Seeds of Spring

After seeing the title of this post, perhaps some of you are thinking "Spring - are you crazy?" But if you've purchased seeds in the past I bet your mailbox is already overflowing with seed catalogs for vegetables, herbs and flowers to be planted after the snows melt and the ground warms up.

We grow heirloom plants in the gardens at Chippewa Nature Center's 1870 Homestead Farm. Heirlooms are defined as open pollinated plants whose "roots" can be traced back at least 50 years. Open-pollinated plants are non-hybrid varieties produced by crossing two parents from the same variety, which in turn produce offspring just like the parent plants.

Thousands of heirloom fruits and vegetables have gone extinct over the past 100 years. Some estimates say only 3% of flower and vegetable varieties that were grown in the U.S. in 1900 are still in existence today. Many of these plants were varieties grown for generations on small farms across America. Each was developed specifically over the years to grow well in a certain area, be resistant to local diseases, and adapted to local climate and soil conditions.

Bean poles and a dried sunflower stalk in CNC's Heirloom
vegetable garden have dreams of spring.

If you want variety, superior flavor, unusual colors and shapes and unique histories, heirloom gardening is a wonderful alternative to growing hybrids featured predominately by many large companies. Most home gardeners, for example, don’t need tomatoes with skins tough enough to withstand cross-country shipment, or potatoes that will pass the McDonald’s uniformity test. Some heirloom gardeners grow plants especially for gourmet chefs. Grow some heirloom plants at home and take the “taste test” for yourself!

Type "heirloom vegetable seeds" in your search engine and thousands of entries will pop up. At CNC, we purchase most of our heirloom seeds from Seed Savers Exchange. Based Decorah, Iowa, Seed Savers in a non-profit organization dedicated to seed saving and educating the public about the importance of heirlooms. As you plan your garden this year, check out their online catalog. You can also download a copy of their regular catalog on their website. 

Happy garden planning! 

Remember the Islands

The article below continues our journey back in time as we look for green living inspiration in the past. One of the most common questions I get as Manager of Historical programs at CNC is "What were the rivers like over 100 years ago?" This article, quoted from page one of the December 27, 1907 edition of The Midland Republican newspapaper helps to untangle that mystery. What will people say about our rivers today when they write about them 100 years from now?

“William Vance, who came to “The Forks” [in 1849] when there was no “Midland” here, says the old Tittabawassee was a much more beautiful river when he first became acquainted with it than it is now. Its banks were green down to the river’s edge, and above, it, as well as the Chippewa, extended away into an unbroken forest. For how many centuries their waters had moved peacefully down to the lakes undisturbed by the works of the pale face, no one can say.

Millions of logs float in the Tittabawasee
River, near today's Immerman Park in
Saginaw County. Photo Courtesy of the
 Midland County Historical Society.

There were deep places that have since become filled up and shallow. There were seven or eight feet of water where the famous steamer “Belle Seymour” [steamboat] used to land, a little way below where the north abutment of Benson street bridge now rears its rocky mass of concrete. Further down, about opposite where the lower part of the Dow Chemical plant is now located, there was an island 12 to 15 rods [66-82 yards] in length, covered in part with willows and in part with grass. This was never cultivated, but the millions of logs cut from the trunks of the majestic pines of Midland county and floated down the streams, often covering them from bank to bank for miles, assisted perhaps by changing currents have obliterated this island, now remembered but by few, and destined, no doubt, to be entirely forgotten.

A pair of Mallards rest on island
 in the Chippewa River

Another island slept in the bed of the Chippewa, just back of the Wm. Patterson farm, now the property of John McGregor, Jr. Mr. Patterson, father of Wm. Patterson, now a resident here, used to keep his hens on this island “in the good summer time.” It was an island 8 or 10 rods [44 -53 yards] in length, and gave the feathered bipeds a splendid place in which to roam about and gather worms and other rich morsels, at the same time being kept separate and apart from the garden. But this, too, is forever gone. The pine logs, too, have gone to add to the fortune of some enterprising lumber operator, while the rivers flow on between banks much changed in appearance from what they were in primitive days when the Indian and the reindeer and the bear took turns in dancing on the grassy slopes or plunging through the snows of winter.”

The Solar Seventies

The 1970s were interesting times indeed. Disco, crazy fashion trends and pet rocks were all the rage! The modern environmental movement was also born in 1970 with celebration of the first Earth Day. Environmental concerns intensified in 1973 with the onset of an international oil embargo and an energy crisis felt around the world.

In response to the energy crisis, solar energy became much more popular and affordable in the 1970s. A major milestone occurred when research by Dr. Elliot Berman brought the price of solar energy down from $100 per watt to $20 per watt . While still costly for most residential applications, solar cells began powering items such as navigation lights and railroad crossings.

Chippewa Nature Center got into the business of solar 

education in the fall of 1977 with a two-day solar greenhouse workshop. As part of the event, a 200 square-foot solar greenhouse was constructed and plants were grown throughout the winter. Subsequently, an "Alternative Energy Group" was born and education efforts continued over the next five years.

In 1981, CNC constructed a duplex to add additional space for our growing staff. The new building included two solar greenhouses and active solar panel collectors on the roof for the domestic hot water system. Due to maintenance problems over the years, the solar panels and greenhouses were eventually removed. Likewise, cheap fuel in the 1980s led to a fading of the solar energy craze that looked so promising in the 70s.

