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W
e'
re looking for a couple of hardworking and friendly professionals to join our team...
P
hoto from our Decades of Preservation celebration
...a passion for our area's natural and historic heritage is a plus!
Full-time Community Engagement Associate: Click HERE to learn more about the position and how to apply.
Full-time Conservation Steward: Keep an eye on the Opportunities section of our website; the listing will be going up soon!
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The Wind in the Willows of Bucks County
Less than 200 copies of the collector's edition leather-bound version of
The Wind in the Willows of Bucks County are available to the public for a donation to Heritage Conservancy's Keeping The Promise (KTP) fund, which can be submitted through our website
HERE.
This book is a community legacy piece and high-end collector's item that will be cherished for years to come.
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Heritage Conservancy Photo Contest 
Wednesday, May 23rd to Friday, July 6th
Calling all shutterbugs! We want your best Bucks County or Montgomery County photos that celebrate our natural and historic heritage during spring, summer, autumn or winter. Up to 12 winners could be featured in our 2019 Heritage Conservancy wall calendar! Your photo entries must be submitted to Heritage Conservancy between Wednesday, May 23rd, and Friday, July 6th.
Photographers can enter up to three images.
Click HERE for more information and to submit your photos.
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Foraging for Edible Mushrooms 
Saturday, July 14th
9:00 AM to 11:00 AM
Heritage Conservancy's
Hart's Woods Preserve
Doylestown Township, PA
Ever wonder about which mushrooms you can eat? Well, come and find out! Jamie Hollander Catering & Events head chef, Luke Smithson, will lead a hike through the forest to identify wild edibles and provide a light picnic lunch for attendees. This is a favorite event for
many of our members; this is our fourth
year offering it!
Light picnic lunch provided. $20 for members; $30 for non-members. Contact Emily at
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Heritage Conservancy's Hike-A-Thon 
Saturday, July 21st
Rain date July 28th
9:00 AM to 11:00 AM
Meetup point at canal parking lot
(Approximate address)
1249 General Stark Road
Washington Crossing, PA 18977
Paws on the path! You and your canine companion are welcome to join us for a walk along the Delaware Canal towpath to Heritage Conservancy's Sol & Rose Preserve. The event is FREE and open to the public!
Contact Emily at [email protected] or
215-345-7020 ext. 107
to register, or click
HERE
for more information.
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Concerts in the Garden 
Tuesday, July 24th
6:30 PM to 8:30 PM
Aldie Mansion
85 Old Dublin Pike
Doylestown, PA 18901
Concerts in the Garden is back for the summer every 4th Tuesday of the month from May through September! Just like Martha Dana Mercer did in this same garden more than 50 years ago, we're opening Aldie Mansion and inviting people to come sit on the lawn and listen to great local musical acts.
Rain or shine! Free for everyone! No need to register. Bring your own seating and picnic dinner if you wish. Click
HERE for more information on bands, or contact us at 215-345-7020 with any questions.
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Farm to Table 
Saturday, August 4th
Beginning at 5:30 PM
at Heritage Conservancy's
Russell-Mandel Preserve
1515 Holicong Road
Buckingham, PA 18912
Farm to Table is always a wonderful event, and this year will be extra special because it is Farm to Table's 10th anniversary! Join us at a picturesque preserved property and enjoy a gourmet meal prepared by Jamie Hollander Catering & Events using farm fresh and locally sourced ingredients. This event sells out every year so don't wait to purchase your tickets!
Farm to Table is BYOB. To purchase tickets or learn more, click
HERE.
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Any time of year is perfect for a wedding at historic
Aldie Mansion!
Visit our
for details.
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Sarah Dohle spills the beans on local agriculture
Meet Sarah Dohle, resident and steward of Heritage Conservancy's Russell-Mandel Preserve, where our Farm to Table event will take place on Saturday, August 4th! Holding a Ph.D. in Plant Biology with a focus on Plant Breeding, Sarah works as an Assistant Professor of Plant Science at Delaware Valley University. She is passionate about promoting an understanding and appreciation for the value of plants in our environment, economy, and social systems.
"I'm fascinated by the history of agriculture, the regionality and heritage of food of value," Dohle says. "Food tells a story of human migration and cultural evolution, and you can follow that through crops that people grew, seeds that they traded, and through their culinary expression and meals."
Sarah's current projects include research on the development of pest- and drought-resistant crops, as well as the planting and maintenance of a culinary breeding garden on DelVal's campus. The garden contains a variety of crops such as peppers, tomatoes and beans. "Eat more beans!" Sarah recommends. "They're good for the soil, they're good for your health...and they're good for your wallet!"
Sarah will be speaking more about her work at Farm to Table as it is a natural tie-in with this fundraising dinner. By dining on a delicious meal prepared using ingredients sourced from local farms, guests of Farm to Table experience firsthand the fruitful bounty of Bucks County.
