Wet Meadow Seed Collecting Fall 2011

Wet Meadow Seed Collecting Fall 2011, a set on Flickr.

We spent some time on a beautiful fall Saturday collecting and spreading seeds in Wet Meadow 3. We also collected Buhr Park apples and made apple sauce.a

coming Sept 10 - Insect Adventure

Washtenaw County Parks will present an Insect Adventure program on Saturday, Sept 10 at County Farm park. (Meet at the Platt Rd. entrance at 10 AM). Children and adults are welcome. Many interesting insects can be seen in the park, including butterflies, dragonflies, pollinators and others. Come explore with an expert guide.

Also at County Farm park, a project will focus on the tributary to Mallets Creek that flows along the north side of the park. You can read more about this in their Fall 2011 newsletter.

Wet Meadows and Fathers Celebration

Come Celebrate Wet Meadows and Fathers in Buhr Park

Sunday, June 19th, 3:30 pm

Join in a celebration of another planting in this community project that helps keep our water clean, creates beauty and habitat, and provides an educational site for all. Come tour the project features and learn how you can participate, plant a flower in honor of a father, sing, parade and picnic!

All ages welcome!

3:30 Tour of project features
4:30 Greetings from project supporters and participants
5:00 Tunes with Dale Petty and Milkweed Seed Parade
Plantings in honor of fathers
Picnic Supper – bring your supper and a blanket

Bring: a water bottle, sunscreen, sunhat, friends & family
We will supply: plants, drinking water, and a few extra tools.

If you can only come for a little while, please arrive at 4:30 for the main festivities.

Looking Green!

The wet meadows are growing! Here are some pictures from a sunny walk around the park on June 11th.

Cup Plant

Beebalm

Prairie Dock

There were even wild strawberries

And soon there will be raspberries!

In Wet Meadow 3, there were plenty of pollinators, including this honeybee buzzing around in this bright Sand Coreopsis!

All of the wet meadows were looking great. Soon there will be even more blooms as the Black Eyed Susans and Cone Flowers turn the wet meadows yellow!

New Poster Shows How Wet Meadows Clean Water

I made these posters to show how our Buhr Park Wet Meadows filter water, keep streams and rivers clean and help produce clean drinking water.

Rain Fills Up the Wet Meadows

The Weather Underground reports 1.57 inches of rain in the Ann Arbor area. The wet meadows collected their fair share and then began to overflow.

Wet Meadow 2, the largest of the wet meadows, did not show signs of overflowing. It is large and mature (and part of it is built on a pile of sand).

Here are some photos from a walk around the park on the evening after the rain.

raindrops, so many raindrops

The newly-plated wet meadow extension is the wettest area of all those we've worked on.

Here's a photo after yesterday afternoon's squall line wet through.

Mother nature helps water the new plants

As everyone knows by now, May 2011 was one of the wettest months on record. And it poured buckets both Saturday and Sunday, so the festival was called off. We did get the plants in, thanks to heroic efforts by some Super Swampers, alumni and others. We started planting under cloudy skies on Saturday afternoon. As the rain started, we began to see just how much run-off comes from the parking areas by the pool and ice rink. By early evening there was an ankle-deep torrent flowing into the west end of the newest basin. The basin is certainly in the right spot!


Native plants are tough and most have thrived in their new homes. A few days later we finished planting along the sidewalk.
Stop by and see the newest wet meadow!

Planting is finished - thanks to all

Thanks to a crew of 36 focused planters Friday May 20 the planting is finished! Next will be a celebration! We’ll send the date soon.

Thanks to all who braved the wet and cold on Sunday(May 15)! About half the plants and all the shrubs are in their new homes and looking good. A new woodchip edge adds an attractive feature.

planting day update

Thanks to all who braved the wet and cold on Sunday! About half the plants and all the shrubs are in their new homes and looking good. A new woodchip edge adds an attractive feature. We have scheduled several more times to finish up the planting:

Thursday, May 19, 7-8:30pm
Friday, May 20, 4-8pm
If needed: Sunday, May 22nd , 1-4pm (call [see below]or check the website [www.wetmeadow.org] before coming- It may be all done!)

