State Representative Jeffrey N. Roy Scores High in ELM Action Fund Environmental Legislative Scorecard

The Environmental League of Massachusetts Action Fund (ELM Action Fund) is pleased to recognize Representative Roy, who achieved an excellent score in the organization's 2015-2016 Legislative Scorecard on the environment. It rates true legislative action, not merely votes. And it challenges AIM's recent scorecard criticizing legislators on energy policy as lost in the 19th century and failing to represent the long term interests of their own members.

"When it came to votes this session, Representative Roy supported our pro-environment agenda, but didn't stop there. Representative Roy demonstrated his commitment to conservation. The ELM Action Fund is pleased to recognize him as an environmental champion," said ELM Action Fund President George Bachrach. "We look forward to continued work together to protect our environment, improve public health, enhance quality of life, and grow our green economy."

"I was honored to be recognized by the Environmental League of Massachusetts Action Fund for my record in protecting the environment," said Rep. Roy (D–Franklin). "Laws and policies that protect our natural resources and foster clean energy sources have been a priority throughout my time in the House. These policies not only protect our planet, but they contribute to economic development, improve health, and offer recreational opportunities."

http://www.elmaction.org/legislative-scorecard/

Beyond votes, the ELM Action Fund awarded additional points to lawmakers who led by sponsoring important legislation or authored "Dear Colleague" letters, and deducted points from legislators who filed anti-environment legislation. The ELM Action Fund also challenges lawmakers for the practice of "voice votes" on controversial issues which are not recorded roll call votes. This practice prevents voters from truly gauging which representatives and senators are truly on their side.

"Legislative scorecards are common but this is unique, measuring leadership, not just votes," said Bachrach. "This is our best effort to give voters a sense of who is really on their side in the critically important work that takes place out of public view."

To view the scorecard, visit bit.ly/scores15 .

In the News: no room for fireworks this year, environmental oversight budget cuts hurt

From the Milford Daily News, articles of interest for Franklin

Council member Thomas Mercer said the fields at the new high school - where the fireworks would be launched - were the holdup. 

"We have not accepted the fields from the contractor," Mercer said, adding that the town would have to take ownership of the fields before it could hold the display there. "As the chairman of the building committee, I'll tell you they're not ready." 

The town, said Nutting, did not have any other proper launch locations, which would include adequate parking, decent visibility and a certain amount of space. 

"We had the state fire marshal out here, and we went everywhere," he said. "We went from place to place to place with him, and couldn't get any satisfaction."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20160515/franklin-does-not-have-place-to-launch-fireworks-officials-say

"Basic environmental protections for Massachusetts residents have unraveled in the last 15 years as deep budget cuts and shifting political priorities take hold. 

The state has slashed bacterial testing of lakes, rivers and other surface water by more than two-thirds in the last decade, according to state-reported data analyzed by The Eye. Inspections of contaminated properties and waste and water sites, meanwhile, have dropped 24 percent from fiscal year 2001."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20160515/years-of-budget-cuts-disarm-massachusetts-in-environmental-fight

Strategic Materials fined for violating state air pollution control and wetland protection regulations

"The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) has assessed a $17,200 penalty on Strategic Materials, Inc. of Houston, Texas, which operates a glass recycling facility at Kenwood Circle in Franklin, for violating state air pollution control and wetland protection regulations. 

State of MA DEP

Strategic Materials holds an air quality permit issued by MassDEP, which establishes emission limits and operating requirements for the glass bottle-crushing facility. Inspections conducted by MassDEP staff in 2014 identified violations of both the permit and the Wetlands Protection Act regulations."

Continue reading the press release by the State of MA DEP
http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/massdep/news/releases/franklin-recycling-facility-assessed-17200-penalty.html

Franklin, MA: Earth Day

Prepare today for Earth Day Sunday. Very little is mentioned on the Franklin website other than the one notice about registration for Earth Day. When you follow the link you find:

Thank you for your interest in the Franklin Earth Day event on April 22nd, 2012! For over 10 years, the Town of Franklin has conducted this event in an effort to educate the public on recycling, beautification, and general clean up of the town. This year, we are taking online registration for those folks looking to lock in a location in Town that they are interested in cleaning. Please select the area in town you are interested in cleaning and let us know specifics about your planned clean up. Gloves and trash bags can be picked up ahead of time at the Recreation Dept (150 Emmons St).

Native Plants of Franklin

Last week I told you that this tree is nearly extinct. Perhaps you've heard of it: the American chestnut, Castanea Dentata. This magnificent tree once dominated the East Coast. These giants could grow 100 feet tall and five feet or more in diameter. Imagine our current forests twice as tall as they are now, with oak trees standing as understory trees. That is what our forests used to look like.

