Summer 2016

It's been quite a hiatus since October 2015, the last post.  October 2015 also marked the date of the creation of "Don't Give Up the Drip" rain barrel community art project in Erie, PA, which I was thankfully involved in the planning.  Throughout the winter, much of work was consumed with organizing artists, sponsors, planning the Expo and big community reveal, and finally installing the beautiful, functional works of art.







It was worth every minute.

Check out our facebook page here and our website here to view the works of art, learn more about the project, and view a map of all 52 rain barrels and their sponsors.  Take some time this summer and visit the barrels.  They are incredible in person and it's fun to visit all of the local sponsors, too!





Now Summer 2016 is nearly upon us and we have a few new items in the Park, which is always interesting.

The Community Garden is up and running; please feel free to help yourself to some herbs to dry; they are growing exponentially!

 The purple potatoes, as usual, are putting out their beautiful blooms and the chocolate mint is mouthwatering to smell.

The pollinator garden is also doing well and we have noticed an increase in the number of milkweed plants growing in and around the garden.

While visiting, check out the ghost pepper planted this year.  Every year we take liberty to plant, frankly, whatever we like.  This year we had a staff request for a pepper garden.  Banana peppers, red, green, orange, jalapeno, and ghost, the hottest pepper to grow.

 

As we near the solstice, visitors can feel the change in the weather in the Park.  Viewers can get an idea of the beauty this morning, but unfortunately I cannot send through the Web the sweet scent of honeysuckle carried on the breeze, or the tang of evergreens.  From the rain showers yesterday, the creek was again gurgling happily and the birds were loudly proclaiming their thoughts from each treetop.
 



An excellent time to visit Headwaters Park and enjoy the new benches-turn-tables, maintained trails, and quiet time within nature.

Peak Season!

It's Peak week at Headwaters Park!  It's hard to let go of our too-short, incomparable summers, but when fall arrives, it, too, reminds us of the beauty of other seasons.

A gorgeous day for a hike.

Multiple colors, set off by the blue of the sky and the beams of sun through the branches.

The water is still a standout, even reflecting colors of the surrounding trees.  It was relaxing to watch the leaves fall from the trees and transform into boats as they touched the flowing water.

Even though all the nature chatter is about hibernation and settling in for the oncoming winter, there are still plenty of signs of life.  Flowers are still blooming and there is plenty of evidence of wildlife enjoying the fall buffet.

Worth the effort to get outside.  Trust me.  

Check out our next post on how the Pumpkin Walk fared this October!

New Trail!

Since the approval of our Master Site Plan in March, we have been incredibly busy prioritizing projects, searching and gathering funds, and in general organizing what will amount to a several year project to keep Headwaters Park the beautiful gem that it is while offering a few more facets for visitors.

Two projects have been recently completed:  our new entrance trail to the trailhead and a revamped tree trail and guide.

NEW TRAIL

Pictures can tell most of the story, but I will add in a few details as necessary.  Two weeks ago, we began with this:

Some heavy equipment was needed to grade the new trail at the appropriate slope.  We wished to make the trail ADA accessible.  It is now stable and wide enough to accommodate strollers, walkers, and wheelchairs.  There was a LOT of survey, checking, rechecking, and perhaps a bit more checking to ensure we were on the right track.

The trail is quite a bit longer now, but the surface is covered in DSA, or Driving Surface Aggregate.  Varying stone sizes, the surface is stable yet allows water to permeate the surface to help rain become filtered before it enters Mill Creek, just a few short yards to the south.

However, the machine work did a number on the slope, which opened up an opportunity to seed it with native wildflowers from Ernst Company in Meadville.  It is our intent to plant several trees along the slope in the spring of 2016.  

Although we are still doing cleanup work, we have seeded, mulched, and prepared the slope for the fall and winter.  Thank you all for your patience during our construction period!  We are happy to speak with patron more about our project and future plans - stop in our office Monday - Friday from 8:00 - 4:00pm.  We have more projects lined up!

TREE TRAIL

It has been revamped and returned!  Our new self-guided tree trail offers 20 tagged trees throughout the Park.  Look for the map and accompanying tree information guide in the white mailbox at the trailhead.  It will also been available online within a few days.  New trail, new information, and new species!

You can download the trail guide here - enjoy your hikes this fall!  Look for upcoming information on the October 3rd Pumpkin Walk soon!

Erie Gives 2015

It's coming soon!  Erie Gives 2015!

On August 11th, between 8am - 8pm., please consider donating to Headwaters Park at www.eriegives.org.  Funding goes directly to your Park and the educational programs offered there.  That being said, here are several other reasons to help us maintain the beautiful Park for everyone:

Please consider donating!  Thank you!

www.eriegives.org

Spring Frenzy

In Erie, spring usually does not arrive sweetly and gracefully.  Most years, it tends to arrive in a blast of downpours, heat waves, ice and/or snow events, and hurricane-like winds.  It is anything but quiet, and 2015 did not disappoint.  As a matter of fact, even though it's mid-June, we are still swimming through a daily occurrence of rain showers, it's just a little warmer than April.

However, despite of (or because of) the energetic spring weather we see each spring, nature awakening seems to happen with equaled enthusiasm.  The frogs and birds are at top decibel, competing for attention.  The rainbow of colors seems to appear overnight (sometimes it really does).

Luna moth found on our office deck

  Fun fact about toads, frogs, and salamanders:  The males have a larger thumb than females called a nuptial pad.  Now, of course, you all need to go find a passel of frogs to compare thumbs.

American Toad - the students could have watched him all day

Check out facts about American Toads.

Or about spotted salamanders

Baby robins are always fun.  There were two nests near trails in the Park, enabling visitors to keep tabs on them for the short time they hatched to being on their own.

Right before they all left the nest, I kept thinking "How do all four fit in there comfortably?  I'd want to leave too!"

Our local forester and I collaborated on an experiment with red oak acorns.  He'd collected approximately 1 1/2 5 gallon buckets of them, which we split between a cold frame and a marked plot out in the Park.

A surprising number of acorns actually sprouted.  The cold frame protected them a little from frost, but mainly from critters looking for food.  

It's been interesting watching the strength of the root split the shell of the acorn.  

We've had hundreds of students visiting the Park during end-of-school-year activities.  They've been able to enjoy all of the aspects of the Park in spring, including the creek.  It was FREEZING, but they didn't seem to mind.

Exploring water flow - upstream/downstream

2nd graders exploring Mill Creek.

Check back soon for updates on the red oak seedlings, the oak tree plot in the Park, and our newest additional activity - letterboxing!