Bagels & Burrs Builds Community

The main reasons that I've stepped up to be an officer of the Pinecrest Neighborhood Association were to foster community and beautify the neighborhood. So adopting our namesake park fits perfectly with that mission. Pinecrest Park is the heart of our little neighborhood. Neighbors meet daily while watching their children on the playground, walking their dogs, or just relaxing in the shade. There is a real sense of community. 

We have a longstanding tradition of caring for the park. But officially adopting the park means more than just getting a cool sign or installing a Little Free Library. It comes with responsibilities like looking out for the park and listening to the concerns and suggestions of users. The biggest concern (after replacing dying trees) is the condition of our turf. A variety of invasive plants are crowding out the struggling Bermuda grass. The most aggressive being the California burclover.

Notice the tiny leaves and burs

Noni (who rode her horse on the lot back when this was ranch land), shared how the burs get in her little dogs' paws. Unfortunately, lawnmowers only make the problem worse by spreading the seed. I am seriously worried that burclover will take over the park. Adrian, head of maintenance for the Parks Department, recently joined me for a tour of the park. He admitted that Parks would use herbicides on it (which defeats the purpose of protecting the dogs if you ask me) and that there was no money for reseeding. He mentioned that patrons of Himmel Park made some good progress with goat heads through their removal events and suggested we organize something similar. 

After broaching the idea with the other officers, Bagels & Burrs Family Fun Day was hatched. We would make a fun family event with bagels (thanks Ward 6!), activities, and free books for the kids.

We set up hula hoops, beach balls, bubbles, and a water table by the playground. In the end, 38 neighbors came together to pull burclover. We even had Bur Patrol medals for kids who pulled a certain amount. Families worked as teams! It was a great community building event. Thanks to everyone who came out.  

Also, thanks to Dairy Queen on Alvernon for the ice-cream coupons and Meg from the Garden District for arranging it. 

Try as we might, we hardly made a dent in the burs. If I had to do it again, I would have everyone work in the same area. If we get a big patch, Adrian has agreed to put down seeds there and fence it off to protect the new grass. 

Inspired by the rain Monday, I started working on a patch around the bench where Noni sits with her little dogs. The wet ground makes it easier to pull, so I have been out there every morning from 6am to 7am to take advantage of the wet ground from the sprinklers. I leave when the ants come out.

The bare patch where I removed the burclover

But to really have an impact we need a Bur Patrol to extend that patch to a strip along Torino. 

I'm usually out there at 6am with my bur picking kit. I have one extra picking tool if you ever want to join me. Bring a mat, carpet remnant, or piece of cardboard to sit on. I found that my yoga mat works great. 

If you're not a morning person, you can still help by making your own patch along the section by Torino. Bring a Bur Buddy! Start your own Bur Patrol picking team!  It's much more fun with someone to chat with!

Directions: Make sure you get them by the roots. Look for the bur then follow it down to the root. Sweep your hand under it to grab all the branches. Then pull the whole thing up.

 While you're at it, go ahead and dig up the khaki weed. Those "flowers" turn into nasty burs! 

Patch of khaki weed w/ shiny dark green leaves. The other side has stickers. 

Or you can rake up the dried burs. (I use my fingers.) We need to get those burs up before they spread their seeds all over the park. If you have an electric leaf blower you can try vacuuming up the dry burs. 

See the burs left behind after pulling the weeds?

It's going to take a real community effort to get it out. It's our park! We can do it...together.

Dan getting some burs out by the playground to protect little ones. 

If you want to join Dan or me, you can check to see if we will be there by the night before your visit: info@pinecrest-na.org 

UPDATE: I have gotten up every morning for a month to pick burclover and khaki weed.  Thanks to the other 6 people who have helped - especially Hanna, Cheryl, and Dan! We have made some real headway on Torino and near the playground. Still lots to do - if you would like to help...

Another park action: Some of the pine trees in Pinecrest Park are dying off, but they aren't being replaced.  The city's urban forester is working on a pine tree replacement policy.  Help us be first in the que to get our trees replaced. Report the dying or removed trees on the 311 app and ask for them to be replaced.  

Looking Back: A Year of Community Building

While gathering pictures for our annual newsletter, I was reminded of the many blessings we shared this past year. During these challenging times, I've learned that it's more important than ever to embrace the good things in life. For me that includes family, community, and using my talents to share the joys of sustainable living. 

One of our main priorities this year was building community by working with our neighborhood association. This year we enjoyed some nice gatherings and worked on several projects. We adopted Pinecrest Park and used the money from our neighborhood yard sale to install a Little Free Library there.  Local artist (and neighbor) Becca donated her time to paint fun animals on it. The Desert Sky Community School family came out for our ribbon-cutting ceremony. 

One of my favorite gatherings was our "Stories of Pinecrest" breakfast in the park. Inspired by tales I had heard from some long time residents, I ventured out into the neighborhood to gather more. It was a great opportunity to get to know some of our neighbors. And what wonderful stories! Back in the day there was a ranch in the neighborhood. As a child, Noni rode her horse where the park is now. There was even a speakeasy that rumor has it the outlaw John Dillinger visited! Ann shared how she left home at 14 to join the women's baseball team that inspired the movie "A League of Their Own!"  