COME and HELP get the rest of the plants into their homes! We’ll have a celebration in a few weeks.
THANK YOU!
The Wet Meadow Team

Get Ready for May 15 Planting Day

Come and plant wildflowers in Buhr Park
Free family-friendly fun for all ages

Schedule for Planting Day (Sunday, May 15, 2011)

(Planting will be continuous through all the following additional
activities)

• Come early for yoga


• 10:00 - Sign in and welcome; planting begins


• 11:00 - Singing with Joe Reilly


• 11:30 - 1:00 Pilar's tamales available


• 1:15 - Welcoming ceremony


• 1:30 - 3:30 Planting continues; music and children's games with Dale Petty


• 4:00 - celebration, parade and seed dance

What to Bring
Bring a small shovel or trowel, a water bottle, sunscreen, sunhat, friends & family, and lunch (or buy Pilar’s Tamales.)

Buhr Park is located on Packard Road in Ann Arbor, east of Eisenhower.
The Wet Meadow planting will be on the east side of the park, south of the first wet meadow and just past the first parking lot.

Click to download a) a full-page flyer, or b) a page of 6 small flyers.

Change comes from vision and understanding

"What has turned out to be a very important aspect of this whole effort though is what I learn from the children and youth. They have a tremendous capacity to be active participants and leaders in the real issues of our lives.

Water, healthy water, is critical to the existence of life. They get it! Given opportunities, tools and resources, they empower themselves and all of us to find our voices – to tell others what is going on and how they can help; they empower themselves to act and to involve others in those actions.

Yesterday, at our table at the Earth Day Festival, as I watched and listened to them talk with the public about protecting our water and inviting them to help plant the newest wet meadow area, I was awed and humbled by their understanding and commitment.

I have renewed faith that we can return health to our waterways, that we can rebuild our lives to a sustainable level. "

(from Jeannine's remarks to Ann Arbor City Council, May 2, 2011.)

May 15 is Planting Day for a New Wet Meadow in Buhr Park

Join neighbors and supporters in helping to plant the newest wet meadow in Buhr Park.

May 15, 2011 - 10AM to 4PM
come anytime for as long as you want. Park in the main lot by the pool and ice rink.

Help plant over 1,000 plants that will help filter rainwater, create critter habitat and make the park more interesting.

The newest wet meadow is codenamed "Wet Meadow 1 Extension" because it is located just to the south of the first wet meadow in Buhr Park. It is separated from the first wet meadow by a grass path.

Wet Meadow Prescribed Burn - April 5, 2011

One of our annual rituals is a prescribed ecological burn. This year it was held on Tuesday April 5, 2011.

We started as usual about 4 PM in the original wet meadow (near the sledding hill.) Kids and parents will removed leaves from the meadows, collected native plant seeds, and gently bent down the old plant stalks.  Around 4:30 PM, the trained experts from the City of Ann Arbor's Natural Area Preservation explained safety procedures, then initiated the "prescribed burn". There were lots of safe places to watch the action.

A bonus this year was a visit from a red tailed hawk!

Watch for 2011 photos coming soon.

We've been doing this for several years - here's a photo.



Although burning may seem destructive, fire actually serves to stimulate vigorous new growth of native plants, control the invasion of undesirable plants, warm the soil and release nutrients.  Fire allows diverse, native plant and animal communities to thrive in natural areas.

Wet Meadow 3 - Early March Snowmelt

Ann Arbor has had a lot more snow than we've had in a few years and as it melts off in Buhr Park, it gathers in our wet meadows.

We went for a walk in the rain on Saturday and observed the water flowing in and then flowing out of Wet Meadow 3. As designed, the area collects runoff from the north of the park, private yards to the northwest, Allen School and Essex Street.

We saw seeds floating in the water and Helen went in to investigate.

Wet Meadow 1 Planting Planning Meeting

18 kids and adults got together today to begin planning for planting day. Kids (of many ages) are taking leadership roles for all aspects of the project. Planting day is tentatively scheduled for May 15, 2011.

Leaders, called specialists, are working on these areas:
Plants/Seeds
Planting Day
Site Plan
Media//Story/Documentation/Signs
Volunteer Recruitment
Community Education
Ongoing Stewardship