Fast forward to recent years. Concerns over climate change and our dependence on foreign oil (not to mention the largest oil spill in U.S. history) have put solar and wind power in the forefront once again. In 2009, CNC opened a new Nature Preschool building (see photo below) which includes solar panels on the roof for hot water and electrical energy.

As alternatives to fossil fuels continue to grow, you can bet CNC will be there, providing education and information on these Earth-friendly energy options. There is talk of a solar panel making workshop in our future as well as other program opportunities. If  YOU have an idea of something you'd like to see, be sure to let us know! 

Looking Back

People choose to live a greener lifestyle in a myriad of ways. Perhaps you start recycling more, buy organic vegetables at the Farmer's Market, ride your bike instead of drive or carry reusable bags to the supermarket. Taking things further, some people become "flexitarians" (skipping meat once a week) or even vegetarians, purchase clothing made from organic fibers, buy everything locally-made and grow their own vegetable garden.

Even after you consider all these options, there is still so much to learn and try. Living close to the Earth and all her creatures is a lifelong occupation! After all, we're all part of the interdependent web of life and we need to do our best to get along together.

One major source of inspiration for how to live in the future can be looking back at the past. How did our human ancestors, no matter when or where they lived, meet their daily needs? You don't have to look too far back before you find that almost everything people used for survival was local and all of it was  organic - there weren't any other options! 

Over the next month, we'll turn back the clock and let the past inspire us. How did people once survive and thrive on the land that is now Chippewa Nature Center? After all, people have lived here for about 10,000 years - there's bound to be something we can learn!

Trees are Terrific!

The first Arbor Day took place on April 10, 1872 in Nebraska. The brainchild of Julius Sterling Morton, it was designed to highlight the importance of tree planting and to increase awareness of the importance of trees. Our relationship with trees has been critically important to the human species ever since distant prehistoric times. People have used trees for millions of items over thousands of years from bows and arrows to paper and particle board. 


Trees, of course, are homes to innumerable insects, plants, fungi and animals as well. And they (thankfully) "breathe in" carbon dioxide and "exhale" oxygen which all living things need to survive.


So, if you haven't hugged a tree lately, what's stopping you? This year, our National Arbor Day holiday will be celebrated on April 30th. Why not plant a seedling, take a woodland walk, or simply look up through the branches of the maple along the sidewalk and say, "thank you." For some fun kids crafts and activities, click here.

Earth Day's 40th Anniversary

This April 22nd will mark the 40th Earth Day celebration. Browse the web and you'll find many pages commemorating the anniversary, such as this one which tells the story of Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson, who proposed the original idea. From the beginning, however, Earth Day was a widespread grassroots movement. Today, events are held all over the world to celebrate the Earth and it's ecosystems and to promote action on environmental issues from "old school" issues such as water and air pollution to 21st century efforts to reduce (or eliminate) our "carbon footprint." 


Michigan's largest Earth Day event will take place April 23-25 in Rochester, Michigan. According to event organizers, "The MI Earth Day Fest  will welcome to downtown Rochester an anticipated audience of 100,000 people from around Michigan, eager to learn about green and healthy living, and seeking earth-friendly alternatives in food, energy, transportation, clothing, wellness, career, home, garden, finances and more."

Closer to home, Chippewa Nature Center will be holding an Earth Day Hike from 5:30-7:00pm with Naturalist Karen Breternitz. This free program will get you outdoors into the woods to take in the sights, sounds and smells of spring. Along the way, Karen will talk about the trees, wildflowers and fungi that are getting ready for their busy season.


However you choose to celebrate Earth Day this year, we hope you spend some time to reflect on our connection to all living things on the planet we call home. Though it seems big sometimes, we're reminded every day how each insect, plant, animal, air and water molecule are all interconnected. We can all do something to care for the Earth. What will you do this year?

The Corps of Discovery

On August 31, 1803, two hundred and six years ago today, Meriwether Lewis set off by boat from Pittsburgh with his dog and a small crew of men, in what would become one of the greatest expeditions of discovery in American history. William Clark joined the party that October and the two men led their Corps of Discovery to explore the American West. Very little was known about this vast region of our young country (as evidenced by the 1803 map, below), much of it newly purchased from France. Today, we zip back and forth over the miles in a few hours on a plane or at 70-plus miles an hour in our cars. At the time, however, water travel was the fastest means of transportation - but only if you were traveling with the current! Ascending the Missouri River, the Corps spent two years, four months and ten days exploring the West. Along the way, they interacted with several Native American tribes, French-Canadian fur traders, and observed a vast landscape unimagined by most in the world at the time. During the journey, Lewis and Clark prepared about 140 maps of the area, showing rivers, prairies and mountain ranges, hitherto unknown by those in the East. Another major accomplishment of the expedition was a better understanding of the Northwest's natural resources. During the trip, the Corps successfully documented 122 species of animals and more than 178 plants. They even sent a caged prairie dog, which had never been seen in the East, to President Jefferson as a gift. Over the two-year journey, the expedition made more discoveries of landscapes, rivers, native cultures, zoology, and botany of North America than any scientific expedition to date. Today, you can read the full text of the Lewis and Clark journals (almost 5,000 pages) at this website. A vast treasure trove of other information about the expedition can be found by just typing "Lewis and Clark" into your favorite search engine. For those of us living, working and playing in the modern world it's almost impossible to imagine the sense of exploration and adventure the Corps of Discovery experienced. Yet, if we open ourselves to the wonder and majesty of nature, starting in our own backyards, we can still feel a deep sense of connection, appreciation and love for the living Earth and all her creatures. Pack up the kids and become your own Corps of Discovery today!