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April 9, 2010
LATEST INFO on BNAN events, programs, meetings, and volunteer
opportunities -
all are FREE!
For more information or to register, contact BNAN at 617-542-7696
or info@bostonnatural.org.
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East Boston Greenway Event
Birding Belle Isle and Vicinity
Saturday, April 10, 9:00 a.m.
Belle Isle Marsh Reservation
Bennington St., East Boston

Early spring migrants return to beautiful Belle Isle in April and
DCR's knowledgeable staff will be our guides. Bring your own
binoculars or borrow a pair to catch a glimpse.
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Volunteer Opportunity
Neponset Greenway Gardeners
Tuesdays - April 13, May 4 & 25, 3:00 - 4:30 p.m.
Meet at Hallet St. Entrance to Pope John Paul II Park, Dorchester

Activities: Care for herbaceous perennial, shrub and tree
plantings, including planting, weeding and mulching. Contact
jeremy@bostonnatural.orgor 617-542-7696.


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Meetings
Boston Gardeners' Council (BGC)
Thursday, April 15 (please note date change, meeting was originally
scheduled for April 8)
6:00 p.m.
BNAN Office, 62 Summer Street, Downtown Boston

Learn more about the BGC and upcoming programs. All are welcome.
For more information please contact BNAN Stewardship Manager, Karen
Chaffee at karen@bostonnatural.orgor call 617-542-7696 x19.
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East Boston Greenway Event
Springtime Paddle
Sunday, April 18
2:00 - 4:00 p.m.
Belle Isle Marsh
Bennington Street, East Boston

Explore the ecologically-important Belle Isle Marsh by canoe. Canoe
experience is required. Must be at least 12 years old and able to
swim. Pre-registration required; call DCR at 781-286-2439. Meet at
Belle Isle Marsh parking area off Bennington St, East Boston.
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Urban Wilds and Earth Day Event
Spring Wildflower Walk
Thursday, April 22, 1:00 p.m.
Allandale Woods Urban Wild
7 VFW Pkwy, West Roxbury

Come explore the wildflowers on the trails of Allandale Woods
during April vacation week. A wonderful opportunity for kids and
families to get out together and explore this special 98-acre
forest right in Boston!
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Volunteer Opportunity and Earth Day Event
Volunteer Project on Vincent Road
Thursday, April 22, 2:30 p.m.
Meet at Vincent Road and Morey Road, south of VFW Parkway

Do your part to spruce up the entrance to the Wild. We will prune
back invasive plants and rake debris. Bring gloves, refreshments
provided! For more information contact Paul Sutton at
paul.sutton@cityofboston.govor 617-961-3029.
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Meetings
East Boston Greenway Council
Thursday, April 22, 6:30 p.m.
East Boston YMCA, 215 Bremen Street, East Boston

Monthly meeting. All are welcome. For more information contact
Candice Cook at 617-542-7696 x16 or email candice@bostonnatural.org.
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Earth Week Celebration
The Shiny Green Dot Ride
Saturday April 24, 12:30 p.m. -2:00 p.m.

To celebrate Earth Week and Boston Shines, DotBike is going for a
ride around the neighborhood to check out some of Dorchester's many
parks and green spaces. Bikes available to borrow on this family
friendly ride! Visit http://dotbike.bostonbiker.orgfor more info.
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Volunteer Opportunity
East Boston Greenway Gardeners
Tuesdays - April 27, May 11, June 1, 3:00 - 4:30 p.m.
Meet at the Blue Caboose near South Bremen & Marginal Streets
Entrance to the Greenway
East Boston

Activities: Care for daylily plantings and trees, including weeding
and mulching.
Contact Jeremy Dick at jeremy@bostonnatural.orgor 617-542-7696.
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BNAN Signature Event
Spring Festival & Perennial Divide
Saturday, May 22
10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
City Natives, 30 Edgewater Drive, Mattapan
Celebrate the new gardening season with fellow gardeners at this
popular spring event! Bring plants to swap and share in the
perennial divide. Pre-divide plants to donate and bring containers
to take plants home. MUG volunteers will be available to offer
plant and gardening advice. Shop for native plants, vegetable
seedlings, gloves and other gardening products.


