Mixed Use

GuestPeek: Butterfly Garden

My friend Karen and her daughter, Kalena created a butterfly garden in their back yard!

Karen is a Librarian (woo hoo!) at Riverview Branch Library in Florida and she'd hosted a Master Gardener program on butterfly gardens at her branch a couple of months ago. She thought it sounded like an easy gardening project for non-gardeners as well as being good for the environment, so decided to gave it a try!
 

Why is this exciting?

Due to destruction of their native habitats or the plants they eat, butterfly populations are decreasing or even going extinct. The creation of a butterfly garden represents an intentional act to try and create or restore habitats favorable to their life cycle and survival. 

Since butterflies also happen to be flower and plant pollinators, they are an essential part of the food cycle. Environments that attract butterflies also tend to attract other types of insect pollinators. 

Basically, if WE want to keep eating,
we need the pollinators!

As you can see, Karen and Kalena already have a few visitors!

Hat tip to Karen and Kalena for taking on this project, and thanks so much for sharing, with us here at Permie Peeks! If you live down in that area, and want to learn more about the Master Garden Extension programs, click here.

Muscota Marsh: A "Meeting" Place

At the northern tip of Manhattan lies the Muscota Marsh.

It is a place of many "meetings". . .

where land MEETS water. . .
     . . .the Munsee tribe of the Lenape Indians fished, farmed and hunted there. "Muscota" is a Lenape word meaning "meadow by the water" or "where the reeds grow" (see Thomas Rainer's wonderful blog post, Muscota Marsh Park: A Lucid View of Troubled Waters for an in depth discussion of the marsh's cultural impact and history).

where fresh and salt waters MIX. . .

     . . . or estuaries-- a place where rivers, streams, creeks, etc., empty out into the sea or the ocean. They are some of the most rich, diverse and productive of natural habitats.

For the Lenape, the marsh was a place abundant in oysters, clams, crabs and fish. They fashioned the reeds growing there, into "weirs" to trap the fish.

where the northern tip of Manhattan KISSES the western edge of the Bronx. . .
     . . .in the time of the Lenape, at tide's ebb, they could walk across the mudflats between the two land masses.  Centuries later it would be dredged to create the Harlem River Shipping Canal, thus effectively and finally separating them.

where culture and history CLASH. . .
     . . .here the Lenape would encounter the Dutch. And, like the insistent pull of the tide, so too would begin the  inexorable shift from one way of life to another. . .the Dutch gave the waterways bounding Manhattan their own names. . .Spuyten Duvil Creek. . .the Harlem River, which flow into each other there.

and, most recently, where Columbia University 

ENCROACHES upon the surrounding community. . .

     . . .the restoration of this green space is an amenity received through a community benefits agreement, in return for allowing Columbia to build a stadium and athletic center, down the street.

In this place of many meetings, an attempt has been made 

to reconnect the community to the waterfront. . .

the re-intersection of the urban and natural worlds.

Will it be successful? Only time will tell.

Flower Power: A Touch of Gold

Sometimes, nature pops up in the most unexpected and 
delightful ways. . .












. . .and on this lovely summmer day, it had the power to bring people together for a fun, delightful and whimsical afternoon. . .

. . .for the the Harlem Needle Arts' 2011 Blossom of Fiber Art Exhibition in St. Nicholas Park (135th Street).

(this park was also home to Ndebele {artist:Jenny Mazer} a pop-up piano!  Visit Song for Hope to learn more about this wonderful public arts program).

Winged Commuters

 "Hurry up Mabel. . . !




. . .If we get there too late, everything will be pecked 
over. .  .

. . . and all the good worms will be gone !"

Sometimes I think nature responds more creatively to our changes, rather than the other way around!