The clean-up tonight at Ross Island Park is canceled due to the weather.
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Confluence
The Wild Rivers National Monument, New Mexico was created this year and is already under ‘review’ by Secretary Zinke. So remember, whether it be the confluence of the Rio Grande and the Red River in New Mexico or our Cranberry Brook and 
Whale Pond Brook, we love and try to protect our rivers and watersheds. Last month at our local Sierra Club meeting we generated 19 letters to Secretary Zinke urging him to protect our national monuments and parks. At the local level, please join us in our clean-ups, educational efforts, trail building and gardening. Get to know your watershed. Check out the events page on how you can get involved.
New plants for Ross Island Park from the Master Gardener Sale
We went to the Master Gardener sale with our native plant list of ideas from various people. We wanted to provide food and housing for bees, butterflies and beneficial insects. Here’s what we purchased, using a generous donation:
| Master Gardener sale purchase | ||
| Common Name | Botanical Name | |
| Mexican Hat | Ratibida | |
| Baby Joe Pye | eupatorium dubium | |
| Baptisia blue | ||
| Giant Hyssop | agastache hybrid | blue fortune |
| monarda | bradburdiana | |
| mountain mint | pycnanthemum muticum | |
| phlox ‘david’ | ||
| english thyme | ||
| sage | berggarten | |
| greek oregano | ||
We’ll be planting them this Tuesday, May 23 at 4 pm. Please join us in celebrating our new additions.
Butterfly release at Ross Island Park
Today was a busy day at the Park.
We changed the shape of the western entrance to the trail and filled in the area with wood chips. Looks like it’s been like that forever.
We are experimenting with using vinegar on some of the weeds. We poured it on and will see what they look like on Wednesday.
Suzan Cole released beautiful butterflies that she and her ESL class hatched. She released them in our butterfly garden. She also released some lady bugs that her class nurtured.
She also picked her 4X4 garden area.
We’ll be there again at 2 – 4:30 on Wednesday, May 17.
Thanks to the volunteers at Ross Island Park
Butterfly garden is growing. See the first purple flowers in the middle.
Ospreys at Ross Lake
Chuck and I were working at Ross Lake this afternoon and saw an osprey dive into the water and come up with a fish in it’s talons. It flew away to the north and it’s mate flew along with it. If you stand quietly in the garden you will see so many wondrous things.
Come join us this Wednesday May beginning at 1 until ????? as we help to beautify the garden. Tools and gloves will be available or you can just stop by to chat and enjoy the beauty and serenity of the lake and garden.
Elinore Ave, Long Branch 07740
Season’s Greetings
All the friends of the Whale Pond Brook wish you a happy, healthy and peaceful new year.
Science/Environmental Club at Ocean Township High School creates a rain garden
On November 14, 2016 the Science/Environmental Club at Ocean Township High School created a beautiful and functional rain garden in the cafeteria courtyard.
Continue reading Science/Environmental Club at Ocean Township High School creates a rain gardenTak Lake and Ross Lake’s stone hut get loving care
We had two great events on this beautiful day; one began at the Tak Trestle Trail where sorority women from Monmouth University helped us pick up trash along the lake and on the trail as part of their community service Big Event Day. Thank you all for a great job. Rich Richardson from the Monmouth County Clean Communities provided the truck, gloves, sticks, garbage bags and guidance.
Meanwhile, back at Ross Lake, our extraordinary volunteers and trustees managed to cover up the stone hut using two giant tarps, ropes and stakes provided by the Urban Coast Institute. Ken Manzi, our stone mason, provided the guidance and the tarps went up perfectly, as you can see in the videos below.
Here you can see one of our boatman ferrying the platform back to a safe docking station. Certainly a day to remember.
At the same time, other volunteers were working in the Ross Island Park garden. They did a fantastic job of moving wood chips and beautifying the north west corner of the garden.
We made things better today on the watershed. Thanks.
Ross Island Park gets ready for fall
Lorenzo Santiago, from Hawaii Landscaping in Long Branch, helped us beautify the Ross Lake garden on Elinore Ave. He weeded the front and put wood chips down. Maggie Boyce, Monmouth County Master Gardener met me one day and we strolled around the garden. She suggested how to make it better. She suggested that some of the grasses were not planted in the optimum spots and they should be cut down. Lorenzo did just that and put them in the street. The City came and took away the clippings the next day. The garden looks wonderful. Thanks for your help Lorenzo and Maggie.
