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Save the Environment of Moorestown was founded in 1972 as a grassroots organization with a mission to preserve, protect, and enhance the natural environment of Moorestown, New Jersey, for today and for future generations. STEM’s work over the years to address local environmental issues such as water and air pollution, solid waste disposal, & recycling also includes helping to preserve and protect Moorestown’s open spaces. Our Natural Area Care program helps to maintain these sites on an ongoing basis. We are always looking for new members.
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Creating native grasslands and wildflower fields for Moorestown’s butterflies, birds, bees — and people
By Kevin Riordan, originally published in the Philadelphia Inquirer on 10/21/2021
Photos by Thomas Hengge
Photos by Thomas Hengge
A 130-acre expanse of former Moorestown farmland called Swede Run Fields is being transformed into an oasis for bees and other struggling pollinators, as well as for vulnerable ground-nesting birds.
In 2001, Moorestown Township bought 130 acres known as the Benner Farm to protect it from the development boom that was transforming the rural landscape along both sides of Westfield Road.
Twenty years later, the grassroots nonprofit Save the Environment of Moorestown (STEM) is leading an effort to transform the Burlington County site, now called Swede Run Fields, into a destination for butterflies, birds, bees, other pollinators — and people. All of which are species under significant stress and in need of safe and nurturing places.
“When I started this, I wasn’t sure if it had much of a chance to happen,” said STEM president Mark Pensiero, 65. The retired business operations director at Lockheed Martin, who grew up in Moorestown, has been working on the Swede Run project for almost two years.
“When the pandemic hit, I had a lot of time on my hands,” said Pensiero, a father of three and grandfather of two. He’s also a devoted birdwatcher.
“This will be a habitat that is not common in this part of New Jersey anymore,” he said. “This plot of ground is big enough to attract threatened species of birds to nest here. The pieces for this project have all come together, and I couldn’t be happier.”
Last spring, about 30 volunteers planted wildflowers such as butterfly weed in a demonstration garden on the east side of the fields. Designed by STEM member Karen Walker, the 4,50-square-foot garden bloomed gloriously around a 19th-century barn made of ironstone that’s a much-photographed reminder of the township’s agricultural past. The Historical Society of Moorestown and volunteers helped save the beloved building from demolition a decade ago.
“There were tons of monarch butterflies here” in September, Pensiero said. “It was one of my favorite examples of how nature is amazing.”
Twenty years later, the grassroots nonprofit Save the Environment of Moorestown (STEM) is leading an effort to transform the Burlington County site, now called Swede Run Fields, into a destination for butterflies, birds, bees, other pollinators — and people. All of which are species under significant stress and in need of safe and nurturing places.
“When I started this, I wasn’t sure if it had much of a chance to happen,” said STEM president Mark Pensiero, 65. The retired business operations director at Lockheed Martin, who grew up in Moorestown, has been working on the Swede Run project for almost two years.
“When the pandemic hit, I had a lot of time on my hands,” said Pensiero, a father of three and grandfather of two. He’s also a devoted birdwatcher.
“This will be a habitat that is not common in this part of New Jersey anymore,” he said. “This plot of ground is big enough to attract threatened species of birds to nest here. The pieces for this project have all come together, and I couldn’t be happier.”
Last spring, about 30 volunteers planted wildflowers such as butterfly weed in a demonstration garden on the east side of the fields. Designed by STEM member Karen Walker, the 4,50-square-foot garden bloomed gloriously around a 19th-century barn made of ironstone that’s a much-photographed reminder of the township’s agricultural past. The Historical Society of Moorestown and volunteers helped save the beloved building from demolition a decade ago.
“There were tons of monarch butterflies here” in September, Pensiero said. “It was one of my favorite examples of how nature is amazing.”
Later this fall, with the support of the Xerces Society and other conservation groups, as well as the assistance of the federal and township governments, STEM has arranged for 70 acres on the west side to be seeded with little bluestem and other native grasses to create a habitat for ground-nesting birds such as eastern meadowlarks and perhaps even the grasshopper sparrow.
Plans also call for enhancing two small patches of west side wetlands into vernal pools — shallow and seasonal bodies of water — that will help attract migrating birds as they follow the Delaware River portion of the Atlantic Flyway. The west side of Westfield Road also will feature a quarter-mile-long, 30-foot-wide array of wildflowers that pollinators love.
“It will be stunning. It will be a ‘wow’ factor as you drive down the road,” Pensiero said, noting there also will be “real beauty to the native grasslands in all seasons.”
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Partners Program is providing about $18,000 for the project because of “the exceptional ecological value” of the site, program coordinator and wildlife biologist Elizabeth Freiday said.
“It wouldn’t be happening without the commitment from the township, and the people of STEM,” said Freiday, who works out of the service’s New Jersey office in Galloway Township, Atlantic County. There are about 120 partnership agreements statewide; about half are in South Jersey.
