This is the third year in a row that Friends of Brower Park participated in the Brooklyn Children’s Museum’s celebration of the earth.  This year, in the museum’s greenhouse, children had a wonderful time making seed germinators from recycled and eco-friendly clear plastic egg cartons.

The activity was such a success that over the course of three workshops we made close to a hundred germinators. We made a quick decision to use plastic cups rather than disappoint the children and their families. In addition to the egg cartons, we provided Mammoth Russian Sunflower seeds, harvested by community volunteers from the Monarch Butterfly Garden in Brower Park, and soil.

Families were sent home with homework. They had to measure the growth of the seedlings over time. When they reach 3 to 4 inches they will be transplanted into a sunny spot in a garden or a large container. Children who don’t have a place to plant their seedlings can come to Brower Park on one of our It’s My Park Day events, to plant the seedling in the Monarch Butterfly Garden coming completing a life cycle. Sunflowers require direct sunlight, consistent watering, and loving care to grow to their full 9 foot height.

If you would like to build your own seed germinator you may download the instructions: BuildaSeedGerminator

A Community Service Group of 14 students from the High School of Public Service, came through the BuildOn organization came to the park today to help Friends of Brower Park remediate the tree pits surrounding the park. With their help and hard work we completed our mission of caring for all the street trees on the square block surrounding the park. A total of 17 tree pits. Next week, we will put perennial native plants into the pits.

Wheelbarrows and pitchforks to transport mulch to the tree pits.

It is important to remove grass and weeds from the tree pit. They compete with the tree for resources.

Working around the Belgian Stones. The stones interfere with water and air entering the tree pit.

A community service group  of 12 from Repair the World came to Brower Park today to rake leaves and repair our tree mulch rings in the southeast corner of the park. They did a great job and had a lot of fun in the cold air. It snowed the next day and the repaired mulch rings now white with snow shimmered in the wintry air.

Today, the TreeLC truck came to Brower Park with tools, mulch, and collapsible water buckets. The TreeLC truck was an initiative of the Million Trees Project, The millionth tree was planted this summer (2015) in the Bronx. The program is now transitioning to a street tree stewardship program. The TreeLC truck is available to block associations and groups who want to become the stewards of their block’s trees. Of course, Friends of Brower Park, has its own Tree Captain who will arrange a street tree stewardship event for your block upon request. You can send a request to contactus@friendsofbrowerpark.org. Provide a few alternative dates.

Today, five volunteers, remediated 10 tree pits on Park Place and Brooklyn Avenue ending at St. Marks Avenue. We broke up the compacted soil to: introduce air into the soil to allow the tree’s roots to breath. Breaking up the soil creates air pockets that hold water. Mulch was then placed over the soil to protect the soil from erosion and prevent compaction–it also invites microbes and insects to breakdown the mulch and produce a nutrient rich soil for the tree to absorb through its roots. During winter cold, mulch acts as a blanket to keep the tree’s roots warm and toasty.

Our next step will be placing native plants into the pits along with tulip bulbs and crocus. By doing this we are protecting the soil from erosion, but, we are reestablishing a Brooklyn ecosystem.

By helping our trees remain healthy they will:

• Clean the air by absorbing carbon and other particulates
• Provide homes and nourishment for native wildlife
• Help reduce flooding
• Help us reduce energy costs by lowering the air temperature on hot summer days.

Spring Cleaning with Community Service Volunteers from the Mosaic Baptist Church located in Crown Heights, Brooklyn.

The Crown Heights Mosaic Church hosts groups from all over the United States who come to New York to experience our city and to volunteer their time and effort to simply help out. This group of volunteers came from Oklahoma and Texas.

In a full day of clean-up activities–with a break for lunch–they turned our leaf-mold and fixed the fencing, raked leaves and repaired our very important leaf and mulch tree rings, and mulched some of our plant beds. They were so successful that the mountain of mulch was flattened. Most of the mulch was made from local Christmas Trees dropped off for mulching by the NYC Parks Department.

Friends of Brower Park, the Crown Heights Community, and the NYC Parks Department thanks these these stalwart volunteers and the Mosaic Baptist Church for supporting our mission to revitalize and preserve Brower Park for the community it serves.