Business Unusual at the Accokeek Foundation

The following “Business Unusual” account is part of our new initiative, Collecting in Quarantine. With current mandates for all non-essential businesses to close, business is anything but usual in Maryland. In the Business Unusual series, MdHS is asking business employees, owners, customers, passers-by and neighborhood residents to visually share their experiences during the COVID-19 crisis.

A baby lamb covered in hay. — Photo courtesy of the Accokeek Foundation

Friday, March 20, 2020 – On this day, the Accokeek Foundation shared the photos here, along with this dispatch below:

The Accokeek Foundation is definitely business unusual right now! As stewards of Piscataway Park—a national park on the Maryland shore of the Potomac River—we have been balancing our role as caretakers of the land with our concern for the safety and health of our staff, volunteers, and visitors. The park and trails remain open to those who need to escape to the outdoors for a brief time, but we’ve had to close down the Visitor Center and offices to maintain social distancing. We can’t close down nature, however, and spring has truly sprung in the park. The gardens are blooming and the barnyard is full of new lambs and calves. That means that staff must be there to tend to the plants and animals, including bottle feeding several of the baby lambs. With the cancellations of events and programs, that means we need the support of the community more than ever to help us keep this vital work going.

Pigs eating hay. — Pigs at the Accokeek Foundation. Photo courtesy of the Accokeek Foundation.

Blossoming trees next to an old barn. — Barn and cherry blossoms at the Accokeek Foundation. Photo courtesy of the Accokeek Foundation.

Please note: The views, information, and opinions expressed and shared on the underbelly through the Collecting in Quarantine project do not necessarily represent those of the Maryland Historical Society. Our staff does not verify for accuracy the information contained within these submissions. The primary purpose of this series, with the permission of contributors, is to share and collect the experiences of Marylanders living through quarantine at this moment in time.

To learn more about the Collecting in Quarantine project and how to share a story and/or photos of your own, click here.