“Projects like this can’t get off the ground without the right people,” Freiday said.
One such volunteer is Colleen Mallow Lopresti, a STEM steering committee member who was visiting the pollinator garden on a recent weekday. “It’s great to have this place to get my hands in the dirt,” she said.
In 2001, Moorestown contributed 25%, or $1.8 million, of the $7.3 million purchase price of Benner Farm, with Burlington County picking up another 25%, and the remaining half paid for by the N.J. Green Acres program. In addition to the active farming, which ended in 2017, the site has long offered two miles of walking trails and, since 2016, a dog park.
Moorestown Mayor Nicole Gillespie said Swede Run Fields — named for the creek that runs through the eastern side of the property — “is the largest un-forested open space parcel” in the suburban township, which has a population of just over 20,000.
“The council made the decision not to continue leasing it to farmers, because some residents were concerned about the use of pesticides,” she said. “STEM came to us and said, ‘Here’s an idea,’ and we loved it: Passive recreation, habitat, and birdwatching are really a better way to make use of it. STEM brought the expertise and the passion and really drove this forward.”
The public-private collaboration enables the township to spend “a relatively small amount of money” — about $20,000 — to pay for mowing and other services, the mayor said. “This is a great investment.”
So far, STEM has spent about $8,000 and is looking for ways to make maintenance of the native grass fields — where the buildup of thatch requires regular removal — economically sustainable. Pensiero said the group is talking to at least one South Jersey farmer who may be interested in harvesting and selling the thatch to mushroom farms, which would lower the cost of the work.
“We want to keep this thing going for many, many years,” he said.
The Swede Run Fields project also is helping reenergize STEM, which will mark its 50th anniversary in 2022.
At 88, Barbara Rich is the only survivor of the trio of women who helped get the organization off the ground in 1972: Katherine Kay Smith died in 2019 and Esther Yanai in 2003.
“You have no idea the influence those two ladies had on me, and on the future of Moorestown,” said Rich, who like Smith and Yanai, has a significant section of Moorestown open space named in her honor.
“Swede Run Fields is a perfect example of what STEM’s mission was, and is,” she said.
Said Pensiero: “They blazed the path, and they had a lot of foresight.”
The efforts of the founders, their contemporaries, and current STEM members alike “have made the town a better place,” he said.
“And Swede Run Field is probably the thing I’m most proud of.”
Plans also call for enhancing two small patches of west side wetlands into vernal pools — shallow and seasonal bodies of water — that will help attract migrating birds as they follow the Delaware River portion of the Atlantic Flyway. The west side of Westfield Road also will feature a quarter-mile-long, 30-foot-wide array of wildflowers that pollinators love.
“It will be stunning. It will be a ‘wow’ factor as you drive down the road,” Pensiero said, noting there also will be “real beauty to the native grasslands in all seasons.”
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Partners Program is providing about $18,000 for the project because of “the exceptional ecological value” of the site, program coordinator and wildlife biologist Elizabeth Freiday said.
“It wouldn’t be happening without the commitment from the township, and the people of STEM,” said Freiday, who works out of the service’s New Jersey office in Galloway Township, Atlantic County. There are about 120 partnership agreements statewide; about half are in South Jersey.
“Projects like this can’t get off the ground without the right people,” Freiday said.
One such volunteer is Colleen Mallow Lopresti, a STEM steering committee member who was visiting the pollinator garden on a recent weekday. “It’s great to have this place to get my hands in the dirt,” she said.
In 2001, Moorestown contributed 25%, or $1.8 million, of the $7.3 million purchase price of Benner Farm, with Burlington County picking up another 25%, and the remaining half paid for by the N.J. Green Acres program. In addition to the active farming, which ended in 2017, the site has long offered two miles of walking trails and, since 2016, a dog park.
Moorestown Mayor Nicole Gillespie said Swede Run Fields — named for the creek that runs through the eastern side of the property — “is the largest un-forested open space parcel” in the suburban township, which has a population of just over 20,000.
“The council made the decision not to continue leasing it to farmers, because some residents were concerned about the use of pesticides,” she said. “STEM came to us and said, ‘Here’s an idea,’ and we loved it: Passive recreation, habitat, and birdwatching are really a better way to make use of it. STEM brought the expertise and the passion and really drove this forward.”
The public-private collaboration enables the township to spend “a relatively small amount of money” — about $20,000 — to pay for mowing and other services, the mayor said. “This is a great investment.”
So far, STEM has spent about $8,000 and is looking for ways to make maintenance of the native grass fields — where the buildup of thatch requires regular removal — economically sustainable. Pensiero said the group is talking to at least one South Jersey farmer who may be interested in harvesting and selling the thatch to mushroom farms, which would lower the cost of the work.
“We want to keep this thing going for many, many years,” he said.
