There were several questions about whether it was still worth pulling garlic mustard after it has gone to seed, to which there is one simple answer: absolutely! The garlic mustard still has the seed on the plant (they are currently immature but will start maturing soon), so removing the plant and putting it into bags (to prevent seed dispersal) still can make quite an impact in preventing future infestations of this invader.

I am also happy to report that our neighbor, Dr. Wiline Pangle, will be bringing her “Introduction to Ecology” class (EEOB 503 for those interested) to our ravine to look at the effects of invasive plants on native areas, as well as to identify natives. The students will be walking through the ravine, and spending a little time pulling garlic mustard. With 76 students (in smaller groups), every bit of time will help! Also a quick reminder that the recent (and upcoming) rains make it easier to pull out the root.

Thank you for all you do to help our ravine!
–Derek

We had an amazing turn-out as well (35 volunteers!), from our usual crew of neighbors and school partners, as well as volunteers through the Earth Day 2010 (http://update2010.org) and our site sponsor, Malcolm Pirnie. As a reminder, there is an Earth Day celebration in Franklin Park on Thursday, April 22, 3-10pm.

We gathered 7 (30 gal) bags of trash, planted many native plants and removed weeds in the raingarden, planted 95 native trees in the ravine, and pulled out 70 (!) bags of garlic mustard.

There is still much more garlic mustard to be removed, so it you feel inspired on a walk, please take some time to remove some of this aggressive plant. Our mentor, Greg Schneider, pointed out that with only flowers on the plant at this point, if the stem is broken between the flower and the roots, the plants will not go to seed and can just be composted in the ravine or the side of the road.

Thanks for all you do! We are all very blessed to live in such a beautiful area.

–Derek

Sign in and supplies will be at Overbrook & High; Overbrook & Canyon; Overbrook & Yaronia; Overbrook & Indianola.

This is a great opportunity to get out and meet your neighbors while improving the community.  We look forward to seeing you.  Bring a friend.

How do you start a watershed group? Here’s what I did, as I best remember. However, the organizing lines are not in any neat pattern: For me to map the process would be to draw a scribble.

I want this story to be a message of encouragement, to show how simple it is to get started, and the importance of passion in sustaining an effort. I believe starting a conservation group begins when you notice what’s going on around you, care about what you see, talk honest and listen to others about it, and then focus on work to make a situation better.

I noticed the ravines. In 2000 my husband and I purchased a wooded lot in Adena Brook that happened to have a house on it. I knew we were lucky to live atop a ravine with many trees and near the stream. It is only a short walk down the street to a hidden park.

On my walks, I noticed majestic old sycamores, red oaks, hackberry, cherry, and ash trees, but I only saw a few saplings. Instead I saw a sea of honeysuckle bushes fragrant with light yellow blossoms. Along the brook edge I heard water but couldn’t see it through the bushes. I saw large boulders deposited from a glacial ascent. I heard chickadees and cardinals, I noticed a toad hop, saw hawk soar, and a Monarch butterfly on a coneflower. I also saw trash: plastic bags, fast-food containers, pieces of Styrofoam, dumped piles of asphalt, bottles, and cans. I wondered if those creatures I saw would tell a happy story if they talked about their neighborhood.

I noticed I lived in a neighborhood with people who did caring acts. Mark Carter puts out a cooler with soft drinks and water for the Rumpke drivers each week. Clara McClung brings a meal to an ill neighbor. Lynne Stamey digs up plants from her garden to give away. Greg Cunningham hangs bird houses in high places for neighbors. Bob and Judy Robinson and Bill and Nan Platt pick up litter on weekly walks. Herman and Helen Hafey sell their garden vegetables on their front porch for nickels and dimes. Barbara Llyod sets tomatoes from her garden at the curb for anyone walking by. Phyllis Beuter makes homemade jams for new neighbors. Jeanne Desy writes poetry for children. Maya Schultz helps her elderly neighbor with yard work. John Blake salts the slippery corner where Glenmont meets High Street. Tom Barton removes snow from the street before we wake after heavy storms.

I noticed that the local newspaper included educational articles about the environment. Soon after our move into the Adena Brook neighborhood, I happened upon an article in The Booster about a group called Friends of the Ravines (FOR). I thought this would be an avenue to learn more about the ravine ecosystem and to meet others. I met Martha Buckelew, then Chair of FOR, Jack Cooley, who would soon be Chair of the Clintonville Area Commission, Andrea Gorzitze, who worked on the Greenways project at Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission, and Sherrill Massey who was active on environment boards. I joined FOR’s board and for two years worked with and learned from these people and their events. This experience was invaluable because I began to establish a network of relationships with people knowledgeable about ravine habitats.

