holyoutlaw

It was rainy for the 10th annual Green Seattle Day, but this was hardly the worst weather I’ve experienced. There were about 16 events all over the city; I went to St. Mark’s Greenbelt. We had 300 plants to put in and ably met the task. There are five forest stewards at St. Mark’s, some of whom have been working there as long as ten years, some only a couple.

Low Oregon grape, sword fern, salal, and some other plants ready to be installed.

There was a good crowd of people, about 25 to start with.

Getting to work

The rain never got too hard to be soaking, but it did give all the plants a nice thorough drink as we planted them. We installed Douglas and grand fir, tall and low Oregon-grape, sword and deer fern, nootka and bald hip rose, cascara, and a few others. In preparation for the planting, invasives had been removed over the summer and the work area covered in burlap. When my coworker pulled the burlap aside once, we found two different kinds of insect eggs, I have no idea what kind.

Two kinds of insect eggs.

Getting all the plants in took less than the allotted time. A number of people took off before we had the chance for a group photo, but here are the stalwarts.

About half the workers.

The fun wasn’t over yet, though, as we set to removing ivy that had grown up into the canopy of a few nearby trees.

They could sure use it.

Attacking the problem.

Result!

Two important clarifications: (a) The two people in the second-to-last photograph were not the only ones who worked. (b) There were several more trees worked on than in this photo.

By this time, almost everyone but the forest stewards and four or five die-hard volunteers had left. There was still the all-important “must be present to win” raffle. I even think it went to the hardest-working volunteer.

Angel, with the backpack donated by REI.

One thing I like to do when volunteering at Green Seattle Day or Duwamish Alive, or any other large planting effort, is think about all the people all over the area (the Green/Duwamish watershed or the city of Seattle) who are pitching in to help make the future a little better, and how all our work connects together.

Mirrored from Nature Intrudes. Please comment over there.

Saturday, August 10, was the 13th annual Art in the Garden festival, held in the Ballard P-Patch at 85th St. and 25th Ave. It’s a nice little neighborhood festival, very small compared to other summer fairs. But its location makes it perfect for North Beach Park outreach, because it’s right around the corner from the park. Last year and this year, “Friends of North Beach Park” tabled at the event, with the support of Green Seattle Partnership (the all-important shade canopy).

This year the weather was perfect. The day started out cool, and there was a long period where it was sometimes warm/sometimes cool, but it never got too hot. And as the day drew on, the skies cleared and it became a lovely summer afternoon.

One thing we like about Art in the Garden is meeting neighbors of the park: People who remember playing in there as children. People who didn’t let their children play in there. People who walk their dogs through the park, or jog through the park. It makes us realize how special North Beach Park is, that such a little, apparently forgotten park, has such deep memories for long-term residents. It doesn’t hurt that if people have noticed the restoration, they’re often very thankful and appreciative! It’s also a great chance for those of us who work in the park to run into each other (as it were) and chat for a few minutes in relatively clean/dry clothes.

This was our table display. We gave away most of the flyers in the very front, which promote the 4th Saturday and EarthCorps work parties. We also gave away a few flyers for Green Seattle Day (November 2nd — save the date!), and “The Truth About English Ivy” flyer. Last but not least, we got about nine or ten signatures on the email mailing list.

We also had a trifold display that I’ve been bringing around to events since last year’s Art in the Garden. No one will ever accuse us of embezzling restoration funds for inappropriately-lavish displays. But all the information on it is up to the minute, and it shows how much work we’ve done in the two and half years we’ve been working in the park.

But Art in the Garden is also about craft vendors. This is the row of vendors that faced 25th Ave. There was another group in the parking lot, near the food trucks.

And speaking of which…

In previous years, the festival has sold brats from their beer garden. But that meant there was no place for families to sit and eat together. So this year, they had a couple food trucks come in. The Seattle Biscuit Company had great, large, soft biscuits. We had the breakfasty one, which came with a fried egg, Beecher’s flagship cheese, and some great bacon. Splitting one was perfect, one each would have been too much! The other food truck was Curb Jumper Street Eats, which serves gourmet sliders. We had the 3 slider sampler, and REALLY liked the salmon. That’s the food we’d go back for.

But let’s not forget the art, the garden, or the people!

All in all: a pleasant afternoon, spreading the word about North Beach Park. There is a full set of pictures on Flickr.

Mirrored from Nature Intrudes. Please comment over there.