Natural Resources

You will find countless examples of life, its sustainers, and its enhancers on the grounds of Speaking Waters, any of which might be the focus of the research and work of our Unitat Project participants. We hope the brief but incomplete list below gives an idea of what you may find when you come to work or visit. We look forward to our SciArtists enriching our natural knowledge; we are not biologists, just creatives with an appreciation for the natural world.

Our Creek:  Potato Creek is a spring-fed, shallow, rocky, cascading creek. It originates on the top of Crumhorn Mountain and drops down the mountainside into Schenevus Creek which ultimately feeds into the Susquehanna River. On our grounds, the creek drops within a steep ravine approximately 60 feet from the highest to lowest point, and there is a steady strong water flow of roughly 3.6 cubic feet per second (which increased to an astonishing 44.7 cubic feet per second after one particularly heavy night of rainfall!). We are blessed with many springs on the property that keep it from drying up in the summer and freezing over in the winter, making it a good place to test mobile hydroelectric units.

A water hike is a magical way of transcending along the creek's ravine to the many small cascading or "speaking" points. We have provided modular decking adjacent to a few of these points for quiet time or meditation. The other points are for you to discover on your own as the creek is a living, often-changing organism. Two of the private Unitat Solo Immersion sites are secluded along the creek.

Altitude of 1,600 feet:  We are located in a mountain hollow in the Susquehanna River Valley, which generates a much-appreciated upward cooling breeze throughout the summer. The land itself is divided between open meadow and northern hardwood forest on a steep hill, with our namesake creek bed running through.

Furry Family Friends:  There are many animal families on the grounds - some we have met and many more we hope to in the future! Every morning you can see three curious female deer, who transform into five or more in springtime. They forged most of the paths we use at Speaking Waters, as they, like us, follow the easiest way across the hilly terrain. And we can't forget the beautiful, smirking fox (that is both helpful and on occasion a nuisance) living on the ridge above the creek. We also know there are porcupines, skunks, beavers, and coyotes living on the mountain, we just haven't met them on the Speaking Waters grounds yet.

Feathered Friends:  On our grounds you can find all of what the Eastern Algonquins called the Four Gatekeepers, as Evan Pritchard wrote in his Bird Medicine: The Sacred Power of Bird Shamanism:

• We have a family of three large ravens that are constantly circling overhead, calling out to the animals below what to be wary of.
• Our lone red-tailed hawk is a brave creature, occasionally having to flee from the ravens as the latter try and protect their turf.
• We've had a brief visit from two bald eagles stopping over for a groundhog dinner as the raven family just watched! 
• You can hear the calls of the barred owl through the still of the night.

In the fall of 2021, six wild turkey mothers with their new flock of 14 little ones visited the grounds. Mark and Jeff sat down across the meadow to watch, causing (perhaps) one of the turkeys to come within 15-20 feet and stare them down in a not-so-subtle threat. It then retreated, and the entire flock flew over the creek and into the trees to roost for the evening. Who knew turkeys could fly so high? 

In the wintertime there is a family of small chickadee birds that have adopted Mark and follow him around the property. He is sure it doesn't have anything to do with him feeding them when the ground is frozen! In the summer and fall there is constant changing of the birds living along the creek as different species migrate, from a blue heron, to a mallard duck couple, to the tiniest pair of hummingbirds that like to peek in the window of Mark's home. 

Butterflies, Fireflies, Dragonflies, Bees and Moths:  How many different markings are on the dragonflies and butterflies here? Along our protected creek bed and meadow, these busy flying beauties are on a constant search for sweet wildflowers. We are very interested in anyone who wants to help us with the wild honey bees on our grounds.

Nighttime:  It's just us and nature at night, when our sense of sound is heightened in the dark. From those little green frogs with their large voices, to the crickets, to the barred owl, to the coyote family on the ridge across the way, we never feel truly alone. When the full moon comes it's a sight to behold, as the hollow teems with light and animal activity.

Wind and Sun:  There is a unique wind pattern that comes up our mountain off the lower Susquehanna River Valley (blowing from the south 90% of the time), making it an excellent place to test wind devices. We are also blessed with sun illuminating the hollow all day, creating a good environment to use and test out solar-collection instruments (we are the second-to-last property up the mountain that uses electricity; all others neighbors are off-the-grid).

