A Sustainable Future & A New Way Of Living
Dr. Lisa Hayes Of Accokeek Foundation Practices Concepts Used By The Piscataway Indians And Agricultural Heritage To Teach Others Sustainability
Less than 30 miles from the Washington Monument lies a national park most people have never heard of. Piscataway National Park occupies 5,000 acres, and 6 miles of shoreline, on the Maryland bank of the Potomac River. At its heart, the National Colonial Farm preserves the area’s agricultural heritage while also taking the next step toward a sustainable future.
It’s a step that is actually a move back toward past practices, Dr. Lisa Hayes, president of the Accokeek Foundation, explains. “We listen to the land. We look at the landscape as a whole, and try to grow things where they want to go,” she says. “Currently we are developing the National Food Forest with a canopy of large fruit and nut trees, then an under-canopy of berries and ground crops.”
Each of the layers of the food forest yields renewable foods that can be foraged. “What we’re demonstrating here can actually be done in a very small place,” Lisa says. “People could do it in their backyards.”
Hayes says the concept harks back to the Piscataway Indians, who occupied this land for thousands of years, and lend their name to the national park. A Piscataway chief was buried on park land in 1979, and the tribe remains actively involved, holding seasonal ceremonies several times a year.
Interpreting the Native American involvement with the land, as well as the contributions of the Colonial farmers and enslaved African Americans who once worked farms here, is part of the challenge Hayes took on when she came to the National Colonial Farm in 2011. Hayes calls her approach, the National Colonial Farm Remix.
“This land has a lot of stories to tell,” she says. “We’re still interpreting the life of a tobacco farmer in the 1770s, but using that as a backdrop to explore the topic of slavery as well as what we call Green History, putting modern day environmental concerns in a historical context. It’s all about storytelling.”
It’s a role that Lisa Hayes is uniquely qualified to fill. An actress and playwright, Lisa has written and performed one-woman shows around the world. Her topics range from a one-woman dramatization of “Jane Eyre” to a musical on breast cancer. Hayes’ most recent work, the 2015 “Finding The Light” based on the photography of Pulitzer-prize winner Marissa Roth, explores the tragic intersection of women and war.
Hayes uses her dramatic background to develop short programs of “museum theater” telling the stories of a person or object related to the park. “It’s similar to Williamsburg,” she says. “Only not so commercial.” One of the programs, the award-winning Eco-Explorers, takes kids on a time warp adventure to 1770 to save the earth, guided by costumed interpreters. The theatrical elements, Hayes says, help people understand and connect with history and its repercussions.
The history of Piscataway Park itself began in the 1950s, when members of the Mt. Vernon Ladies’ Association discovered that an oil tank facility was planned on the farm directly across the Potomac River from the first president’s estate. One of the members, Congresswoman Frances Bolton of Ohio, purchased the farm, leading to the development of the Accokeek Foundation. The National Colonial Farm opened in 1959, recreating the tobacco farm that occupied the land in the 1770s.
The Accokeek Foundation property formed the core of the Piscataway National Park, dedicated in 1968, the first national park founded to protect a vista. Its 5,000 acres are mostly woodland, but include the ruins of Marshall Hall, a Colonial mansion that was also the site of an amusement park during the 1970s, a full-service marina, several kayak put-ins, and fishing piers with great views of Mt. Vernon on the opposite shore. Trails and boardwalks run through the property, home to bald eagles, deer, beavers and other native species. The Accokeek Foundation’s 200-acre facility provides visitor services and programs for the entire park.
Over time, Accokeek added historic buildings and demonstration gardens, including an 8-acre solar powered Ecosystem Farm, an authentic 18th century tobacco barn, a Native Tree Arboretum, and its newest experiment in permaculture, the National Food Forest. Cate’s Garden, dedicated to the agricultural contributions of African Americans, provides a natural stage for programs on the lives of enslaved people.
The farm’s favorite residents are the spring crop of endangered Hog Island lambs, as well as the Devon cattle, Ossabaw hogs, Red Bourbon turkeys, Dominique chickens and other heritage breeds that thrive here. Fields are planted with heritage corps and native Paw Paws and persimmons grow wild in the woods. Accokeek hosts numerous programs and workshops for the public throughout the year. Entry to the National Colonial Farm, and Piscataway Park as a whole, is free.
“People are always surprised by how quiet it is out here, so close to the city, and by how authentic it all is,” Lisa Hayes says. “We constantly hear visitors say that they had no idea this park was here. Then they walk down the boardwalk and see a bald eagle nest or go out on a fishing pier and see Mt. Vernon across the river, and they begin to understand.”
The name Accokeek comes from an Algonquin word meaning “place of wild fruit.” With the development of the National Food Forest, Lisa Hayes and foundation she heads aim to bring past and future together on the banks of the Potomac, and create a sustainable alternative based on indigenous traditions.
Renee Wright
A graduate of Franconia College in Social Psychology, Renee has worked as Travel Editor for Charlotte Magazine and has written three travel guidebooks for Countryman Press among other writing assignments. She enjoys food and camping.
Make Sure To Stay At:
Monroe Bay Campground & Marina, which has over 300 sites with water and electric, of these over 100 sites have sewer. Limited 50 amp lots are available. The campground has its own Camp Store with supplies, propane gas, and home cooked meals.