Manchaug Pond Foundation Land Conservation

Got Horses? Donkeys? Chickens? New Outreach to Backyard Farms in the Manchaug Pond Watershed

Posted April 19, 2023 We love our animals, gardens and pastures in the Manchaug Pond watershed – especially horses, donkeys, beef cattle, sheep, and chickens!  A 2020 watershed survey found close to 30 small hobby farms dot the landscape in this corner of Sutton, Douglas and Oxford. With water quality in mind, the Manchaug Pond Foundation is offering two new outreach programs to small farmers as part of a s319 Nonpoint Source Pollution grant received from the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection. ~ The first is a series of 24 newsletters and 12 podcasts – Hobby Farming with Water Quality in Mind.   Our series is “for owners of ‘Hobby Farms’ – small scale farms operated primarily as a residential lifestyle – to provide their owners with the tools to develop and operate an environmental-friendly farm and promote responsible stewardship of both land and the environment.” Each Wednesday for the next 24 weeks, we will release a newsletter on a topic of interest to backyard gardeners and animal owners which offers best management practices, options and solutions to farm and raise animals with our lake, streams and wetlands in mind.  Topics will go the gamut from planning your farm to understanding …

Manchaug Pond Foundation History

Manchaug Pond Indigenous People and Arrowheads in Tonight’s Sutton Historical Society Presentation

Posted April 4, 2023 Sharing this Sutton Historical Society event notice received this morning by a member of the Manchaug Pond Foundation.  At the event, the Society will display a collection of arrowheads from Harry Anderson, a longtime Manchaug Pond resident, historian, and member of our organization. Information about Manchaug Pond history, maps, and an article from Mr. Anderson are also featured on our About the Lake page. Here’s the Sutton Historical Society email notice: Tonight, Tuesday, April 4, 2023, at 7 pm, the Sutton Historical Society will host a presentation entitled Lithic Studies – Native Americans in Southern New England with speaker Joe Iamartino, President, Thompson Historical Society. The presentation will be held in the Sanctuary of the First Congregational Church, 307 Boston Road, Sutton, MA. Mr. Iamartino has been suddenly called out of town.  The powerpoint will be shown in the Sanctuary with Mr. Iamartino calling in to present his powerpoint.  There is not a ZOOM component to this presentation, and it will not be recorded. Additionally, the Society will have on display a collection of Native American arrowheads found by Harry Anderson over many years along the Manchaug Pond Shores, and past newsletters containing articles about the indigenous peoples …