Commonwealth Conversations: The Great Outdoors

Finding fresh and local eggs for Easter

Anna Waclawiczek

Chief of Staff, Department of Agricultural Resources (DAR)

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Looking for ways to make an eco-friendlier and healthier Easter? Click here to find farms selling fresh, local Massachusetts eggs, and, for an even greener Easter, click here to check out these natural dye recipes!

DAR’s Megan Megrath says eggs are graded by measuring the interior quality of the egg by passing it before a candling light. The depth of the air cell (as seen on the top of the egg in the picture) along with the mobility of the yolk when the egg is spun before the light determines the interior grade. Larger air cells and greater mobility of the yolk indicate a lower quality grade. Grade A eggs should have an air cell no bigger than 3/16” in depth with little or no yolk movement. An egg cartoon with the USDA A shield signifies that those eggs were graded in a processing plant under the supervision of a USDA Poultry Products grader.

Eggs are sized in categories: jumbo, extra large, large, medium, and small. One large egg weighs 2 ounces. Eggs not weighed or candled are sold as ungraded and unsized or “nest run.” Click here for more information about how eggs are graded.

Eggs are high in protein and a great snack food to take along for all of your Great Outdoors adventures. Click here to check out some great egg recipes at the American Egg Boards website.

Witnessing the birth of a river

Tim Purinton

Acting Director, Department of Fish and Game’s Division of Ecological Restoration

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The jack hammering has stopped and the construction crew is exhausted from moving tons of earth, stone and concrete. With the final scoop of the excavator bucket, the last of Ox Pasture Brook Dam is removed. The stillness is palpable – the steady hum of heavy machinery and the faint smell of diesel exhaust are gone. Tranquility has returned to MassWildlife’s 2,000-acre William Forward Wildlife Management Area in Rowley.

For almost a century, the Ox Pasture Brook Dam has been blocking ocean tides, migratory fish (rainbow smelt, blueback herring and American eels), and other wildlife that use the brook and the river corridor to spawn and feed. A wide array of partners led by DER’s Alex Hackman, who have plugged away for three years to plan, permit and implement the removal of the dam to restore this tidal river.

Behind the dam is the former impoundment –three acres of open water is slowly converting to wetland, a sinuous channel is starting to carve it’s way naturally to the Great Marsh below, and native plants are ready to take advantage of the newly exposed, rich sediments. This is ecological restoration at its best: planned intervention working with the healing hand of nature to reform and reshape natural conditions over time.

If you go to Ox Pasture Brook today, you will see the river bed emerging and new stream banks forming. This process will take several years to complete as the natural cycles of tide and storms move sediment downstream. You would have to go back to the retreat of the glaciers (approx. 10,000 years ago) to see a new river form - so pick a warm day and head out to Ox Pasture Brook to see Mother Nature do her thing.

PHOTO POST: Skating for all

Lindsey Palatino

Multimedia intern, Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs

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I took these photographs while attending a Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) universal access event at Mt. Tom in Holyoke on Feb. 6, 2010. Click here for more information about upcoming events that feature adaptive technologies designed for people with physical disabilities.

The photo above is of Sue Tracy of Ashfield (left) and Greenfield resident Ella Thorne-Thompson (right) playing ice hockey using a sled. Click here to check out the complete gallery form the Universal Access Event!

Western winter hike

Gary Briere

Recreation Bureau Chief, Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR)

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The winter's big snowfall in the Berkshires and Connecticut Valley the week of Feb. 22 provided an opportunity to explore a trail that I walk regularly near the Connecticut River Greenway State Park.

My familiar route was full of new experiences as a result of the weather conditions. The heavy, wet snow was still falling and the millions of flakes in the air obscured my normal views of Mt Toby but created an ever-changing kaleidoscope view of the forest around me. Giant pillows of snow covered the branches of the white pines bordering a field. The extra weight proved to be too much for some of the weaker limbs, and the sound of snapping branches and avalanches of snow falling from the canopy above added drama to the normally well-behaved woodland atmosphere.

The strong scent of pine perfumed the air around a pile of recently fallen branches. Fresh tracks on the trail showed that a coyote had passed this way within the last few hours and reminded me that I share this special landscape with lots of other species who inhabit it and experience it in all types of weather and in every season.

With more than 2,000 miles of trails and pathways across Massachusetts, DCR offers many opportunities to explore the wonders of nature close to home and in all kinds of weather. Whether you visit DCR’s Charles River Esplanade in Boston or Mt. Everett in the Berkshires, you’ll find wonderful new experiences when you explore a trail or pathway in winter. Click here for more information in hiking in Massachusetts state parks.

When you return from your hike and are ready to curl up with a good book about trails, pick up a copy of Loop Year by John Sheirer. It’s the ultimate account of the changing seasonal nature of trails. The author walks the same Connecticut trail every day for 365 days and writes a daily account of his experience. He builds the 365-day adventure into his writing, as well, by limiting each daily log to 365 words.

