{"id":9157,"date":"2021-05-31T23:57:17","date_gmt":"2021-06-01T03:57:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=9157"},"modified":"2021-09-09T06:55:15","modified_gmt":"2021-09-09T10:55:15","slug":"episode-355-wetlands-recovered-1958-to-2021-freeman-skeoch-farm-erin-twp-wellington-county","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=9157","title":{"rendered":"EPISODE 355 WETLANDS RECOVERED 1958 TO 2021 FREEMAN\/SKEOCH FARM ERIN TWP, WELLINGTON COUNTY"},"content":{"rendered":"
EPISODE 355    WETLANDS RECOVERED  1958 TO 2021    FREEMAN\/SKEOCH FARM  ERIN TWP, WELLINGTON COUNTY<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
alan skeoch<\/div>\n
may 31. 2021<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
EDWARD FREEMAN, my grandfather bought this 25 acre farm shortly before World War I started.<\/div>\n
He did not have much money having been burned out of his log cabin home near Krugerdorf  in<\/div>\n
Northern Ontario.   Not many people would want the farm.  Ages ago an ice sheet covered Ontario.<\/div>\n
Beneath the ice was solid rock.  Between the ice and the rock was rubble\u2026millions, billions of stones, all sizes, rounded imperfectly…<\/div>\n
great heaps of unsorted rubble was ground then left in heaps as the ice retreated.  Along with the<\/div>\n
rubble the glacier hollowed out several places on the farm which became wetlands until the farmers<\/div>\n
arrived and attempted to drain the wetlands.   Ed Freeman was successful\u2026partly.  He reduced<\/div>\n
the wetlands but at least 6 swamps could not be completely drained.  He piled the rocks in heaps.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Since we took over the farm we have reversed the process and expanded the wetlands so that the farm<\/div>\n
today no longer looks like a farm.  It looks much as it must have looked when the ice retreated.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
POND #1: ONLY POND LEFT ON FARM IN 1958\u2026AND MUCH SMALLER\u2026ANDREW AND I BUILT A SMALL DAM THAT<\/div>\n
RAISED THE WATER LEVEL.  THIS POND IS ABOUT 6  ACRES .<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
This has been a life long job\u2026getting back the wetlands.  A job appreciated by at least one great snapping turtle, a large cluster of painted turtles,<\/div>\n
families of Canada Geese, one couple of wood ducks, wild turkeys and deer that we rarely see and coyotes who leave their scat laden with rabbit fur<\/div>\n
on the cedar clad forest that surrounds he pond.  The trail gives access to the only field left on the farm.  My flax field.  But this year it will<\/div>\n
be mostly sweet clover if all goes well.   Why clover?  Andrew is raising bees.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Hopefully, given time, the frogs, leaches, sticklebacks, snakes \u2026the great pyramid of pond life will be reestablished.  Right now the small<\/div>\n
creatures are low in number\u2026but present.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Lots of birds\u2026this year wild canaries seem more than usual.  No bobolinks though.  The ravens and crows are present \u2026deadly to the<\/div>\n
young song birds nesting efforts.  And high above hover the turkey vultures searching for dead things.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
 POND #2: WAS A HAYFIELD UNTIL WE HIRED RON SAUNDERS TO EXCAVATE\u2026NOW OUR DEEPEST POND<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
POND #3  WAS A WET PART OF THE BARN YARD UNTIL RON SAUNDERS EXCAVATED.  WHEN EXCAVATED THE POND WAS SOON<\/div>\n
FILLED WITH A DOZEN CHILDREN LAUGHING AND DIVING FROM A WOODEN RAFT AND LATER MARJORIE AND VALERIE TOOK<\/div>\n
A NUDE SWIM WHILE I WAS WORKING NOT TOO FAR AWAY.  WATER ATTRACTS ALL KINDS OF WILD LIFE.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
POND #4 WAS A HIDDEN SHALLOW SWAMP UNTIL JIM SANDERSON BROUGHT HIS BIG EXCAVATOR\u2026AND THE MACHINE SANK<\/div>\n
INTO THE QUICKSAND OF AN ANCIENT BEACH\u2026TO GET IT OUT REQUIRED MANY MACHINES AND A RAFT MADE OF BIG TREES\u2026<\/div>\n
THE END RESULT WAS A HOME FOR AN AGED BEAVER\u2026POND REMAINED HIDDEN UNTIL THIS YEAR, 2021, WHEN THE BRUSH HAS BEEN<\/div>\n
CLEARED.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
SO WE HAVE RECREATED A WETLAND.  AMAZING HOW MANY CREATURES THANK US FOR OUR LABOUR.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
MAYBE YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE WHAT THE FARM LOOKED LIKE WHEN EDWARD AND LOUISA FREEMAN ARRIVED IN 1914.<\/div>\n
COMING IN ANOTHER EPISODE<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
alan skeoch<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

EPISODE 355    WETLANDS RECOVERED  1958 TO 2021    FREEMAN\/SKEOCH FARM  ERIN TWP, WELLINGTON COUNTY alan skeoch may 31. 2021 EDWARD FREEMAN, my grandfather bought this 25 acre farm shortly before World War I started. He did not have much money having been burned out of his log cabin home near Krugerdorf  in Northern Ontario. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9157","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9157","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9157"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9157\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}