John B. Smith

Not humorous anecdotes or a full and accurate history

but hints of themes later seen to be important

Dark Ages

In late August 28, 1974, the Smiths bought what is now known as ChicoryLane Farm, and a few days later, John, Catherine, and Ian moved in. None had ever lived on a farm, and John and Ian had had little or no farm experience. At that point, they knew nothing about the property’s two hundred years of prior ownership, land use, or structure history. But, enthusiasm and ignorance fortified them for what was to come.

What came was five years of hard work – redaubing the old two-story log farmhouse inside and out - and a great deal of learning: plumbing, wiring, carpentry, working in the soil, . . . They had loved the 1,000-foot setback from the road of the old house with its openness but also privacy. It took two summers to daub and preserve the outside and three more to open-up and daub the inside, leaving the logs exposed. As Ian sketched in a mound of wet mortar, Work! Work! Work!

When they moved in, there were 17 wrecked vehicles in the front yard. The wildness of an untended pasture came up to within 15 feet of the house. But during that period of largely hard work, there had also been growing pleasures taking shape in the yard.

White Flower Farm Hangover

Much earlier, while John and Catherine had still been in school, they had been introduced to horticultural pornography, in the form of White Flower Farm (WFF) catalogs. Even then, they had spent many winter evenings looking over the pictures of perfect plants described in delightful, arch language by “Amos Pettingill,” the fictitious narrator but real owner of WFF. So, during the five years of refurbishing the farmhouse and for the next 20 years of so, the Smiths lived something of a White Flower Farm-inspired dream. They planted bushels of daffodils, a dozen different varieties of tree peonies, half-a-hundred different daylilies, several dozen varieties of hosta, a double handful of clematis. They even planted a conifer pinetum modeled on a White Flower Farm dwarf conifer border, but including full-sized species native to Pennsylvania. . . . You get the idea!

Short on aesthetic creativity and landscaping skills, the Smiths, and John especially, became known among their better-informed friends as “plant collectors,” not gardeners. They enjoyed getting to know the different varieties of local Pennsylvania ferns, or the different members of the Actaea family of which Black Cohosh is the most common but also including Baneberry and Dolls Eyes, but, interestingly, not Blue Cohosh. They liked to plant them near one another so that one could note the similarities and differences within a species. Catherine’s interest took a different direction toward learning the qualities of the “weeds” around the house and yard. Foraging for plants having food and medicinal value with herbalist Evelyn Snook, Bob Gruver and other members of the Pennsylvania Native Plant Society, she and John found their tastes and interests moving toward native species and diversity within species.

Sea Change

Change began to accelerate in 1998 when James Lesher began working with the Smiths. Already working in the area, James came to visit one day to talk about possibly doing so at ChicoryLane. He came on a pleasant spring morning when things were a bit rough but some of the possibilities of the place beginning to show. The deal was clinched when James saw red Canada Lilies scattered along two creeks running through the property. He had training in landscape design as well as abundant knowledge and love for native species. Strong, young, willing to work, and to share his knowledge and aesthetic skills, James widened the possibilities.

Over the next five years, projects evolved. Of the 68 acres included in the farm, only 28 or so were tillable and they had been rented out to nearby farmers. It became increasingly clear that this small farm was not really economically viable. So, by mutual consent with the current farmer, the Smiths took back control of these fields and in 2005 enrolled some 28 acres in the U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP). Intended for marginal farmland, these programs enabled the Smiths to convert a marginal 16-acre field to a native Grassland and a similar 13-acre field to a Red Oak Mixed Hardwood Forest. About this same time, they also planned and built two vernal pools in a former wet field. And they added equipment, including a full-size tractor with mower and bucket, a John Deere Gator ATV, a DR Fields brush mower, and other smaller tools. With James’ help and this additional equipment, they were able to engage the land in ways that had not been possible earlier and in ways they had not even imagined.

One significant conjunction of the CREP projects and the expansion of the equipment inventory was that the Smiths soon began to mow six-foot wide trails around the grassland and new forest. Originally Catherine’s walking paths, these mowed trails were much more accessible both for walkers as well as for Gator passengers. These first two trails comprised approximately two miles. Using the tractor and the brush mower, John and James eventually extended the system to virtually the whole property. The system now totals some four to five miles and encompasses a dozen different micro-environments. These include four quite different riparian areas, two vernal pools and an old farm pond, several wet meadows, and an equal number of calamus marshes. There are also four different kinds of forested areas, in different stages of maturation, as well as a hillside rich in both naturalized nut and fruit trees. Trails typically encompass several different areas with shorter segments linking them. So, in just a few hours, walking or by ATV, one can visit over a dozen different natural areas, each with different habitats, native plant species, birds, and other wildlife. This system of trails makes diversity readily apparent.