Chestnut was a mainstay of the timber industry - the wood is hard, lightweight, straight-grained, extremely resistant to rot, and it grows fast. The trees produce copious quantities of nuts edible to both humans and animals, making this tree a linchpin of the East Coast's ecosystem.





So, what happened to the chestnut? A hundred years ago, an imported Chinese chestnut tree brought with it fungus. This fungus spread from tree to tree, killing them down to the roots. Over the course of fifty years, almost every American chestnut was killed - up to four billion trees.

Chestnuts are tough trees, and to this day, the roots of some of those old trees continue to put up new growth. That is what you are looking at above. This new growth almost never gets large enough to produce fruit before the blight once again kills it to the ground, so there is no hope of these remaining trees reproducing.

The chestnut pictured above is one of several like this that can be viewed just outside of Franklin's YMCA, at the Franklin State Forest, growing along the road. And at least one more grows at the DelCarte Open Spaces park. They lurk in areas that have escaped development, slowly dwindling to extinction.





But there is still hope for the American Chestnut. A scant handful of trees remain that continue to produce nuts. On their own, these trees are too scattered to continue the species. However, there are breeding programs hard at work on preserving these vitally important trees.




This is an entire orchard of American chestnuts. These are the ongoing work of The American Chestnut Foundation. The TACF crossed the American chestnut with the Chinese chestnut, and has been breeding the results again and again with American chestnuts for three decades in the hope of arriving at a tree that is mostly American, but which contains the Chinese gene for resistance to the blight.

This particular orchard is located at Idylbrook Field in Medway, and is open to the public. This is a piece of American history in the making, and a beacon of hope to restoration efforts of all sorts. But visit it soon: next summer, most of these trees will be cut down. This is the next step in the breeding program. The oldest trees are seven years old, and some have produced their first crop of nuts. As a part of the breeding program, the trees were inoculated with the blight this year. Next year the most healthy trees will be kept for breeding and the rest will be eliminated from the gene pool.

You can support the breeding efforts by becoming a member of the TACF, or by volunteerig at Idylbrook Field when the opportunity arises. Stay tuned: they will be needing some help when it is time to cut down those trees.


Michelle Clay writes about gardening here in Franklin at the Clueless Gardeners Blog.

Franklin, MA

Native Plants of Franklin

Greetings Franklin! It has been two weeks since I posted the last mystery plant - sorry for that unexpected delay. The hint for this week's plant is "the fruit is a lot more interesting than the flowers." And here is the flower:



I cheated here: I had to aim the camera up into the flower to get a good picture. The flowers are a pretty yellow on the inside, and they bloom from summer all the way through until the fall, but they hang downward like bells, so they aren't particularly showy.

The plant itself is a foot or two high, a bit fuzzy, perennial, and , if you know your veggie garden plants at all, you might think it looks like a tomato or potato plant. That's because it's a relative. This is called ground cherry, or more specifically, "clammy ground cherry", or Physalis heterophylla. And just like its more well-known veggie cousins, this plant has edible parts.





Ground cherry is perhaps most closely related to the tomatillo. Just like the tomatillo, it produces edible fruit in a papery husk. This is what the husks look like when they are developing.




And these are the husks when the fruit is ready to harvest. Which, by the way, is right now, so get out there and look in the weeds for this plant. If you find some, you may get a tasty treat.



The fruit itself is a marble-sized berry that is yellow or orangy when ripe, and tastes like a combination of a tomato and pineapple.

One word of caution: like the tomato, tomatillo, and potato, this plant is in the nightshade family of plants. Nightshade plants are all typically poisonous to some degree, which is why we don't eat tomato leaves or green potatoes. To be safe, don't eat any portion of the ground cherry plant except for the ripe berries.

But don't let this put you off from sampling these delicious native fruits! Ground cherries used to be more common as backyard vegetable garden plants, but seem to have been forgotten in recent years. I hear they make good pies, but I wouldn't know, because I ate all of my berries before I had a chance to cook them.

Here is next week's mystery plant. It's a tree actually.



Here's a hint: this tree is nearly extinct. I'll tell you all about the effort to restore the tree in next week's post, along with where you can go to see it growing in and around Franklin.


Michelle Clay writes about gardening here in Franklin at the Clueless Gardeners Blog.

Franklin, MA

Native Plants of Franklin

Greetings Franklin! Did you recognize what type of plant last week's mystery flower belongs to?




If you said "grass" you are correct!




