of the region’s honeybee population. Public educational workshops on the importance of honeybees and honeybee keeping are held throughout the year<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are cultivating about 40,000 honey bees here at the apiary,\u201d Baruch said. \u201cTo celebrate, each month we hold open hive days at the apiary\u2026our first one is happening this Saturday\u2026.it is offered to learn more about bee keeping and possible starting your own apiary.\u201d<\/p>\n

Finally, New Leaf showcases Kennett Square\u2019s most recognizable symbol, the mushroom, as an agent for the detoxification of soil. The process is called mycoremediation, or the process by which soil health is restored and cleansed by fungi.<\/p>\n

The idea was first conceived when an initial soil sample of the preserve revealed low levels of DDT (an insecticide banned in 1972 with a half-life of approximately 100 years). \u201cMushrooms are good at cleaning up things,\u201d Baruch said, \u201cIn nature mushrooms serve to break down woody material and plant matter to integrate into the soil for healthy soil life\u2026incidentally, mushrooms also excrete an acid that breaks down anything with a carbon molecule which includes oil, diesel fuel, radioactive compounds, and chemical pesticides, etc.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA demonstration workshop was offered for local farmers, land workers, developers, and all the community in October 2011 and we will continue mycoremediation on site in spring 2012,\u201d she continued. \u201cWe will continue by hosting ecological gardening workshops throughout the year, allowing for educational opportunities that will leave attendees with the knowledge and skills to replicate the ecological processes wherever they live and work, while at the same time contributing to the creation of the New Leaf Eco-Center.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New ecological initiative situated on the Vincenti Preserve in Kennett By P.J. D\u2019Annunzio, Staff Writer, KennettTimes.com KENNETT \u2014 The buzz surrounding a new apiary and ecological center being developed on the Southwest Corner of East Hillendale and Rosedale Roads hit residents at the Kennett Township Board of Supervisors on Monday night. The New Leaf Eco-Center […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3680,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[55,682,683],"class_list":["post-3676","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-featured","tag-kennett","tag-land-conservancy-of-southern-chester-county","tag-new-leaf-eco-center"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3676","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3676"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3676\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3680"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3676"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3676"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3676"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}