We are pleased to announce the recent completion of a loop trail through our Seminatore Meadow property. You can now complete a “lollipop” hike beginning and finishing your walk at the marked trailhead on Pond Circle.

Starting from the trailhead, you will pass under a quiet, cool canopy of tall pines and mixed hardwood trees and along a magical fern lined wetland before reaching the open sunlit expanse of the meadow. If you approach quietly, you may be lucky enough to see white-tailed deer leaping away, their heads barely cresting the top of the tall flower stalks. Here you can follow the mowed path through the meadow. Listen to the crickets chirping and bees buzzing as barn swallows fly low over the meadow feeding on airborne insects; watch as hordes of grasshoppers leap off the trail ahead of you and keep your eyes open for beautiful orange-winged Halloween Pennant dragonflies perching on flower stems along the trail and Silver-spotted Skipper butterflies flitting between flower heads. Plans are to put a bench under the big pine tree you pass as after you first enter the meadow so you can sit and enjoy the shade, sounds, and sights at your own pace. After finishing the loop, you’ll exit as you entered and return via the same forest trail. You should easily be able to complete the entire hike in an hour or less depending upon how long you decide to dawdle along the way.  There is ample parking along the Pond Circle cul-de-sac (off of Village Ave Road) where the signage is obvious. Please note: the NCT-owned trail access from the street is a 25-foot-wide grass strip that abuts privately owned land on both sides. Please be respectful of the neighbors and stay within the entrance path. Pets should be leashed until inside the wooded area of the trail.

After clearing the existing vegetation and preparing the soil, with the help of Tony Beattie and his farm equipment we seeded the meadow area with a wildflower mix in October 2018.  We patiently waited through the winter and early spring of 2019 to see the fruits (and possibly flowers) our labors. By late May, as seeds began to germinate, it was evident that the weed seed-bank in the soil was greater than we had hoped for.  We had anticipated that it would not be possible to eliminate all the undesirable plants during our initial season of control, but what emerged was greater than we had hoped for.  Not to be discouraged, throughout the course of the summer we carried out a high mowing regime to suppress re-seeding of annual and biennial weeds and spot treated and/or pulled surviving perennial weeds and invasives.  We concluded the season with a treatment of a grass-specific herbicide to help eliminate competing perennial orchard/pasture grasses. We are feeling hopeful that we will see greater growth of our desirable meadow plantings come spring of 2020.

Concurrently with the 2019 meadow specific work, we made great progress on creating public access to the meadow.  Through significant effort of NCT board members and volunteers we built a trail from our signed-access on Pond Circle into the meadow.  Special thanks are extended to Rob Rand and Paul Peavey who designed and built two sturdy, wood-plank wetland crossings along the route (see image below). The trail wanders approximately a quarter mile through high-canopied mixed hardwood forest and along a waist-high fern dominated lowland to reach the meadow in its back corner.  It’s a real beauty and we encourage NCT members to give it a try.  There is ample parking along the Pond Circle cul-de-sac where the signage is obvious.  Please note:  the NCT-owned trail access from the street is a 25-foot-wide grass strip that abuts privately owned land on both sides. Please be respectful of the neighbors and stay within the entrance path. Pets should be leashed until inside the wooded area of the trail. 

In July, we received a Pollinator Conservation Activity Plan (CAP), prepared by our Xerces Society associate, Emily May, and funded by a grant we received during 2019 from the National Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).  The CAP includes numerous site-specific suggestions for improving both the pollinator and wildlife value of the extended meadow area, and will serve as a framework for additional related projects moving forward.

Our goal is to officially open the Meadow and access trails by late summer 2020.  Watch our website and keep an eye open for notification.  We hope that you will join us.

We are very pleased to announce that NCT has recently acquired a grant to create a two acre pollinator meadow on one of its properties.This grant was generously provided by the Community Foundation of Northern Middlesex County. The pollinator meadow will be encompassed within theSeminatore Conservation Area. Acquired by NCT in1978, this 22 acre parcel is part of a much larger, contiguous mosaic of protectedland. Thepropertyincludes a perennial pond, wetlands, upland forest, and approximately2.6 acres of old field/pasture.

Work on the project began in the spring with NCT board members and volunteers clearing debris, cutting down trees and branches, and removing invasive plants and old fencing. More recently the old pasture was hayed and the first application of herbicide was made. By early fall the ground should be clear of existing vegetation and ready for seeding. The complete, fully flowering meadow will likely not be realized for another couple of growing seasons as it takes a while for the plants to grow from seed to maturity.

Once established, the meadow will include a suite of colorful, native perennial flowers and bunch grasses. It will not only provide essential food and habitat for pollinators such as bees, butterflies and other insects, but will also create habitat for other wildlife including birds and mammals. As part of the project, access will be greatly improved and new trails will be constructed into and around the meadow that will take advantage of other natural features that the parcel and surrounding conservation land have to offer.One or two benches will be secured to enhance the experience of visitors, and a kiosk containing educational resources will also be constructed.

Ultimately, we are planning to provide a unique, peaceful, and beautiful recreational space in which community members can enjoy and explore nature, and that can be used to educate community members about the amazing diversity and life histories of pollinators, their importance, challenges and conservation.