I'm a little embarrassed to say that I'm not sure which type of grass this is. I had thought it was big bluestem, Andropogon gerardi, but I lost the plant tag. Drat. At any rate, it's a native grass that I bought from Garden in the Woods a few years back, and it has been a show-stopper in my garden ever since.




This particular native grass grows into a very tall clump, that, as you can see, is currently almost as tall as me. But native grasses come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, quite a few of which are fun for gardens as well as good for wildlife.




You may not have ever thought before about grass having flowers, but grass is a type of flowering plant. You just have to look closely to see the flowers.

You typically don't see flowers on mowed lawns because the grass needs to reach a taller height in order to produce flowers.

Native grasses aren't typically used in lawns. However, unlike the imported lawn grasses, native grasses handle our native growing conditions far better than their lawn counterparts. The grass I show above, for instance, remained emerald green throughout this summer's drought, even though I hardly ever watered it.

The next time you find yourself in a unmowed area, have a look at the grass, and see if you can't spot the flowers.

Here is next week's native plant:




Here is a hint: the fruit is a lot more interesting than the flowers.

Happy plant-sleuthing!

Michelle Clay writes about gardening here in Franklin at the Clueless Gardeners Blog.

Franklin, MA

Native Plants of Franklin

Sorry I'm late with the native plants this week! Here is the most recent mystery plant:



This is yet another native flower doomed to obscurity by the word "weed" in its name: jewelweed. This tender annual grows abundantly in moist, shady areas, and from mid to late summer it is covered in little orange orchid-like flowers.



The name "jewelweed" comes from the way water beads up into brilliant, flashing gems on its waxy leaves.

The Latin name of jewelweed is Impatiens capensis, which gives a clue as to what common garden plant this is related to: impatiens.

Jewelweed also goes by the name "touch-me-not", because when you touch the little bean-like seed-pods, they pop open violently! That aspect makes this plant especially fun for children.

This next plant is tricky. Forget about specifically what plant it is. If you can pinpoint what type of plant it is, then you're doing well. I'll give you a hint: this is a flower.



Happy plant-sleuthing!

Michelle Clay writes about gardening here in Franklin at the Clueless Gardeners Blog.

Franklin, MA

Native Plants of Franklin

Did you recognize last week's mystery flower?



This is joe pye weed, another lovely native flower that is cursed with the name "weed". Joe pye is currently in bloom in sunny fields of Franklin alongside goldenrod.



(Thanks to wikimedia for this image.)

There are several types of joe pye weed, or Eutrochium, which in turn are in the aster family of plants. Joe pye weed is typically a dusty purple color when in bloom.

Much like goldenrod, Joe pye weed produces a clump of flowers on a tall and spindly stalk. It can form dramatic clumps. Click here to see what joe pye weed can look like in a flower garden.

Butterflies just love this flower.

Next up: sure looks tropical, doesn't it?



Post your guesses in the comments section, and have a great week!

Michelle Clay writes about gardening here in Franklin at the Clueless Gardeners Blog.

Franklin, MA

Native Plants of Franklin

Hello Franklin! Did you recognize last week's mystery native, perhaps because it grows in the cracks of your driveway, or between the mulch and the curb of the grocery store parking lot?




This plant is called spotted spurge (Euphorbia maculata) and if you grow anything at all out-of-doors in New England, then you have likely plucked out this plant as a weed.




This is what it looks like when spotted spurge is left to its own devices for a few months. It grows absolutely flat against the ground, and has a lovely tinge of purple to its stems and leaves. Spurge is an annual plant that flourishes in hot, dry conditions that kill everything else.

I am a bit baffled as to why every source considers this plant to be just a weed, worthy only of killing, and I am currently leaving it to grow in parts of my garden to see how it does as a groundcover. So far it has been great! It was one of the only plants that didn't seem to suffer during the drought.




Just for fun, here is a closer look. This plant is in bloom. There they are: each flower is barely a millimeter across.




And here is next week's flower. Do you know what it is?




Feel free to post your guesses in the comments section here. Cheers!


Michelle Clay writes about gardening here in Franklin at the Clueless Gardeners Blog.

Franklin, MA

Native Plants of Franklin

Were you able to identify last week's mystery plant? Here it is, providing food to a hummingbird:




This is Oenothera biennis, otherwise known as common evening primrose. You've likely seen it in fields and weedy places, but you may never have noticed its amazing scent. Evening primrose blooms at night to attract moths. The flowers wilt under the hot sun, so the best time to see and smell this plant is early in the morning. Early in the morning is also when you are most likely to see hummingbirds feeding from its flowers.




