This week the Cooking Buckets Sugar House team will be rigging up sap tap lines at their Sunny Meadow Farm site. Ten years ago, Town Meeting approved a 10-year lease to allow Cooking Buckets to try something that was, and still is, new and experimental for this...

Looking forward to the next Eagle Scout Boards of Review. Thursday, January 15, 2026 6:45 pm Never having been a Scout myself, you would think this is something I really should not be doing. Yet I have worked with Scouts for over 20 years, and my experience with...

Over the years, several people have shared local knowledge about Heart Pond and where ice is often thinner due to springs, groundwater movement, or subtle current. The attached image is a user-made reference map that marks areas that have historically been reported as...

As the year draws to an end, Koulas Farm has been, at different times, exciting, depressing, hopeful, and a bit of a wild ride. If you had told me in January of last year that this much work would be done, I probably would have said yes. By summer, it felt like...

A few questions have arisen about cross-country skiing at Koulas Farm, and the honest answer is yes and no. Yes, there is a designated route, and it has now been marked. With a bit more snow, it will be passable and enjoyable. No, it is not perfect yet. One short...

Heart Pond is a well-loved but complicated site, and with ADA upgrades finally moving forward, it is important to understand the full context of the property, its history, and the real constraints that exist there. The town GIS map helps explain why this location is...

Last night I was asked to speak to Troop 75 about service in our community. That is something I guess I have become an expert on, at least through experience. For me, service was something passed down informally. I was raised with the idea that you give back when you...

Well, the COSS main website at https://www.chelmsfordoss.org has quietly turned into the home for all the “stories” that have been showing up on the COSS Facebook page. Some are short reflections, some are deep dives into history, some are project updates, and some...

Looking out at the snow today, my mind raced back to the winter of 2017. It was not a particularly historic winter overall, but for COSS it was a significant one. A series of heavy storms moved through, bringing snow. Not just snow, but wet, heavy snow. The Cheys have...

Every once in a while, Scouting reminds you why it matters. Last night I served on another Eagle Scout Board of Review. I truly enjoy these boards because they give me the chance to speak with young, remarkable men and women and to reflect on how Scouting has shaped...

Looking for something fun to do? Need some community service hours, or just need an excuse to get outside for a bit? With the new trail along Pine Hill and the connection near the paper road, a huge section of Koulas is now fully walkable. The next step is simple. We...

I got a call yesterday asking if I was ok because my posting flow had slowed down and no new photos were showing up. Well, the answer is yes and no. I was working on a video for the new webpage and doing AI upscaling. My big system started to sound like a 747 landing....

Tucked between Graniteville Road and Crooked Spring Road in West Chelmsford sits a little place with a long story. The Margaret Robbins Crooked Spring Brook Reservation feels quiet today, a network of trails sliding along a brook, a skating pond, a steep sledding...

Well, it looks like the first storm of the year is here, with numbers in the range of 3 to 6 inches. The important question to keep in mind is, can you sled on this? The answer is not sure. Closer to 6 inches, yes. Less than 4 inches? Well, well, I think not. Why does...

Sunday, December 14, from 4:30 PM to 7:00 PM Sunny Meadow Farm at 168 Robin Hill Road Join us for a peaceful evening of light and storytelling as we celebrate Hanukkah with a lantern walk through the farm. For many years COSS has quietly supported the group that...

https://youtu.be/b1rEmp6Zq9o?si=sYABcUkWEBD1lbE4 This short captures the vision that so many members and residents had long before the Koulas Task Force was formed. A place where people could both play and relax while honoring history and the natural environment. All...

Well, we here at COSS are continually looking for ways to make open space users have a better experience. One of the things we are doing with the full COSS website is building a table of every trail system in Chelmsford. This means all trails on all land types. Not...

Well, today wraps up the major events until the Jan 1 sunrise walk at the Bog. You would think COSS would take a breath. Nope. There is always something happening in town, and so many groups are doing exciting work. Our members will be out enjoying those events and...

Now that I finally had a chance to take a break, I wanted to thank everyone who made the Day Before Thanksgiving Walk such a wonderful hit this year. Troop 75 knocked it out of the park. Fourteen Scouts served hundreds of residents free hot chocolate and cookies....

Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote “The creation of a garden is a quiet conversation between the soul and the soil.” Yesterday about 300 people were introduced to the new native plant pollinator garden at the entrance to Thanksgiving Forest. When I first saw the plans, it...

A Day Before Thanksgiving Walk with 300 people shows what community really is: hundreds of footsteps on the same trail, all sharing the same woods, each carrying their own gratitude. Yesterday marked the 19th Day Before Thanksgiving Walk at Thanksgiving Forest, and as...

COSS Inc. Statement on Scouting Chelmsford Open Space Stewardship Inc. has partnered with Scouts for nearly two decades. During that time we have supported close to one hundred Eagle projects, service days, trail improvements, conservation efforts, and community...

Day Before Thanksgiving Walk This year marks the 19th. It started as an idea 19 years ago when Joanne and Phil Stanway were sitting around thinking about adding some color and fun to the season that centered on family and community. Back in the early days of...

Today was not an open space day for me. It was Thanksgiving meal day at the Senior Center, and since I was asked to help, that is where I spent the morning. The staff started arriving at 4 am to get the cooking going. By 9 am the volunteers were rolling in. It was a...

For decades we have used Facebook as our primary posting place, but that will be changing. We have a brand new website under construction and hope this will make it easier for people to find content we post. It can also be used by AI as a resource for hyperlocal...

I had a second today to talk about my conversations with John and Dave about the new trails at Koulas. I have been working on trails in Chelmsford for over twenty years and about ten more before that in other places. Over time you learn that trail building is part...

Well, back from Koulas and it turned into a quick two hour slug through brush, bittersweet, and vines. As sites go, Koulas is one of the worst for invasives. They are everywhere. Most likely it is because it is mostly open fields with very few trees. It is a perfect...

Reels are suddenly getting a lot of traction on Facebook. They already account for about ten percent of our two hundred ninety thousand views, and that number is climbing. The problem is that it is super challenging to move those reels to our new site. Even when I do...

A key part of being a successful community group is actually being out in the community. COSS is not a group that sits in an office. Our board and members are out at Scout events, public events, in open spaces, at farmers markets, and everywhere people gather. As a...