Farm to Table exemplifies Heritage Conservancy's mission in action; by preserving land, it ensures we will always have places to grow food. It celebrates the absolute best our region has to offer.
This event sells out quickly every year, so click HERE to learn more and to reserve your spot at the dinner table!
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Fridays in the Forest
Heritage Conservancy has been taking Casual Friday to a whole new level! When it comes to our conservation stewardship team (a.k.a. our "stew crew"), they encourage volunteers to step into some hiking boots and prepare to get dirty during Fridays in the Forest.
Every Friday, Heritage Conservancy's stew crew goes out to one of our properties and performs maintenance with the help of compassionate volunteers to keep natural ecosystems healthy. It was hard to pare down since they are working on so much, but here are just a handful of the projects they've been working on lately:
- At our Fuller/Pursell Nature Preserves in Springfield Township, they have been caging seedlings to protect them from deer. In the past, we have planted individual small trees on the property, and it was met with limited success. We think that by finding these seedlings that originated on the property and adapted to their surroundings, there will be higher growth rates among new trees.
- Also at our Fuller/Pursell Nature Preserves, the crew has been removing invasive garlic mustard plants. 15 large lawn bags full to be exact! Garlic mustard is allelopathic, which means that it secretes biochemicals that interfere with and hinder the growth of other plants; it can totally take over and prevent native plants that benefit the ecosystem from growing. In other words, garlic mustard has got to go!
- The group has been performing wildlife surveys in the area to figure out how animals utilize our properties in comparison to where walking trails are located. We want to keep everyone safe and ensure that the wildlife has minimal habitat disturbance.
- At our Jackson Pond Preserve in Buckingham Township, they are continuing to maintain the native pollinator meadow. It is a two-year process to complete the pollinator meadow, and we are right around the one-year mark. Once completed, it will be a great place to watch pollinators such as butterflies and birds thrive!
If you'd like to be a part of this active group and make a positive impact during Fridays in the Forest, contact Shannon at 215-345-7020 ext. 104 or [email protected] to learn how to get involved.
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This year marks Heritage Conservancy's 60th year as an organization! A lot has happened over the course of 60 years, and that's exactly what our guests at "Decades of Preservation" discovered when we took a fun look back at our region's unique history. On Thursday, June 14th, community members joined us at Aldie Mansion to commemorate this milestone. Guests dined through the decades with festive foods and enjoyed a blast from the past with photos from our archives.
We are fortunate to live in an area where people have a pride in sense of place, and it began with the foresight of visionaries who saved this place we call home for the rest of us.
Heritage Conservancy couldn't have reached 60 years without strong community support. We thank you, our community, for six decades of preservation! Your support of our organization has helped us reach this important milestone and has made our region a better place to live and visit. We look forward to the impact we will continue to have together toward preserving and protecting our natural and historic heritage!
To view the photo slideshow from Decades of Preservation with a look back at our local and national history, click HERE.
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Tips for safe summer enjoyment
Summer is finally here, and we know you don't need us to tell you to enjoy every minute of it! Whether you're packing the cooler full of snacks for a trip to your favorite hiking spot or slipping on some work gloves for a productive day of gardening, there are plenty of opportunities to enjoy the beautiful outdoors this season. Following these summer tips will make it even more enjoyable:
- Protect your skin from harmful ultraviolet rays by applying some sunscreen before heading outdoors--preferably SPF 30 or higher. The sun's rays are strongest between 10:00 AM and 2:00 PM, so it's recommended that you seek shade during this time of the day.
- Let the sunshine in, but be mindful of overheating! Since dark colors more easily absorb the sun's heat, wear light-colored clothing. Not only will you stay cooler, you'll also be able to better spot ticks and other insects that might be hitching a ride on you!
- Tote a water bottle with you. When temperatures rise, it's important to stay hydrated with plenty of fresh, cool water. Although good old-fashioned H2O is your best option, keep things interesting (but still healthy!) by sipping on some unsweetened green tea, diluted fruit juice, or even just plain water with sliced fruit, cucumbers, or mint thrown in.
- When hiking or spending time in nature, guard against ticks by dressing accordingly--at the very least, wear a hat and opt for socks that go above the ankle! It can be difficult to see these opportunistic, often disease-carrying parasites, so have a friend or family member give you a quick tick-check after outdoor recreation. Learn more about ticks and how you can stay safe from them this summer in this helpful article.
We hope you fill your summer with plenty of outings to beautiful Bucks County open spaces and historic sites! We'd love for you to join us for a
Mushroom Foraging trip or one of our
Hike-A-Thon events, which will be occurring throughout the season. Stay in the loop about all future events we'll be hosting by following Heritage Conservancy on
social media.
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