I learned of other organizations and met new people. Through FOR I met the first of what is now a growing list of the best friends anyone could have. Erin Miller, then coordinator of Friends of the Lower Olentangy Watershed (FLOW), helped us name our group: She showed us on maps that the name of the brook that our neighborhood ran through was Adena Brook. Neighbor Stacey Durst suggested we call ourselves a “community.” Laura Young-Mohr from the City of Columbus Department of Utilities gathered a group of watershed leaders organize Central Ohio River Pride, an annual clean-up in May of central Ohio waterways, which gave us our start on monthly clean-ups. Laura introduced me to Bob Seed, coordinator of Keep Columbus Beautiful. Bob provides bags, gloves, and tools for 3 clean-ups a year, and arranges pick-ups by the city of the litter we have collected. Cyane Gresham from the Sierra Club joined us to offer information about watershed issues and grant opportunities. Stephan Douglas from COTA arranged for a trash receptacle to be installed at a busy bus stop. Stephanie Suter from Franklin Water and Soil makes suggestions to improve a grant and reminds us of their annual plant sale. Lisa Bower walked the streets with us to teach us how to identify trees. Greg Schneider, an Adena Brook neighbor and botanist at the Ohio Division of Natural Areas and Preserves, guided plant walks to teach us about native plants in Central Ohio.

Two FOR events were instrumental in guiding our direction. The first was a slide presentation by Jerry Wager about watershed issues; the other was an impassioned talk about invasive plants by Elayna Grody, Natural Resources Manager with Columbus Recreation and Parks. Jerry lived in the Adena Brook neighborhood, worked at the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, and had worked with other groups on projects in the ravine. When his son was a student at Clintonville Academy, the students conducted water-monitoring studies, and wrote and installed educational signage in the Park of Roses. Jerry is the original steward of Adena Brook. Even though he now lives in Panama as an organic farmer, he still inspires us with his stories and encourages us by e-mail.

I noticed the extent of the invasive plants in Adena Brook. After Elayna Grody’s talk, I introduced myself and told her I wanted to learn more. She is a one-person department that removes invasive plants in city parks. She was delighted to teach me. We walked the park and listed the most serious invasive plant problems: bush and vine honeysuckles, garlic mustard, Tree of Heaven, and euonymus vines. Elayna also invited us on wildflower rescues—we dug up native plants in areas where roads or easements would replace the plants and replanted then in Adena Brook. Elayna continues to be the visionary inspiration to a thriving and biodiverse Adena Brook woodland.

Martha Buckelew has a dream of establishing ravine groups throughout Central Ohio and she lends any type support necessary. Perhaps her dream was a seed that took root in my thinking to establish an Adena Brook watershed group. One day when neighbor Peg Matthews and her dogs Zoe and Grace passed by, she said, “Did you notice all the litter in the water? After it rains, it’s worse.” I had noticed and we assumed others noticed and cared. We decided we’d see if any other neighbors wanted to get together and talk about how we could clean up the ravine. Peg and I planned a meeting, reserved a room at Whetstone Library, and made a flyer to invite neighbors to get together to talk about and plan our work. Peg and I had co-founded a group.

The result of that first library meeting was our first clean-up. Equipped with knowledge, Elayna agreed to oversee our group and wrote our first annual permit allowing our group to work on park land. Volunteer neighbors meet once each month on the Second Saturday to work for two hours, 9 to 11 AM, March through November. We keep track of our work. We share information on an e-mail list sent to anyone who wants it.

A group of street representatives meets twice a year, once to construct a “things to do” list, and another time to assess the progress we’ve made to accomplish the things on our list. We remain focused on our tasks and try to finish what we start before we add more things to our list. Our meetings are delicious potlucks lasting two hours, one hour to eat, one to plan. We start and end meetings on time. We keep people informed who are not on the e-mail list by a hand-delivered newsletter in the spring. We raise funds when needed to haul and shred invasive plants to avoid problems for others in Central Ohio. We are aware that the best model parks are those who benefit from private donations as well as government funds.

This year we added one new project to our list: Learn about storm water run-off. We want to install the first rain garden on park land in Clintonville. It will lessen the polluting effects of run-off into Adena Brook, and inspire local residents to consider their planting their own rain gardens to reduce storm water run-off. This project is another long-term task.

Adena Brook Community is able to grow because of multiple contributions. Some people pick up litter, some remove invasive plants, some have contacts that bring us better relationships with city, state, and professional personnel, some donate money, some plant tress, some educate us, some provide copy services, some share historical stories to help us remember and preserve, some own businesses that make our neighborhood better. Together we are improving the Adena Brook neighborhood, and creating a better habitat for all.

Volunteers: 68 (60 Metro Martial Arts Families; 8 Adena Brook Community neighbors)
Hours worked: 1
Bags of litter removed: 42
Bags of litter recycled: 3
Other items: a car bumper, pole in concrete, wire rolls. large window shade

Among the items of interest found: car bumper, large window shade, pole in concrete, soccer ball, empty box turtle shell, piece of $100 bill, car keys, 2 rolls of wire and a yard frog to remain with us for our “mascot”.

