By Paula White Got weeds? If you live in North Richmond, there's hope for you. Last month a crew of North Richmond residents helped plant "Hope Gardens" for their neighbors. These five gardens have transformed planting strips between the sidewalk and street from weedy eyesores into beautiful urban oases. Each of the gardens was adopted by a resident whose home is behind the garden. In exchange for having an attractive new garden planted, the garden adopters have agreed to water and maintain them and received a tool kit containing a hose, large metal bucket, digging tools, and gloves to help …
Mentoring for the future
By Sharon Gibbons At The Watershed Project, we’ve had the great pleasure of hosting high school students as part of our Greening Urban Watersheds team for the school year. The students participate in the Albany High School EDSET program, (Environmental Design, Society, English, and Technology) and they volunteer with us on Fridays during the school year, instead of attending classes. They have had a busy time helping us plant trees in North Richmond, planting and tending new bioswales on the Richmond Greenway, and helping to host our fall/spring Shoreline Cleanup days at the Albany Bulb. Our …
Neither a pickle, nor a weed, its pickleweed!
With the summer approaching and warmer weather already here, shorelines like Point Pinole, Albany Bulb, and Shimada Friendship Park become great options for outdoor activity and recreation. If you find yourself at a shoreline in the Bay area, you may find this versatile plant lining the shorezone! The pickleweed, sea bean, sea asparagus, or Salicornia pacifica is a perennial herb native to northern, central, and southern california. While native to California, it can occasionally be found in Alaska and on the East coast near the Great Lakes. Interestingly enough, despite the name, it is …
Spring Cleaning and Greening on Earth Day
By Paula White There was a holiday mood in the air at our Earth Day events this year—perhaps because of the sunshine after a rainy winter and the profusion of plants and pollinators we’re seeing at our newly planted bioswales. We had nearly 300 volunteers helping us fulfill our mission to improve the health of our watersheds. We kicked off the Earth Day season by putting some plants in the ground at our bioswale near 17th and Ohio on the Richmond Greenway. These beautiful and hardworking plants filter pollutants from stormwater, improve air quality and provide habitat for pollinators. The …
Bioblitzes and Biodiversity
By Sarah Haselton What is a bioblitz? A bioblitz is a citizen-science event combining the efforts of the public to record as many species as possible within a specific region. These events often take place over a short period of time, up to 24 hours, and the area studied can vary in geographic region as well as size. At a bioblitz event members from the community work together with the common goal of better grasping the local biodiversity. The data collected from bioblitz events are important resources for local conservation efforts. The end goal of a bioblitz is to get an overall tally of …
Go With the Flow: Urban Creek Care Tips
By Paula White A creek flowing through your back yard can be a restful oasis with proper care. In the pages of the newly updated Living With Creeks brochure, we offer guidance on how to keep your creek healthy so that you, your neighbors, and local wildlife will be happy. Tip 1: Get informed about how to care for your creek. If you don’t have a creek running through your backyard but want to be involved with creek stewardship, The Watershed Project has many opportunities throughout the year to participate in creek cleanups and water quality and habitat monitoring. Tip 2: Give the creek some …
A Summer Fit for a King!
By Chloe Criswell As summer draws closer and temperatures are rising, more wildlife can be seen out and about. Specifically, more of the cold blooded wildlife in the bay have started to make their appearance, sunbathing on rocks, hunting, or raising young. One of these is the California King Snake, or Lampropeltis getula californiae. As the name implies, they can be found in California, but also can be found in some surrounding states such as Oregon, Utah, Arizona, Nevada, and even northern Texas! Likely the reason for this snake’s large habitat range is its extreme adaptability. The …
Show your love for the earth: get involved in watershed stewardship
By Sarah Haselton Earth Day is around the corner and The Watershed Project is celebrating! There are some wonderful opportunities for you to bring your appreciation for the environment into fruition this year. First on April 13 at 10:00 am- 1:00 pm at 17th St and the Richmond Greenway, spend your morning gardening, mulching, and planting with us! There is more fun to be had on April 20th from 9:00 am- 11:00 am at Wildcat Creek @ Verde Elementary School. We will be doing our part to keep SF Bay watersheds clean. After all your hard work we will be holding an Earth Day Celebration, filled with …
