Thursday, June 9: Beautiful Bees – All kinds of bees are busy visiting flowers to gather pollen and nectar. Learn what kinds of bees live in the Great Swamp, why they sometimes sting, and many more facts with a story and a guided walk.
The spring peepers and wood frogs are calling from the forest pools. Learn all about these two frogs while listening to their chorus and spy on them from the trails on a naturalist-led walk. Rain or shine with the @GreatSwampNJ .
Date: Monday, April 11
Time: 10:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
Location: Great Swamp Outdoor Education Center, 247 Southern Boulevard, Chatham Township, 07928.
Monday, April 11th, 1pm-2pm: Rain Gauges – Learn why rain is so important to a farm! In this program, create your own rain gauge and see why the Fosters measured the rainfall.
Tuesday, April 12th, 1pm-2pm: Hand Spinning with Wool – Learn traditional ways to create yarn from wool! See how the fibers are prepared for spinning, then use your own drop spindle to create yarn. Everyone will get a chance to take a whirl on a spinning wheel.
Wednesday, April 13th, 1pm-2pm: Spring Seedlings – Join farm staff and plant Heritage seeds for your home vegetable garden. Then tour the site to see how the farm prepares for Spring! Please wear appropriate clothes and footwear for a farm.
Thursday, April 14th, 1pm-2pm: Natural Dyeing with Flowers – Learn how to create natural dyes from colorful flowers. Everyone gets to take swatches home at the end of the program. Please wear older clothes, as the dyes are permanent.
Did you know the design of the Vietnam Memorial Wall was created by a 21 year old college student, Maya Lin. Her design won in a competition that had more than 1,400 competitors!
Maya Ying Lin, born in Ohio, student of Yale University. She created her design as part of her college architecture class.
Her family survived and escaped China during a threat of Maoist revolutionaries.
Monday, May 2: Darling Dahlias – Learn to grow the National Flower of Mexico — the dahlia. Young green thumbs will propogate from both seed and tubers and discover which grows faster, and maybe better.
Monday, June 6: A Rose is a Rose. Which plant sometimes has a great scent, but more often has prickles and grows hips? The rose! Learn about this plant which is one of the oldest plants cultivated by humand and learn to grow one on your own.
Meet the newest arrivals to the farm! Help the farmers socialize the baby lambs by playing with them one on one. Everyone will have a chance to pet and hold a lamb.
Saturday, April 2nd – 10 a.m. – 11 a.m. – Children with an Adult – Great Swamp Outdoor Education Center, 247 Southern Boulevard, Chatham Township, 07928.
Tuesday, April 5 – 3:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. – Just for Grown Ups – Pyramid Mountain Natural Historic Area, 472 Boonton Ave, Boonton, NJ 07005
This walk for adults only will visit various vernal pools in the forest to view the mating rituals of the spring peepers and wood frogs, visible only during a short window each spring. Learn about the frogs’ fascinating adaptations for survival and many other interesting facts.
Composting for your home garden is highly beneficial.
Composting enriches soil, helps retain moisture and suppress plant diseases and pests.
It also reduces the need for chemical fertilizers. It produces humus, a rich nutrient-filled material that feeds your plants.
All of these items can be added to your composting pile. Keeping these items out of landfills also reduces your carbon footprint!
Fruits and vegetables
Eggshells
Coffee grounds and filters
Tea bags
Nut shells (NOT Walnut shells)*
Shredded newspaper
Cardboard
Paper
Yard trimmings
Grass clippings
Houseplants
Hay and straw
Leaves
Sawdust
Wood chips
Cotton and Wool Rags
Hair and fur
Fireplace ashes
Cover top of compost with a tarp to keep it moist. When the material at the bottom is dark and rich in color, your compost is ready to use. This usually takes anywhere between two months to two years.
*Don’t add Walnut shells, leaves or branches to your compost pile.
The Black Walnut, The Killer Tree
Scientists identified a compound called juglone that is produced by black walnut trees. After conducting a few tests, the scientists demonstrated that injury and sometimes death resulted when the chemical juglone came in contact with a susceptible plant. The symptoms that they noted were yellowing leaves, wilting and eventual death of certain plants.
Want to speed up the composting time? Bring in the experts!