John told how he played in the wash as a child. He even showed us his leather sling shot. Now he gives back by being a part of the wash cleanup team. 

Which brings me to our neighborhood beautification projects. Dan has led the wash cleanup team that meets the last Sunday of every month. This year we joined in a multi-neighborhood Arcadia Wash cleanup with Avondale and Swan way neighborhoods.  After some campers lent a hand with the cleanups, I made an effort to start a relationship with them.

We found ways to share our love of sustainability too. At our potlucks, neighbors bring their own coffee mugs and tableware to limit trash. When Environmental Services joined us for a presentation about their programs, we invited Stephen Menke from Sustainable Tucson to talk about Zero Waste. 

Stephen talking about the 6 R's of sustainability. I shared the Zero Waste kit too. 

Wow! Looks like we did a lot with the neighborhood this year!  We've found that some of the most impactful work we can do is with our own community. 

I have to admit that sometimes I get discouraged because of the pushback from the current administration. But I've found that taking action really helps, along with building supportive relationships.  That's why I hosted a get-together with a few like-minded ladies (that could fit in our little TV room.) We watched the recording of the play reading of "ReGeneration: The Tucson Story," visited, ate yummy food and toured the rainwater harvesting features in my yard. (Any get-together is an opportunity to share my basin! #lovemyrainbasin )  I plan to host more of these parties in the coming year. 

We always enjoy hanging out with other environmental advocates at Environmental Day at the Capitol and feeling a part of that community. Last year Sustainable Tucson's Water Committee shared the joys of rainwater harvesting and lobbied for better water policies with our state legislators. Wanna join us in February? 

I also found some common interests with new friends in Tombstone when I performed a historical reading of my favorite book, The Forgotten Botanist: Sara Plummer Lemmon's Life of Science & Art (that Mt. Lemmon was named after!) During the introduction I simply dropped in a line about how I loved the native plants in our rainwater harvesting basins. At the campfire that night, people asked me about it. Sometimes it only takes a few words to start the conversation. 

While we fight the good fight for our country and the planet, let's take time in the new year to embrace the good things in life - like building a community, spending time with family and friends and sharing our gifts.  

Wishing ya'll a rewarding New Year! 

Love, Jana and Dan 

Feel free to host your own movie party. You can find the recording of "ReGeneration: The Tucson Story" on Youtube. 

Celebrating new traditions...

https://www.sustainablelivingtucson.com/2022/07/celebrating-new-traditions-that.html

Community comes out for Arcadia Wash Clean up

Dan and I have been anxiously waiting for rain to nourish our bone dry catchment basins. This time of year our cisterns and basins are usually filled to the brim by our Winter rains. Talk about bad timing! As dark clouds gathered on Valentines Day, we held off on emailing the reminder about our first neighborhood wash clean up scheduled for the next day. We had mixed feelings as we came out of The Loft Cinema to find puddles in the street. Our holiday dinner was delayed as we checked out the wash to see if it was full of water. Luckily, the little bit of rain had already sunk into the sandy floor.

 The Pinecrest Neighborhood Association's Arcadia Wash Cleanup was on! But would the rain dampen the spirit of the neighbors? Would anyone show up? 

We needn't have worried. At 9am a good sized group of neighbors, families from Desert Sky School (including Ward 6 city council candidate Charlie Verdin and son), and the Trashy Divas showed up eager to start picking up trash!

People grabbed tools and recycled trash bags at Desert Sky Community School. Thanks Tucson Clean and Beautiful for supplying the bags and tools and Desert Sky for providing a meeting place with water, snacks, and bathrooms. Also, thanks to Andrea, Jane and Dan for providing breakfast goodies and coffee. 

Then we broke into three groups to cover the different sections of wash from Fairmount to Speedway. After this group took off, another showed up. Thanks to our community (about 35 of you!) for showing up to make our neighborhood more beautiful and protect our water system from trash! 

I led the last group, that included Miranda Schubert who is running for city council for our ward (bending over to pick up some trash). Wow! This little group kept cleaning for 3 hours - all the way to Speedway! Charlie Verdin was there all day too.  In fact, Charlie was so impressed by Miranda's community spirit that he dropped out of the race and is now supporting Miranda's run. 

And it was a good thing too. There was plenty to pick up! 

The Trashy Divas showed us some mad skills on how to compact trash and use a plastic bottle to safely collect needles. 

People gathered at the water station at Bellevue to drop off full bags, pick up more bags, or take a much needed break. 

Not to mention, chat with neighbors and new friends! 

Greg and Dan got their wheelbarrows to carry trash from Bellevue to the city trash pickup location on Fairmount. The guy gabbing in the red shirt is my husband Dan Stormont, the Wash Adoption lead. Someone even recruited a young homeless man to help!

And boy, did they need the help. Look at all this trash we collected! Over 80 bags!

Thanks to everyone who helped to make Pinecrest Neighborhood's first cleanup a success!  It was definitely a community effort! That's what I call neighborhood spirit! 

You can find more information on what we are up to on our Pinecrest Neighborhood Facebook and Nextdoor pages, as well as our webpage. Our events are also posted on the bulletin board at Pinecrest Park. Keep a lookout for more information about our Potluck Brunch on March 8th.