Conachet Farm

The original Spraure mansion at Conachet Farm was build in the 1860s. The grounds are now part of the South County Museum.  During the winter, volunteers work at clearing aggressive, invastive plants and replace them with native plants in the spring and summer. Here are some of the native species they are trying to protect:

South County’s native plants such as Virginia Rose, Skunk Cabbage, High Bush Blueberry, Black Cherry, Common Winterberry, Shadbush, Smooth Arrowwood, White Wood Aster, Bayberry, Sweet Pepperbush are examples of plants that have established a natural ecological balance with South County's native insects, birds, mammals and other native plants. 

This balance has been achieved through parallel evolution of the plants, insects, birds and other animals. These local species have adapted to the native environmental conditions of South County and depend on each other for food. This species interdependence is what the invasive plants disrupt and what we seek to restore and protect. Invasive plants out-compete our native plants, throwing the overall system out of balance. They propagate aggressively and are often very fast-growing. They establish areas as expansive monocultures; infestations that are very difficult to eradicate.