By Dan Kirk Close your eyes and think about the last butterfly you saw; where were you? Was it sitting on a host plant? Were you sitting on a host plant? Did it hit up against your windshield as you were driving or did it flutter right past your face? When was the last time you had butterflies in your stomach? If you don’t have any memory of a recent butterfly spotting, then keep your eyes peeled. There are around 145 butterfly species in the Bay Area and many of them are out and about! Butterflies are awesome for a few reasons, firstly being that they are pollinators, helping to …
Ebb & Flow
The Newsletter of The Watershed Project
Backyard Resilience
By Kat Sawyer The Watershed Project recently taught a webinar for EBMUD on Rain Gardens and Rainwater Harvesting. One of the attendees was a Master Gardener named Joni who lives in the hills of El Cerrito. She was in the process of installing a rainwater catchment system at her home with DIG Cooperative (https://www.dig.coop/). After the installation was complete, she invited me to visit her garden. Last week I took a tour of her backyard and was charmed by its many ecological features. The story of Joni’s backyard is one of dedication and persistence that began over 20 years ago. Like …
Perspectives on Intersectionality from High School Student Interns
By Laila Walker and Bryan Benavides My name is Laila Walker. I am a summer intern at The Watershed Project, and I attend El Cerrito High School as a rising senior. I’m interested in environmental justice, and as a black young woman of color, intersectionality is so important to me because it protects me and my family. Intersectionality is the practice of unconditional inclusivity. It describes an interconnected system between different groups of people based on their race, class, gender identity, culture, and other social identities. The word itself was coined by Kimberle Williams …
2020 Time Out: Reflections on Resilience
By Paula White Since the mid-March lockdown, I’ve been spending a lot more time at home, puttering in my garden, doing crossword puzzles, and yes, participating in zoom sessions. I’ve also been walking and biking more and am so grateful for the nearby parks and streetside gardens I encounter on my walks through the neighborhood. Yet for many this pandemic has been extraordinarily stressful, even deadly. Black and Latinx communities have been disproportionately burdened by COVID-19. Some are health care workers on the front lines, working long hours caring for infected people. Others …
Who is in Our Watershed
By Dan Kirk The environmental educators here at The Watershed Project, including myself, often remind students that we are a part of the watershed ecosystem, that it’s not just made up of scenic hills and mountains and creeks and rivers that flow into the bay. When we talk about the beauty of our watershed, we include the students we are teaching as a part of that beauty. When we talk about what the environment needs to survive, we talk about what we need to survive. We need Black lives. This past month, we have been asking middle school aged students to identify plants in …
How does your garden grow?
By Paula White Vegetable gardening tips for the backyard gardener The Bay Area is a great place to garden, because you can do it year round! If this is your first time cultivating vegetables, that can be very reassuring, since you can always try again later if something goes wrong. Don’t be afraid to experiment and you might find it helpful to keep a gardening journal with notes about the date you planted seeds and other observations. Today’s tips are focused on caring for your plants after planting. If you haven’t yet started a garden and want to, check out our How to Plant a Garden …
Nature & Self Care: Staff Tips & Tricks
By Olivia Rose In collaboration with: Paula White, Paula Urtecho, Anne Bremer, Helen Fitanides, and Dan Kirk In light of recent events that have sent a long overdue shock to our social, political, economic systems here in the United States that benefit a few while oppressing others, I encourage you, dear reader, to be gentle with yourself. As we show up and stand up to deny the presence of injustice in this country please remember to take care of yourself and practice self care. This fight for justice is one we must endure. We need to make sure that we are taking care of ourselves so …
Where to Enjoy Nature in the Richmond Area
By Helen Fitanides Enjoying the outdoors during the COVID-19 pandemic is an important part of mental and physical wellbeing. Here are some places in and around Richmond where you can access local nature. Please follow social distancing guidelines while out in nature, including keeping at least 6 feet away from those not in your household, and try to choose areas that are close to home and less likely to be crowded. THE SHORELINE Richmond is home to over 35 miles of the Bay Trail, a planned 500-mile walking and cycling path around the entire San Francisco Bay. In Richmond, the Bay …