Come out, come out where ever you are

Now that spring is officially here my mind is racing with thoughts on green and growing things. I was buoyed by the announcement that the Obamas are going to Eat The View and grow their own veggies on the White House Lawn. Raised beds, organic seedlings, bee hives, and fifth graders - who wouldn't be excited!

It sent me in search of a project I heard about several years ago called Edible Estates where homes across the country were ditching their carefully groomed and trimmed front lawns in favor of fruit and vegetable producing gardens of Eden. Check out this Maplewood yard that was transformed.

When I looked further, I see the good work has continued, and this spring the same initiative is putting in a Lenape Children's Garden in New York City. This from their website:
:
This landscape will simulate how the native Lenape people lived off the land on the island of Manhattan 400 years ago, with native edible plants and cultivars such as beans, corn and squash (three sisters).

How great is that!

One of the very captivating parts of our history here at the Teaneck Creek Park is that our 46-acre parcel was once home to a thriving Lenape community. They used these lands and waterways to hunt and fish. Fycke Lane, which borders our northern edge, pays tribute to the Lenape hunting device called a "fycke", and the grounds of the creek were part of a parcel of land that the Lenape Leader Oratam gifted to Dutch translator Sarah Kiersted back in 1669. (visit out history page for more details).

So even though it seems it way too gray and cold outside, I know this too shall pass, as spring advances undeterred. Anyone up for a little Guerrilla Gardening in the park??!!?

See you on the trails!

Ready, set, go!

The park is like an orchestra just before a performance. All the musicians are getting settled, instruments are being tuned, and the hum of the expectant concert-goers fills the air.

When I saw this photo from the Puffin Camera Club of these crocuses, upright and ready to burst, I thought of bows posied over stringed instruments, just waiting for the conductor's signal.

If you are poised to leap too, consider joining us this weekend when we host:

The Second Annual Weed Warrior Breakfast & Training
Saturday, March 14th @ 10:00am / 20 Puffin Way, Teaneck

Teaneck Creek's Weed Warriors are part of an all-volunteer force that works throughout the spring season to manage the non-native invasive plants in our 46-acre park. Come on out and spend some quality time with your favorite non-profit, you'll feel better, enhance the environment, and develop new friendships too!

To RSVP, email Shelly at weedwarrior@teaneckcreek.org .

I'd like to think that I was one of those gardeners that has spent the last several months pouring over seed catalogs and dutifully starting trays of seedlings in my basement six weeks before the last frost, but alas, such forethought and energy usually eludes me.

Wintertime does find me yearning for green growing things though, especially on a day when March reminds us that winter is still king. So I was pleasantly stoked when I read a posting from Kitchen Gardeners International today about the cost effectiveness of growing your own veggies. They're the organization behind the campaign to persuade the Obamas to plant an organic vegetable garden on the front lawn of the White House. Just the kind of awe-inspiring energy and "outside of the box" thinking that inspires me to hug something green. Good for us and good for the planet! See you on the trails!