Foraging Plants:  Thousands of years ago, the early Native Americans taught themselves how to prepare many of the plants that still grow wildly on our grounds today. We have a multitude of plants similar to what you might recognize as onions, carrots, and garlic. Another plant that many foragers find as a tasty treat is burdock, although to their displeasure we had a takeover of these guys across our meadow and it has become a nuisance to remove their Velcro-like seeds from your clothes. Funny enough, you can buy a package of 50 burdock seeds for $7 online (who knows how many packages we could give away when we start our seasonal chopping and mowing?).

There are three types of fern that we are aware of (including the edible fiddlehead) as well as many types of moss and other as-of-yet unidentified water plants hiding in the spring-fed areas along the creek. We saw a brief explosion of wild strawberries one June for about two weeks, right during our local Strawberry Fest in Worcester. Some other tasty pleasures that Mark likes to use in his breakfast are the wild spearmint you can find along the creek, many types of berries (some not so sweet), and the sassafras root for his breakfast tea. 

An excellent resource on foraging in our area is Foraging New York by Wildman Steve Brill; if you are interested, you can order it here.

Wildflowers:  In a changing climate, with environmental biodiversity at high risk, it has never been more important to propagate native plants. We have had some accidental success creating patches of wildflowers in the past, but would love some assistance in adding to our already strong wildflower population. 

Poisonous Plants:  Beware! There are many plants on our grounds to watch out for, like stinging nettle, poison ivy, and poison sumac. Nature has provided many medicinal plants for us in the hollow, like the jewelweed that treats various skin rashes and funny enough often grows next to the poison ivy whose rash it soothes!

Trees:  These behemoths create our amazing canopy above while their root systems hold us together. Amazingly, we have many conjoined trees you will find all along the grounds. Some of these trees have even shared their root systems with completely different species, as if they are old friends protecting one another. Such trees are referred to in forestry as gemels, from the Latin word meaning "a pair."

A few of the more prominent types of trees you can find on our grounds:

• Great white oaks - the "tree of life" according to the Druids, who worshiped them as well as the friendly red oaks
• Birch - we have no idea how many different types of birch there are on the grounds. The well-known white or paper birch was well-utilized by Native Americans. Its waterproof bark made lightweight canoes and baskets and also kept rain out of homes. Birch is a pioneer species - the symbol of rebirth, new beginnings, and growth.
• Eastern Hemlock - an excellent wood for outdoor structures, much of the decking at Speaking Waters is made of hemlock. The trees themselves are crucial to the biodiversity and water quality of our grounds, and their evergreen nature provides shelter to our critters year-round.
• Eastern White Pine - our helping of these behemoths are concentrated around Unitat Site #1, creating a cathedral of sorts with an opening to the sky in the center. Many of the eastern white pines on our grounds have split trunks, creating a fairy tale-like setting when you descend towards the site.

Mushrooms/Fungi:  There is an abundance of mushrooms alongside the creek, as they thrive in wet environments. We are looking forward to having the veil of mystery lifted around what some think might be a conscious organism. 

Insects/Water Life:  Fortunately we are blessed with the aforementioned constant summer breeze up the mountain and (knock on wood) not many of those pesky mosquitoes along the creek (though you should be prepared if one gets trapped in your Unitat while you are trying to sleep!). Tick prevalence is not as bad as other places because of the cold winters we get, though they definitely are here riding on the deer. Not to worry, though, as we have some experience in dealing with ticks.

We have plenty of talking green frogs and tadpoles peeking out of the waters, but no fish, as our creek is a shallow fast running cascade. At the right time of year, you may be lucky enough to see a yellow-spotted salamander rising above ground to breed in our ephemeral pools. You also might see a snake once or twice a summer while clearing piles of dead fallen trees; no poisonous ones have been spotted yet, though it is a good idea not to stick your hands into holes in the ground! :)

Soil:  Most of our soil is rocky, though we do have a lot of decomposing, fertile soil along the springs. We are looking forward to (and could use some help with) building our garden away from our friendly neighborhood foraging deer, groundhogs, rabbits, moles, chipmunks, squirrels, and more.