Like many native flowers of North America, evening primrose is a biannual, meaning it goes through its entire lifecycle in two years. The plant grows as a small rosette of foliage the first year, and shoots upward with a flower stalk on the second. Under the right conditions, such as in a sunny location against a wall, it can grow eight feet tall and can produce hundreds of yellow flowers.



Seeds of evening primrose are easy to collect: simply break off seed-pods from a spent plant, and break them open. Seeds can then be scattered where you would like the plant to grow.

If you grow this plant in your garden, consider leaving the dead flower stalks standing through the winter to provide food for goldfinches.

And here is our next native plant:




Feel free to post your guesses here in the comments section!

If you would like to see more photos of hummingbirds here in Franklin, you can visit my blog at http://thecluelessgardeners.blogspot.com/ .


Franklin, MA

Native Plants of Franklin

Greetings Franklin! Were any of you able to identify last week's mystery plant?




This is a closeup of goldenrod, which is in bloom now in fields everywhere. There are many kinds of goldenrod, or Solidago L., and they are difficult to tell apart, but all of them are native to North America.




Goldenrod has a reputation for causing allergies. However, this is unfair and incorrect. The real culprit for sneezing right now is ragweed, which is also in bloom. Goldenrod has heavy pollen grans that fall quickly to the ground. The plant relies on insects to carry the pollen from one flower to another. Ragweed, on the other hand, has lightweight pollen which is small enough to float around on the wind.




Goldenrod is perennial that grows in dramatic clusters. It attracts many insects. If you aren't a fan of insects in your yard, consider them to be bird food. All birds, especially baby birds, require insects in their diet.

And here is next week's puzzler, being visited by a hummingbird:




Hint: it's another common flower that is in bloom and feeding hummingbirds right now. Post your answers in the comments section, and have fun!

Franklin, MA

Native Plants of Franklin

Were any of you able to identify last week's native plant? If you said milkweed, you win!



(Thanks to Wikimedia Commons for this second image.)

Common milkweed, Asclepias syriaca, is better known for what eats it than for its flowers; but don't let that give you any wrong ideas about its flowers! Milkweed has stunning spheres of blossoms that from up close look like they have been folded from origami.




And of course, what eats the plant are the larvae of monarch butterflies. They eat milkweed, and nothing else. Here is a female monarch looking for leaves to lay her eggs on.




And this is what the caterpillars look like.

If you want to see more monarch butterflies in your yard, plant milkweed! Seeds can easily be collected in the Autumn from meadows where milkweed grows, or they can be ordered from sources such as easywildflowers.com.





And here is our next mystery native flower. Hint: I've zoomed in rather close. Another hint: it's in bloom now.

Don't forget, you can post your answers (or wild guesses!) in the comments section. Happy botanical sleuthing!

Franklin, MA

Native Plants of Franklin

Hello Franklin! It’s time to reveal what last week’s mystery plant was. Were you able to figure it out? Loretta was close, and Susan correctly identified it. Here is the picture again:



If you said it was pinesap, you are correct!

I photographed this pinesap, at the Franklin State Forest last September, which means you have some time to get out and look for this elusive plant yourself. This patch is visible from the trail that leads straight into the woods from the YMCA.



The trick to seeing pinesap, Monotropa hypopitys, is that it only grows above ground like this for a very brief window of time. You may notice that the plant isn’t green. It actually contains no chlorophyll, which means it isn’t getting its food from the sun. Instead, it is a parasite that feeds on a fungus, which in turn is in a symbiotic relationship with tree roots. Don’t ever try to transplant this type of plant, because its growing conditions are so complex that removing the plant from its environment would kill it.

A more common relative of pinesap is Indian pipe, Monotropa uniflora, which also grows in undisturbed, shady woodlands, and is in bloom right now.



Indian pipe is frequently mistaken for a fungus, but like pinesap, it is a parasitic flowering plant.

And here is our next mystery plant:



Happy plant-sleuthing!


Franklin, MA

Native Plants of Franklin

Hello Franklin! My name is Michelle Clay, and you could call me a bit of a garden geek. Here in Franklin, we have a lot of lovely suburban gardens, but most of the plants in a typical suburban yard come from other parts of the world. We have many fascinating and beautiful plants that are native to the Franklin area that most people don’t know about. Each week I will feature one native plant here, and the following week, I will identify what it is, and tell you a bit about where it can be seen.



Can you guess what this one is? I’ll give you a hint: this is a very unusual plant. It has no chlorophyll, so it never turns green. Post your guesses in the comments, and happy sleuthing to you!


Franklin, MA

What's your name?