During this period of the early 2000s, John began a Web site focused on the property, registered as ChicoryLane.com. It has become a big, rambling assembly of information, images – both video and still – as well as musings and several databases or database applications. Rather than describe these contents, the Smiths invite you to browse them at your leisure.

Following this six- or seven-year burst of energy, work settled into a ten-year period of on-going activity. It was during this time that the Smiths began to see their efforts as trying to enable the land to become the best version of itself that it could be. Their own desires and preferences were clearly present, but they found themselves increasingly trying to recognize distinguishing attributes of the landscape and to envision how they could gently nudge them toward some slightly better version of themselves. A single isolated Blackhaw viburnum became a small cluster of a half-dozen members. A Silky dogwood, perhaps growing in similar circumstances but in a nearby area, might be introduced into a complementary spot in another area, thereby increasing the diversity of natives in that area. To sum up: with the emerging ChicoryLane Web site and the emphasis on improving the ecological value of the property, information and interest slowly began taking priority in their thinking over aesthetics and personal preference.

As the Smiths entered their own seventh and ChicoryLane’s third decade, they also became increasingly concerned with the future of the property beyond their lifetimes as well as those of Ian and Lauren. Consequently, John and Catherine began to explore structures of ownership and finance that would allow ChicoryLane to continue indefinitely into the future. These thoughts or, more properly, worries did not emerge into awareness whole; they gradually evolved along a series of steps, missteps, back-and-forth reasoning, and, eventually, a path they believed could succeed. Some of the key steps on that path follow

Things Get Serious

The first concrete step toward a coherent future came in 2017, more precisely, July 25, 2017. After a half-decade of concerns and extraordinary patience not to mention hard work by Kevin Abbey, Clearwater Conservancy’s Land Conservation Manager, the Smiths agreed to donate a Conservation Easement for the property to that organization. Many such easements are primarily about land subdivision and only secondarily with land use. Instead, the ChicoryLane easement covers the entire 68 acres of the property, but under two sets of conditions. Approximately 20% is Minimally Protected, meaning a small number of structures could be added for residences or a “welcome center.” Most of the property is Maximally Protected, specifying more extensive restrictions on land use. Importantly, Kevin Abbey went to considerable lengths to identify specific conservation values that the Smiths wished to add for control of the dynamics of change while preserving the land. Topics addressed include the following:

• Preserve quality and diversity of water resources
• Protect and improve naturals habitat for animals, plants, and other organisms especially native plants
• Protect soil resources
• Preserve scenic resources
• Preserve and enhance ecosystem services
• Limit impact of artificial light and promote the human enjoyment of the aesthetic experience of dark skies

This easement was a significant step, but it provides little guidance regarding improvement or adaptation.

A second step began several years later – in 2019. The farmhouse on the property is thought to have been built ~1820, and the barn ~1850 or perhaps earlier. Whereas much effort had been spent on the house, little effort had been directed toward the barn. As a result, some sections were unsafe and largely unusable. It had also been damaged over the years during winter storms and by dry rot and powder-post beetles. As much as the Smiths regretted doing so, they decided that the barn should come down.

Demolition began in the late summer of 2019 and took several weeks to accomplish. Site preparation began soon after, and the gathering of materials took place throughout the fall – including massive 12”x16”x18’ timbers deposited in the area below the barn. Henry Speicher’s Amish crew built the block foundation during the late fall. They then began the two-month effort of drilling and cutting the mortise and tenon joints for the timbers in the freezing and snow-covered area. Framing began in late winter. By spring, a handsome new 100’x40’ two-level timber framed barn stood in the footprint of the old barn where the collapsing structure had been.

As the Smiths entered their eighth decade, John and Catherine realized that if they were to shape the future of ChicoryLane, they would have to act soon. They had been considering different arrangements, including donating the property to a sympathetic organization such as a conservancy, looking for a sympathetic buyer willing to carry on their work, kicking the can down the road to let Ian and Lauren worry about it, etc. None of these musings was entirely satisfactory. With a good deal of trepidation, they began to work with Deborah McDermott, an attorney with previous experience setting up charitable organizations including foundations, to define a possible independent future for ChicoryLane. Together, they went down many paths of options and possibilities, before finally settling on the structure of a Private Operating Foundation that would eventually own and operate the property. It would also carry on a program of ecological, educational, and aesthetic activities focusing on the natural environment of ChicoryLane.

With basic agreement on goals and structure in place by the end of 2023, the early part of 2024 was devoted to drafting the necessary applications and documents that would be needed to gain state and federal authorization. As agreed, they held off taking the actual first legal step until those materials were in nearly complete form. That day came on May 26, 2024, when their application for a Domestic Nonprofit Corporation was submitted to the Pennsylvania Secretary of State.