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Volunteer Opportunity
Neighborhood Events and Meetings

It's time for the BNAN traveling show! And we need your help to
represent BNAN at local events, take along a BNAN-provided poster
board of information, hand out interesting BNAN literature, and
talk about the wonderful programs and work BNAN and its volunteers
are doing.
Contact Karen Chaffee, Stewardship Manager at
karen@bostonnatural.orgor 617-542-7696.
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Online
BNAN Slideshow on YouTube

Need a 3-minute break? Enjoy this slide show created by Nathaly,
one of BNAN's interns. The photos will show you a few of BNAN's
programs and events. Click here and enjoy.
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BNAN and GRO Assist Refugee Gardeners

The growing awareness around healthy eating and the current
financial pressure on families is driving more and more families in
the City to try their hand at growing their own food. The need is
especially felt by Boston's refugee and immigrant families, looking
to not only grow their ethnic crops but to also connect with their
own peers and family members socially.
Boston Natural Areas Network (BNAN) has been working with
these families through the Gardening through Refugee Organizations
(GRO) program to train these families to grow food safely and
efficiently in urban condition, with New England soil and climate
conditions. In its second year, the program is going to reach out
to nearly 300 immigrants in Boston through six local organizations
(Mutual Assistance Associations or MAA's) working closely with them
to provide horticultural education, access to gardening resources
and placements in existing community gardens . Gardeners in the
program include Sudanese (North and South), Somali, Ethiopian,
Vietnamese, Haitian, Liberian, Eritrean, Tanzanian and Congolese
families.
This year, BNAN will host interactive workshops for these
families on urban gardening at its learning campus City Natives, in
Mattapan, teaching the new Boston residents about the New England
growing season, season extenders, intensive growing, safe soils and
gardening practices, and more.
To support this project, please donate to BNAN through
Network for Good by clicking here.



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Informational Coffee Hours with Mayor Menino

Mayor Thomas M. Menino and the Boston Parks and
Recreation Department invite local residents to enjoy informational
Coffee Hours in various neighborhood parks throughout the city.
The annual series, sponsored by Dunkin' Donuts, will take place
from April 26 to May 14.
The Coffee Hours give residents a unique opportunity to
speak directly with Mayor Menino about open space and other needs
in their neighborhoods. Through these one-on-one discussions and a
suggestion box at each site, Mayor Menino looks forward to hearing
how the City of Boston can improve upon local parks, public areas,
and city services.
All participants will enjoy coffee and breakfast treats
provided by Dunkin' Donuts, now celebrating their 60th birthday in
2010. In addition, each family in attendance will receive a
flowering plant grown in the city's greenhouses as a gift from Mayor Menino. Residents at the event will also be eligible to win a
"Day on the Town" raffle prize package including a Dunkin' Donuts
gift basket, Macy's and Legal Sea Foods gift certificates, Swan
Boat rides, and free parking downtown for the day compliments of
the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority.
The twelfth annual Coffee Hour series is held from 9:30
a.m. to 10:30 a.m. at each site with dates and locations as
follows. Locations marked ** are rain or shine events:

Monday, April 26
Ringer Park**
Allston Street and Griggs Place, Allston/Brighton

Tuesday, April 27
Hunt/Almont Playground
Almont Street, Mattapan

Wednesday, April 28
Iacono Park**
Milton and Readville Streets, Hyde Park

Thursday, April 29
Porzio Park
Sumner and Marginal Streets, East Boston

Friday, April 30
Medal of Honor Park
East Broadway and M Street, South Boston

Monday, May 3
Mozart Street Play Area
Mozart and Centre Streets, Jamaica Plain/Mission Hill

