Pictured is our vegetated buffer along a stream that flows from the farm into Turkey Hill Brook. Planting shrubs and other plants on the edge of streams and ponds prevents soil erosion and acts as a natural buffer to help keep the water clean. This is especially important on farms such as ours, where nutrients from animal manure can pollute the groundwater. Our streamside buffer also provides safe habitat for turtles, whose populations are at great risk in Massachusetts due to shrinking habitat and road mortality. 

One of the benefits of natural habitat gardening is that there are always flowers enough to share - vases brimming with blooms are pure joy in late summer.