Growing Green: The Johnson Property

It’s Saige again, and this time I volunteered with the Southington Land Trust at one of their properties, the Niles and Linnea Johnson Family Wildlife Sanctuary. This land is the remaining portion of the Johnson family farm, part of which was taken during the construction of I-84. It was donated to the land trust in 2021. During my second volunteering session, I learned how members of the Land Trust are dedicated to permanently conserving land, not even letting cold temperatures and rain getting in the way of their mission.

On this raw November day, I cleared small Autumn Olive shoots from the ground and helped members cut down large Autumn Olive trees. Autumn Olive is a native shrub from Asia that has spread into the U.S. as an invasive plant. I was able to identify Autumn Olive plants from the light green color of the top of their leaves and the silver-white color on the bottom. I also learned that if a plant is still thriving during cold fall days, they are most likely invasive. This is true because invasive plants take advantage of the extra sunlight and extend their growing season. Clearing the Autumn Olive plant was important because it would prevent native plants from growing and severely disturbing the health of our ecosystem.

Once again, it was inspiring to see different groups of people come together working on the property because they share the same mission as members of the Southington Land Trust. In addition to helping maintain a balanced ecosystem, I also learned helpful tips to stay warm on days like this rainy, frigid Saturday. The first thing I learned was wearing rubber gloves under my gardening gloves would help keep my hands warm and dry. I also learned that when working in the cold, it would be smart to wear ski socks! These two hours at the Niles and Linnea Johnson Family Wildlife Sanctuary flew by as I gained knowledge about the environment and actively preserved the ecosystem with the help of the Southington Land Trust.