See you next month, second Saturday, July 11, 9 – 11 AM. Meet at the Adena Brook Rain Garden at High and Overbrook. Look for supplies at the Adena Brook Rain Garden, Overbrook and Canyon, Overbrook and Yaronia!

Judy Robinson
judyrob59@gmail.com

These 20 volunteers worked to weed the rain garden, pull garlic mustard, and cut honeysuckle. Only 1 bag of trash collected!

Jim Roberts: about 10 bags of garlic mustard at High and Overbrook, several piles of honeysuckle, euonymous vine and garlic mustard along Overbrook off High and Overbrook off Indianola.

Derek Hansford and Ann Florentine
Joey James
Martin McCarthy
Kevin Obye
Charlotte Cahill
Natalie Fields
Andy Balmert
Kenn Cahill
Ellen Hoover
Kathy Brunner
Steve and Georgia Blum-Herminghausen
Greg Schneider
Jim Drury
Bill Platt
Phyllis and Jeff Beuter
Karen Snyder
Susan Michael Barrett

I’m writing to share news. My husband, Terry, and I are moving to Texas in August. Briefly, as a result of a few life changing events, we’ve learned to live life as an adventure. This news is bittersweet (understated) – I LOVE Columbus and this neighborhood. I will miss you and the vibrant, progressive spirit of those who work tirelessly to better our neighborhood and city.

Transitioning Adena Brook Community tasks to the many who care so much about our neighborhood woodland and brook is a top priority and easy to do! We are a community working together and though I will miss you so much, the conservation work now has a life of its own. The vision for a thriving, biodiverse ravine and brook ecosystem gains breadth each year because it is the result of many working together. Because I have asked and you allowed me to assume leadership of this work, it is important to think through the tasks to assure continuance. In the spirit of community, I’m sure you are not surprised that neighbors step forth to accept responsibility for the tasks we have worked steadfastly toward these last eight years.

Here’s how the structure looks:

Derek Hansford agrees to lead which means he will be the voice for the group when needed. Derek agreed only when reassured that he would work in collaboration with the people below who agree to an ongoing commitment to the work they have either done for many years or will begin in the next few months.

Kenn Cahill – advise about and oversee the invasive plant removal work
Mark and Carina Carter – maintain the Cooke Road exit corner
Greg Cunningham – maintain the 62 nesting boxes
Ann Florentine – oversee the Financials s for Adena Brook Community (with Clintonville Beechwold Community Resources Center)
Ellen Hoover, Steve and Georgia Blum-Herminghausen – oversee the Adena Brook Community website; make sure all professional mentors are registered to post
Nan Platt – check PO BOX for donations or invoices, write thank you notes for donations, deliver checks and invoices to Clintonville Beechwold Community Resources Center. Share information with Ann Florentine.
Greg Schneider – oversee maintenance of the Adena Brook Rain Garden
Judy and Bob Robinson – oversee monthly clean-ups; put out signs and supplies for clean ups every month. Contact Robert Seed about bags to pick up. Send an email to Jim Roberts to haul invasives.
Susan Michael Barrett – emeritus; available by email for any help needed

The Adena Brook street reps will continue to inform neighbors who live on their street and pass news to them.

Tina Mohn, Property Manager for the City of Columbus, Recreation and Parks, remains our group’s main contact. She is the person who gives us a permit to work on parkland. Derek will be in contact with Tina. Derek will send you occasional emails, however he and others will post news on the website. Be sure to bookmark it (http://www.adenabrook.org)

Over the last 8 years, we have been guided by informed and devoted mentors. A few mentors are new. Thank you to: Lisa Bowers, Greg Cunningham, Lisa Fosco, Elayna Grody, Tina Mohn, Greg Schneider, Robert Seed, Stephanie Suter, George Zonders. I know they will continue to provide guidance to our volunteerism. All are either registered or will register on our website so that they can post information directly to us related to our mission to conserve Adena Brook and its surrounding woodland.

One of the reasons for the success of our work is that we created principles to guide us. They are listed on our website. As a reminder of who we are and how we work, I’m listing them here.
Principles of Action for Adena Brook Community
We care about Adena Brook and its woodland.
We show our care through action.
We base our actions on accurate information and guidance from professionals.
We are an agent of change through service guided by kindness, cooperation, and persistence.
We rely on creativity, generosity, and commitment.
We treat people with the same care and respect we treat the environment.
We listen to each other.
We follow the energy of “yes.”
We stay together.
We believe in others.
We focus on what is possible.
We keep track of what we do.
We organize as a web of relationships.
We use a trust-based model of relating to one another.
We avoid power struggles and power-over dynamics in relating to others.
We work cooperatively rather than confrontationally with others.
We are patient and persistent with people and processes.
We lead in a way that welcomes others in.
We believe our capacity grows as we widen the circle of inclusion.
We work with our children and grandchildren in mind.

I will take the experience of Adena Brook Community and transform it into something helpful in my new community. Thank you so much.

Susan