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| | Finding insects in leaf litter |
October program: The YardWorks Project - Ecology Via Engagement
We're pleased to have Dr. Josh Cerra, Cornell University Professor of Landscape Architecture, as our October speaker. Dr. Cerra is the director of the YardWorks project, "a cooperative stewardship initiative that visualizes neighborhood-scale benefits by engaging communities of landowners in a site-by-site design process." If you've ever felt your habitat garden is an oasis in a desert of sterile landscapes, this is the topic for you! Our meetings are FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. Bring a friend!WHEN: Sun. Oct. 25 at 2:00 pm WHERE: Liverpool Library ( Directions) Help publicize our meetings You can help publicize our meetings by printing out and displaying a small poster (8.5 x 11 inches) any place posters are permitted. Download our general HGCNY sign, and here is a sign specifically about our October meeting. Thanks!
FREE Presentation on A Well-Grounded Landscape Tues. Oct. 13 7:00 pm DeWitt Community Library, Shoppingtown Mall We often think about the importance of native canopy trees, understory trees, shrubs, and wildflowers and other herbaceous plants. But what about the ground layer and the soil that supports it all? Learn how to create a healthy landscape right from the ground up. ~ Janet Allen, President, HGCNY Wild Ones Chapter |
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| Hiking in Glacier National Park 1977
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Ask your doctor ...
In the busy-ness of everyday life and with our love affair with our devices, we sometimes forget how restorative nature can be. Nature Rx is a grassroots movement dedicated to entertaining and informing people about the healing and humorous aspects of nature. Here's the first video they've produced -- a parody of a pharmaceutical ad. Another video on the benefits of nature
The Atlantic has produced another short humorous video on the health benefits of being in nature, featuring Dr. James Hamblin. Connect with nature right at homeIn addition to the obvious benefits to birds, bees, butterflies and other creatures in our yards, our habitat gardens reconnect us to the natural world. I suspect habitat gardeners are happier and healthier than their couch potato device-dependent counterparts! Check out the links for more resources on the benefits for people of nature and habitat gardens on this OurHabitatGarden webpage. |
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Catbirds are one of the many bird species that migrate to the tropics
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Migration season
Many of the birds we enjoy in summer are currently migrating to their winter homes in Central America, the Caribbean, or even South America. |
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Milkweed for monarchs
The federal pollinator plan needs a BILLION milkweed plants. What's the bottleneck? Milkweed seeds! You can help by sending some local ecotype seeds to Monarch Watch. What's "local ecotype"? Seeds from plants that are truly from Central New York, not cultivars or plants purchased online from the Midwest etc. They may be found growing in our gardens! For example, seeds from plants purchased from the Plantsmen Nursery or Amanda's Garden (since the seeds to grow these plants were collected in our region), butterfly weeds (Asclepias tuberosa) grown by HGCNY's Dave Mitchell (who collected the seeds locally), and most likely any seeds from common milkweed plants (since they're rarely sold in nurseries). How to prepare them?The Bring Back the Monarchs campaign describes how to collect and send seeds to Monarch Watch. NOTE: They request that people not send seed from purchased plants. If your milkweed plants were purchased from the HGCNY Wild Ones chapter, they should meet the criteria for local ecotype, but you should note that fact on the envelope.
If you'd prefer, you can bring your seeds labeled with all the required information to the October HGCNY meeting and we can send them.
Here's a short video showing how to remove floss from milkweed seeds. It's much easier than it sounds! |
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Little moments in nature can lead to larger life lessons!
Nature's Little Explorers: Fall Series starts this week at Baltimore Woods Nature Center! This fun-filled six-week series will engage your preschooler through nature crafts and hands-on exploration that will awaken their senses to the wonders of the natural world.
October 7th - November 19th
(no classes on Nov. 11th & 12th)
Wednesdays or Thursdays, 10-11am
For children ages 3-5
Participants must register for the full series
and be accompanied by an adult.
$35 for members; $50 for nonmembers.
Call Baltimore Woods at 315.673.1350 for more info.
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| | Hummingbirds may become out of sync with nectar availability as the climate changes |
A Sea Change
Fri. Oct. 16
The Palace Theater, 2384 James St., Syracuse
Doors open at 5:15 with food trucks, Cellist at 6:15; Program starts at 6:45The award winning climate change film, A Sea Change, ( aseachange.net) premiered to a standing-room only audience at the Smithsonian Museum, and a standing ovation. The film screened at festivals in North America, Europe, and Latin America, garnering multiple awards and aired on national and international television. A Sea Change is the story of retired teacher Sven Huseby, whose love for his five-year-old grandson Elias and the world he will inherit compelled Sven to travel thousands of miles interviewing scientists on ocean acidification - the little known flip side of global warming. The photography is stunning; the interviews with scientists sobering; Sven's relationship with his grandson Elias is delightful and moving and the ending hopeful - focusing on solutions being implemented today. This is a film you want to see if you care about the world you will leave for the next generation. Immediately following the film there will be Q & A session. The panel consists of Barbara Ettinger, documentary film maker; Sven Huseby, the main protagonist in the film, and Dr. Bruce Monger, climate scientist from Cornell University. Moderating the panel will be Chris Bolt, WAER news and public affairs director. Suggested donation: $10 adults, $8 seniors/students, $6 per family member; DISCOUNTS for advanced sale tickets at Greening USA.
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Join Wild Ones
We welcome everyone to our meetings, but we encourage you to become an official member. Since HGCNY is a chapter of the national organization Wild Ones, when you become a member of Wild Ones, you're automatically a member of HGCNY, too. And since Wild Ones is an official not-for-profit organization, your membership is tax-deductible. It's easy to become a member, receive the bimonthly Wild Ones Journal, and support our mission. Just go to the Wild Ones website or call toll-free (877) 394-9453. |
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Join us on Facebook
As more of us participate on our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/hgcny, this will become a useful resource for asking (and answering!) local HGCNYers' questions about habitat gardening. |
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Learn more: Habitat gardening
This is an example of a local habitat garden. It also includes links to more information and inspiration to get started on your own habitat garden. |
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Learn more: Edible gardening
This is an example of a local edible garden. It also includes links to more information and inspiration to get started on your own edible garden. |
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