I've wanted to re-open the "Where in Franklin?" series and had the thought today on how to do it with a twist (of course).  I recall taking a walk along a state park trail with a naturalist when my daughters were young. The naturalist was able to name every plant along the way. Well, at least it seemed like she could. That is one area where my own development is lacking. I can recognize some vegetation (common trees, poison ivy, cherry tomatoes, etc.) but generally to walk in the woods, I feel a loss in that I don't know the names of the trees, plants and other vegetation.

Let's start with some simple things. Walking along the streets in Franklin, folks have various flowers and plants adorning their yard. Some of them are more attractive than others but all have a place in the circle of life. All of them have a name. As I walk around town and take pictures, I'll post good ones to find out the name.

You can play along in at least three ways:
1 - name it
send me an email, or leave a comment to identify the item shown

2 - send me a photo
of an item you would like to know the name of. I'll post it so we can all learn together

3 - you can also be less active and just read along
learning and sharing as we find out 'who's who' in the plant kingdom

This is not a contest where the first person who correctly names the item wins. We will all win by learning, and sharing and yes, perhaps having a laugh together, over what we know (and don't know).

This will be a new series. I'll have a separate page to collect the individual posts, pictures and results.

How does that sound?

I believe that learning, sharing, and laughing are the three things that I try to do everyday. Will you join me in this? Would you like to play along?

Yes, that is good. Then here is the first challenge. I found this gorgeous flower in a yard along King St.

Ms Flower - what's your name?

Note: If you have a Flickr account, you can also click through and comment on the photo in Flickr. I'll also post this to the Franklin Matters Facebook page.

-----

The Answer - my friend from Hawaii, Rosa Say, left a comment on the Flickr page to identify these as hibiscus.  More on hibiscus can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hibiscus


Franklin, MA

Franklin Area Blogs: environment

There are a couple of blogs based in Franklin writing about the environment and living green.

The Clueless Gardeners - Michelle is a frequent commenter here and should be followed. She and her husband are doing some good stuff in their garden.

"Welcome to our garden! Since 2007 we have been striving to turn our lawn into something beautiful, tasty, ecologically sound, and a centerpiece of our community here in Franklin, Massachusetts. We hope you enjoy your visit! -Michelle, Chris, and Gabe Clay"

The Experimental Farmer and The Green Suitcase. Maureen writes both blogs as she is

"A New England gardener and purveyor of all things vintage"

The most recent updates from each of these blogs can be found in the Franklin Area Blogs section, along the far right column here on Franklin Matters.

Click through to visit them from time to time and let them know you heard about them here!

Enjoy!


Franklin, MA

Green with a little green!

Susan sent me an email with the text and picture attached. Comments don't allow pictures so I am posting this separately:

Buzz has planted what he calls his "two dollar garden" - left over lattice strips and seedlings that were on sale a couple of weeks ago - all less than $2.

See, something green can be accomplished with just a little green!


Franklin, MA

What gets you going?

There are plenty of choices to get involved this evening. Be active!

Exercise?
Join the Franklin Citizens Rail Trail subcommittee meeting to plan for a fund raising road race.
Meeting at the Y at 7:30 PM

Environment?
The EPA will hold an information session and immediately following a public hearing to solicit feedback on their new storm water regulations.
Meeting at 6:30 PM at Tri-County Regional Voc Tech

Education?
The School Committee holds their second scheduled meeting for June this evening.
Meeting at 7:00 PM in the Council Chambers at the Municipal Bldg


Franklin, MA

Franklin, MA: raised garden beds in progress

I was away this weekend and missed the Earth Day activities, the clean up and the building of the raised garden beds. I visited the Senior Center, ECDC and the Charter School to view the work they did complete on the raised beds.

The raised bed at the Senior Center is located off to the left (facing the front of the building) next to the garden they already have.

A close up of the bed shows it empty.

A walk down the path connecting the  Senior Center to the school complex (Oak St, Horace Mann, and ECDC) revealed the raised bed at ECDC located next to their playground area near the front door.

As you can see, their bed has soil in it and it appears ready to be planted.

Walking over to the Charter School to find their beds eventually led us on a walk around the school.

They have two beds between the school and the Hayward property line. One of the beds is already partially planted and covered with plastic.

The chose a great location. Clear to receive the sunshine and help the garden grow!

The sponsor sign has been located in one of the beds. Thanks to the help from all the volunteers, the YMCA and all the sponsors. This is a good start for Franklin, MA!

"Thank you to the following organizations for Helping our Garden Grow!"

The post announcing the raised garden beds can be found here:
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/04/franklin-raises-garden.html