BERLIN– The National Wildlife Federation recently helped a pair of local beekeepers transition from farmers to owners of a wildlife preserve.
NWF named Trappe Creek Organic Farm, owned by retired farmers Carl and Jenel D’Alessandro, a Certified Wildlife Habitat site. Qualified sites must demonstrate that programs have been active for at least one year with a management plan that lists goals, objectives and prescriptions, as well as complete documentation of all programs. A panel of WHC wildlife biologists and staff reviews the materials for certification eligibility and recognizes deserving projects.
The farm previously produced and sold unprocessed honey and organic produce at area farmer’s markets.
“We enjoy witnessing our thousands of honeybees, along with dragonflies and butterflies pollinating our walking trails, fields and gardens,” Jenel said. “We created this habitat here not only because we are organic and this is considered a ‘safety zone’ for so many organisms, but because we wanted to do our part in attracting more wildlife and supporting native species.”
The farm has been insecticide, pesticide and herbicide-free since the couple began producing honey. When Jenel noticed visitors commenting on her rare wildflowers, she bought a book on native species and began matching them up with the ones she found on the farm.
“I joined the National Wildlife Foundation and it wasn’t until I saw the, ‘why don’t you certify your house or garden as a habitat?’” she said. “That’s what interested us. We had to prove that we had five separate environments here – a dry land, a meadow, a wetland and so forth. They made it very easy for us, but of course we had everything over here anyway – we just never got around to being certified a wildlife habitat.”
Jenel remembers seeing Checkerspot and monarch butterflies on the farm. Lately, she has spotted at least five new species.
“Slowly but surely we’re starting to invite different insects and different types of wildflowers here that we’ve never had, and I’m so grateful that we’re now a certified wildlife habitat because of that,” she said.
The couple hopes to be able to share the habitat with others. Carl has degrees in biology and education from North Carolina State University; Jenel is an Earth Science Education major at Salisbury University.
“I just want others to know that we’re here because we would love to take people for a walk out back, or especially school groups or groups from the colleges or the high school,” Jenel said. “That would be right up our alley. We want our community to know that we’re here, and if they want to also come and witness these things we’d be more than happy to show them.”
Although the farm no longer sells produce at market, Jenel said she still keeps a dozen hives active on the farm.
“That keeps us busy; we’ll sell that onsite as it becomes available, and we’ll post something on our website,” she said. “That’s also an excuse to keep things up and to monitor the different insects and things that we do see. We have a pond and we live on Trappe Creek, so we get deer and all kinds of other wildlife besides insects, of course. We also monitor our hive hoping that a raccoon or a skunk doesn’t tip over the beehives. We’re starting to make really careful observations, and because of that we see all this other wildlife and everything happening.
“It would be nice if someone was interested in that that they could come out here and we could share that with them,” Jenel said. “Or, if not, just having a wildlife habit in Worcester County – at least it’s certified now. And it will always be certified.”
For information call 410-629-1430 or visit trappecreekorganicfarm.com.
NWF named Trappe Creek Organic Farm, owned by retired farmers Carl and Jenel D’Alessandro, a Certified Wildlife Habitat site. Qualified sites must demonstrate that programs have been active for at least one year with a management plan that lists goals, objectives and prescriptions, as well as complete documentation of all programs. A panel of WHC wildlife biologists and staff reviews the materials for certification eligibility and recognizes deserving projects.
The farm previously produced and sold unprocessed honey and organic produce at area farmer’s markets.
“We enjoy witnessing our thousands of honeybees, along with dragonflies and butterflies pollinating our walking trails, fields and gardens,” Jenel said. “We created this habitat here not only because we are organic and this is considered a ‘safety zone’ for so many organisms, but because we wanted to do our part in attracting more wildlife and supporting native species.”
The farm has been insecticide, pesticide and herbicide-free since the couple began producing honey. When Jenel noticed visitors commenting on her rare wildflowers, she bought a book on native species and began matching them up with the ones she found on the farm.
“I joined the National Wildlife Foundation and it wasn’t until I saw the, ‘why don’t you certify your house or garden as a habitat?’” she said. “That’s what interested us. We had to prove that we had five separate environments here – a dry land, a meadow, a wetland and so forth. They made it very easy for us, but of course we had everything over here anyway – we just never got around to being certified a wildlife habitat.”
Jenel remembers seeing Checkerspot and monarch butterflies on the farm. Lately, she has spotted at least five new species.
“Slowly but surely we’re starting to invite different insects and different types of wildflowers here that we’ve never had, and I’m so grateful that we’re now a certified wildlife habitat because of that,” she said.
The couple hopes to be able to share the habitat with others. Carl has degrees in biology and education from North Carolina State University; Jenel is an Earth Science Education major at Salisbury University.
“I just want others to know that we’re here because we would love to take people for a walk out back, or especially school groups or groups from the colleges or the high school,” Jenel said. “That would be right up our alley. We want our community to know that we’re here, and if they want to also come and witness these things we’d be more than happy to show them.”
Although the farm no longer sells produce at market, Jenel said she still keeps a dozen hives active on the farm.
“That keeps us busy; we’ll sell that onsite as it becomes available, and we’ll post something on our website,” she said. “That’s also an excuse to keep things up and to monitor the different insects and things that we do see. We have a pond and we live on Trappe Creek, so we get deer and all kinds of other wildlife besides insects, of course. We also monitor our hive hoping that a raccoon or a skunk doesn’t tip over the beehives. We’re starting to make really careful observations, and because of that we see all this other wildlife and everything happening.
“It would be nice if someone was interested in that that they could come out here and we could share that with them,” Jenel said. “Or, if not, just having a wildlife habit in Worcester County – at least it’s certified now. And it will always be certified.”
For information call 410-629-1430 or visit trappecreekorganicfarm.com.