There is a lot of talk about being connected to the food we eat on Cape Cod, whether it’s promoting local farms or the restaurants who buy from them. Another issue of sustainability that has been on my mind lately is the concern of clean water on Cape Cod. There has been talk that at some point we may have to build sewage systems to accommodate our rapidly growing water use. Also, sometime last year several regions in Massachusetts suffered water issues including Cape Cod, whether it was from decaying water storage systems or bacteria problems, and for the first time we actually had to think about something we usually take for granted, the tap. The recent drought, thankfully ended with some rain, has also been a worry. Admittedly, first on my mind has been our woodland garden, and then of course there is the concern in the back of my mind about drinking water.
In my lifetime I have only been through one very brief water ban, where you actually had to buy water and couldn’t get it from the tap. Recent concerns about worldwide water overuse – where we deplete it with everything from dams to slowly draining underground springs – always seems like a concern for far away in the future. But right now on Cape Cod there is definitely talk about a complete overhaul of our current system which could cost the people who live here exorbitant amounts of money. A quick search of “nitrates Cape Cod” brought up pretty much nothing except a web site which hasn’t been updated since 2008. Not quite the news updates I was hoping for. This makes it all the scarier, with no info out there, how is a resident supposed to act?
I will be examining the issue, which I guess will take a bit more than a 10 second search, to see what is going on with water on Cape Cod. My uneducated guess is that the problems are not being caused by the year-round population, and I hope that will be taken into account when any sorts of extra costs or taxes are being charged. I also have a strong belief that instead of reacting to water problems with very expensive band-aids, we should examine the “whys” of these problems. What is causing this overuse of water on Cape Cod? This information should be researched so costs can be assessed accordingly. What part of it is business and what part of it is personal use? I see perfectly manicured, acre-sized green lawns on my bike rides. These homes are mostly empty, the only activity coming from the landscapers who install elaborate watering systems and leave little signs with skull and crossbones. I can take a wild guess that the owners of these homes probably enjoy supporting the same local farms and local restaurants I do - how about sustainable homes too? Can a small portion of their lawn be turned into a small wildflower patch taking less water and no chemicals? There are a few who are doing this. I know the town of Barnstable, for example, has advertised education programs for promoting native plants. This brings up nothing in a search, but here is a good link from the Cape Cod Commission and of course this blog has tons of info on wildflowers and native plants.  As a start, If we could each save just a little water, and dump just a couple less tons of skull and crossbones into our Cape Cod water – that would be lovely.Â
I bought my “Farmette” on the Cape in 2009 and have been working with the Conservation Commission to bring it back to good health. I have done many projects but the one I am researching now is a front lawn native wild flower field. I don’t live there full time yet so I will miss the guest speaker on this very topic of changing to wild flower fields, offered by the Cooperative Extension, I think on…the weekend of 10/13/12.
Thank you for mentioning this event – the folks from Project Native alerted me of this as well. I hope to check it out – I have to be off-cape in the afternoon, so hopefully the timing will work out:
Saturday, October 13 from 9:00 — 11:45 am
Chatham Community Center, 702 Main Street, Chatham, MA
Free. Pre-registration is requested.
Call the Chatham Conservation Office at 508-945-5164 or register online.
Book signing to follow. Ms. Zimmerman’s book and DVD– Urban & Suburban Meadows: Bringing Meadowscaping to Big and Small Spaces– will be for sale. Info at: http://www.themeadowproject.com.
Do you want to know more about the ecological value of meadows and how to create them– large or small? Do you care about preserving the wonderful landscape of Cape Cod? Then please join us to hear Catherine Zimmerman, founder of the Meadow Project. She will teach us about the process of creating ecologically rich meadow environments, step-by-step. Meadows full of native plants play a critical role in the ecology of the Cape and elsewhere, and can be effectively used in landscapes to provide beauty, a sense of place, and valuable natural habitat.
This event also includes brief presentations by Tim Boland, Executive Director of the Polly Hill Arboretum; Claudia Thompson, President of Grow Native Massachusetts; and Ed Dewitt, Executive Director of the Association to Preserve Cape Cod.
A presentation of the Chatham Conservation Commission:
Sponsored by the Chatham Conservation Commission, Chatham Conservation Foundation, Association to Preserve Cape Cod, Grow Native Massachusetts, Chatham Garden Club, and the Chatham Alliance.
thanks for your comment and best of luck with your wildflower field!