The Swede Run Fields project also is helping reenergize STEM, which will mark its 50th anniversary in 2022.
At 88, Barbara Rich is the only survivor of the trio of women who helped get the organization off the ground in 1972: Katherine Kay Smith died in 2019 and Esther Yanai in 2003.
“You have no idea the influence those two ladies had on me, and on the future of Moorestown,” said Rich, who like Smith and Yanai, has a significant section of Moorestown open space named in her honor.
“Swede Run Fields is a perfect example of what STEM’s mission was, and is,” she said.
Said Pensiero: “They blazed the path, and they had a lot of foresight.”
The efforts of the founders, their contemporaries, and current STEM members alike “have made the town a better place,” he said.
“And Swede Run Field is probably the thing I’m most proud of.”
Preparing Our Pollinator Gardens for Winter
October, 2021
October, 2021
As many of you are aware, STEM recently installed a beautiful native pollinator garden adjacent to the dog park at Swedes Run. This garden is home to around 1,300 plants spread among ten species. The garden was a great success, drawing in countless pollinators, including many monarch butterflies who fed at the garden and then laid eggs on the common milkweed and butterfly weed plants. They in turn were followed by many monarch caterpillars – and the cycle continues. Now as we enter the fall, the blooms are fading, and soon there will be no new blooms to replace the fading ones.
We all like the look of an uncluttered and tidy garden. Many of us (myself included) are in the habit of cleaning up our pollinator gardens in preparation of winter. Typically, this includes cutting off the dead flowers or cutting off the plant stems at the ground. I certainly understand the desire we have to clean up our garden after flowers have faded and. Shriveled brown leaves, blossoms and stems are not as appealing as the bright flowers that dominate summer and fall. However, they are beneficial to the many overwintering pollinators.
Many beneficial pollinators overwinter in gardens, using plants and debris that are left behind to survive the winter. If you have a pollinator garden with native species that help pollinators during the summer and fall, please leave them standing to provide cover for pollinators through the winter.
- Don’t cut back the dried stalks of perennials (milkweed is a perennial).
- Don’t pull up dead annuals or weeds. They’ll trap whatever leaves blow by, creating their own enriching mulch while shielding insects.
- Don’t install a deep layer of mulch, which could block the insects’ escape in spring.
- Don’t disturb bare soil where many wild bee species, including bumblebees, overwinter in small nests.
- Do consider planting a cover crop to protect small animals and insects.
- Do add new perennials including bulbs, trees and shrubs at a time when fall moisture can help establish their root systems.
- Do delay tilling or — better yet — don’t till at all
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Various species of butterflies and moths can survive winter by hiding under garden debris, others are active during the winter months, some overwinter as a chrysalis and a few can survive as caterpillars.
These species hibernate under bark and dried leaves:
These species overwinter as a chrysalis:
These species survive as caterpillars:
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Although they are often overlooked because they don’t have colonies, solitary bees pollinate more efficiently than honeybees. During the winter, many of them hide in the hollow stems of bee balm or ornamental grasses. Others burrow into the ground to overwinter or make use of man-made bee hotels.
There are more than 400 ladybug beetles species in North America that feed on common garden pests — aphids, mites, white flies and scale insects. One ladybug can eat a dozen insects a day, so gardeners and farmers love them. Although invasive species, such as Asian lady beetles, often find their way into homes and become pests, native species only overwinter outside. They rely on cover under rocks, in hollow logs and beneath leaves to survive until spring.
Wasps, ants and midges — a small two-winged fly — are other beneficial pollinators that overwinter.
Do your garden and pollinators a favor and wait until April to rid your flower beds of wilted plants and debris. The pollinators that live there will thank you by ridding your garden of pests and ensuring beautiful blooms in the spring.
- Red mason bees spend the winter as young adults in an unanimated state inside their nest. They build nests in dry hollow stems, in holes in wood and in bee hotels.
- Leaf cutter bees. These bees are another cavity nester. They overwinter bee larvae in nesting holes until next summer.
- Mason bees. These bees are also cavity nesters. They overwinter in hollow reeds and stems with holes around 3/8-inch in diameter. they will also use nesting blocks, with the correct size holes and bee hotels.
There are more than 400 ladybug beetles species in North America that feed on common garden pests — aphids, mites, white flies and scale insects. One ladybug can eat a dozen insects a day, so gardeners and farmers love them. Although invasive species, such as Asian lady beetles, often find their way into homes and become pests, native species only overwinter outside. They rely on cover under rocks, in hollow logs and beneath leaves to survive until spring.
Wasps, ants and midges — a small two-winged fly — are other beneficial pollinators that overwinter.
Do your garden and pollinators a favor and wait until April to rid your flower beds of wilted plants and debris. The pollinators that live there will thank you by ridding your garden of pests and ensuring beautiful blooms in the spring.
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