Wednesday, May 5
Fallon Field
South and Robert Streets, Roslindale

Thursday, May 6
Rutherford Union Park
Rutherford and Union Streets, Charlestown

Friday, May 7
Trotter School Playground
Waumbeck Street and Humboldt Avenue, Roxbury

Monday, May 10
Ringgold Street Play Area
Ringgold, Waltham and Hanson Streets, South End

Tuesday, May 11
Martin Playground
Myrtlebank and Hilltop Streets, Dorchester

Wednesday, May 12
Christopher Columbus Park**
Atlantic Avenue, North End

Thursday, May 13
Clarendon Street Tot Lot
Clarendon Street and Commonwealth Avenue, Back Bay

Friday, May 14
Hynes Playground
VFW Parkway, West Roxbury

For more information, please contact the Boston Parks and
Recreation Department at 617-961-3039 or look for them on Facebook.
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Take Action!

Tell your congressional legislators to fund community gardens and
support the bill titled Community Gardens Act of 2009. The bill
authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to make grants to eligible
entities to establish, build, or operate community gardens.

Contact your Congressional Representative (either Michael Capuano
or Stephen Lynch) to tell them to support this important bill. Tell
them why community gardens are important and what they provide for
the community. So pick up the phone or send in a letter. It is
vital that we demonstrate our support for community gardening. Each
voice will help influence the decision, so don't under-estimate the
impact your letter can have. For the complete bill language and
current list of co-sponsors go to www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?
bill=h111-3225 .

If you are uncertain as to who is your Representative, go to
https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml,. You can then
use this same site to email your Representative to support this
important bill to fund community gardens.

Please share this information with your fellow community gardeners.
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Finding A Community Garden Gets Easier

With spring officially here thoughts are rapidly turning to
the upcoming growing season. If you are feeling the urge to get
your hands dirty, enjoy some fresh food and healthy exercise and
are interested in obtaining a community garden plot, BNAN has a new
tool to help you.
In time for the growing season, the community garden map on the
BNAN website that includes all 150 community gardens in the city
has become interactive. You can now easily locate gardens near your
home or in your neighborhood and see garden aerials, photographs of
the garden and street views to and around the garden and learn the
address and owner. Check out www.bostonnatural.org/cgFind.htm
today. It is also a great way to take a virtual tour of the city's
gardens. If you do not have access to a computer, call us and we
can send a paper map of all the community gardens.
Once you find a garden you are interested in, contact us and we
will give you the name and contact information for the garden
coordinator. All garden coordinators are urged to update their
gardener list to identify available plots as early as possible. The
garden coordinators, who are volunteers, will give you information
on obtaining a plot, fees, rules, clean-up days, special events in
the garden, and more. If you find that a garden has a waiting list
for individual plots, you may want to volunteer to help maintain
communal areas and help at garden clean-ups. In addition, BNAN has
a list on its website of gardens that have plots available along
with the contact information. The list is updated throughout the
spring as coordinators report plot availability to us.
For a copy of our printed map of community gardens or the name
of a garden coordinator contact BNAN at 617-542-7696, or email
info@bostonnatural.org.
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Garden Education
Seed, Sow & Grow 2010 Program Series

Seed, Sow & Grow is an opportunity for gardeners to learn urban
gardening techniques and concepts with Boston Natural Areas Network
staff, special instructors and fellow gardeners. All Seed, Sow &
Grow programs are free and open to the public. Registration is
required for all programs and registering early is recommended.
Below you will find listed three of the first workshops of the
season. Click here to download the full program schedule from our
website or call the BNAN office at 617-542-7696 or email
info@bostonnatural.org to be mailed a paper copy.






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BNAN's Spring 2010 Newsletter available online! Click here to
download. Read what we've been up to and see the full winter
program lineup. Read BNAN's past newsletters here, too.
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Become a BNAN Fan on Facebook! Click here.
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Boston Natural Areas Network
62 Summer Street
Boston, Massachusetts 02110
www.bostonnatural.org
phone: 617-542-7696
fax: 617-542-0383
Email: info@bostonnatural.org
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