Growing Greener: Fall Recap
The Green & Grow Apprentices kept very busy this fall, assisting the Conservancy with a number of indoor and outdoor projects. Early in November they helped prepare for the new Greenway Custom Carousel which will be installed next fall. We removed Clethra alnifolia, a shrub that fills the Greenway with a deliciously sweet smell during the month of August, and prepared them for transplanting elsewhere in the parks. As a part of our commitment to sustainability we saved as much plant material as possible. Some were immediately transplanted by the Apprentices in the rain garden in Dewey Square and some went to the Urban Arboretum in the Wharf District. The project was immediately satisfying—we stepped away and could very plainly see the impact our work had on the space.
Waverly and Humberto balling and burlapping at the site of the future carousel.
Finishing up the project on a Saturday afternoon.
Later in November we planted thousands of bulbs (a lesson in delayed gratification) and after hearing the story of Narcissus, we planted thousands of them in the Fort Point Channel Parks. Also, having investigated the habit of crocus, scilla, and fritillaria we planted hundreds of each, also in Fort Point Channel. We’re anxiously awaiting the show this spring!
Zuri, Andrew, and Tom planting bulbs in the Wharf.
Back at the office we welcomed thousands of new classmates! Our worm bin has returned to us following a long summer vacation in Jamaica…Plain. Derek, shown below says, “Dealing with the worm bin is a little messy but it doesn’t smell nearly as bad as you think it would. It actually smells a lot like dirt.” We use it to discard our apple cores, carrot stems, and recycle some of the paper we use in the classroom.
It’s been a productive month! We’re carrying our momentum into December as we prepare to share what we’ve learned with other Boston Youth Environmental Network youth programs at the December networking dinner. We’ll share the results of our presentations in our next post and in the meantime, we wish all of our readers a safe and happy holiday season!