Savoring the flavor of Maple Month

Commissioner Scott Soares

Commissioner, Department of Agriculture Resources (DAR)

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Last Friday, I partook in one of my favorite events of the year - the annual maple syrup tapping, which is the official kick-off of Massachusetts’ “first crop” of the season. You could see some patches of snow still on the ground but that didn’t stop a nice turnout of folks, including Sen. Rosenberg, Reps. Donelan, Kocot, Kulik, and Scibak, Deerfield Selectwoman Shores-Ness, and members of Massachusetts Maple Producers Association from celebrating this traditional rite of spring. In the photo, the tree you see me tapping (and for which I was heartily teased because I drilled at too steep an angle) belongs to the Williams’ homestead, a multi-generational family of maple tappers! In the next photo, you can also see me talking to the maple tree a bit to get that maple syrup flowing and I’m happy to report that it did!

March is Massachusetts Maple Month, and what better way to celebrate it than to visit one of the state’s many local sugarhouses. Click here for more information on how to find the sugarhouses that are open for tours and pancake breakfasts.

Click here for more information on Maple Month from the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism.

Or if you want more of a hands-on, outdoors experience you might want to check out MassWildlife’s and the Department of Conservation and Recreation’s upcoming maple sugaring and geocaching event for outdoorswomen on March 20th in Uxbridge.

Click here to learn more about how maple syrup is made.

[Photo:from left to right back: Sandy Williams, Chip Williams, Representative Kocat, from left to right front: Ed Parker, President of the Massachusetts Maple Producers Association, Rep. Scibak, and Commissioner Soares]

Three great winter hikes

Wendy Fox

Press Secretary, Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR)

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We all know how tough it is to convince ourselves to go outside and play on a cold winter day. But with studies linking diminished exposure to sunlight at this time of year with depression and sleep problems, it seems pretty clear that getting outside might be just what the doctor ordered.

There’s ice skating, of course, and snowball fights when precipitation complies, but for sheer non-competitive, feel-good fun, nothing beats a winter hike. Almost any DCR park in the Commonwealth would be a nice place to walk, but here are three great ideas worth considering.

Remember to wear shoes or boots appropriate for hiking. Bring water and sunscreen as appropriate.

Wednesday mornings, 10 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.,Beat the Winter Blues Hike, Harold Parker State Forest, North Andover, 978-686-3391. DCR and the Friends of Harold Parker have joined forces to lead a free hike through this lovely park every Wednesday morning. This winter, they plan to cover all the trails in the park. Meet at the headquarters, 305 Middleton Rd., North Andover and be ready for a beautiful walk.

Sunday, March 28, 7 a.m., Three Peaks Hike, Blue Hills Reservation, Milton, 617-698-1802 ext. 3. Get an early-morning start on fitness and fresh air in the Blue Hills Reservation south of Boston. Try this 3-mile hike with a DCR Ranger up and over some of the most scenic hilltops the Reservation has to offer. It’ll be a fast-paced hike summiting three peaks, should take about two hours, and will finish before most people are even getting up. Just think how virtuous you’ll feel! Meet at the Houghton’s Pond main parking lot, 840 Hillside St., Milton.

Monday, March 29, 6:30 p.m., Full Moon Hike, Middlesex Fells, 617-913-2895. If those morning hikes above aren’t quite what you’re looking for, how about a night-time hike during the March full moon? Head up to Wrights Tower in the Middlesex Fells with a DCR Ranger and take in beautiful moonlit views. The next hike starts in the Bellevue Pond parking lot on South Border Road in Medford. The hike is not difficult and should last just over an hour – and if you can’t make the March hike, there’ll be another one during the April full moon.

Bringing the outside in

Anna Waclawiczek

Chief of Staff, Department of Agricultural Resources (DAR)

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The interest and momentum for ‘locally grown’ has morphed from trendy buzz word to an intrinsic core to what living in Massachusetts is all about.

From this food lover’s perspective, the interest in locally grown produce is pretty self evident i.e., why wouldn’t there be demand for freshly baked breads, locally-made goat cheese or local grapes fermented at local wineries?

With increased demand, a growing number of farmers’ markets are opting to stay open year-round. Some markets are also offering winter workshops to consumers interested in learning more about the benefits of integrating wholesome local food into one’s daily culinary experience.

The Westford Farmers’ Market is offering a workshop next weekend about how to bring the great outdoors inside with a winter windowsill garden of fresh salad greens and herbs. The Winter Indoor Salad and Herb Garden Workshop is on Sunday, March 7th from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. Click here for more information about the Westford Farmers’ Market winter workshops.

P.S. DAR’s Megan Megrath who suggested I write about raising chickens let me know that even Boston’s Museum of Science is offering a course on raising chickens by Susan Orlean, staff writer for the New Yorker and author of the Orchid Thief. The event is this Wednesday, March 3. Click here for more information about the museum’s lecture series.