It all started on It's My Park Day last May 19th...

After shot of the "Hinkle"

Before shot: Jenni on the "Hinkle"

 

One volunteer who came out for the day on IMPD last May offered to
work on a regular basis early on weekday mornings.  She had worked with the Parks Gardener that afternoon and signed paperwork the NYC Department of Parks asks ongoing volunteers to sign.

Almost every weekday since that Saturday, we have met in Isham Park at 7:30am to garden and maintain the park.  Each day she works until 9:00 or 10:00am and some days stays as late as 1:00pm depending on the schedule of her regular job.

We have been able to do so much!  Above see Jenni on what she named the "Hinkle" or the top of the hill above the Ginkgo tree in Isham Park.  The photo on the left shows Jenni in the Mugwort completely covering the shrubs we would reveal by weeding... "after" image on the right is repeated larger below to show the shrubs and flowers we found under the Mugwort, Vine Weed, and other weeds!

More on our work soon...

The cake is gone! The 2012 Art Stroll has ended...

Pink lemonade cake with lemon curd from Darling Coffee was delicious!

Thanks to everyone who came out for the VIP Walking tour/lecture series for the Art Stroll this June!

Cake and conversation at the memorial last Saturday was a great summery way to celebrate Julia and her gift of the land that became Isham Park in 1912 and to bring the series to a close.

Kimberly, a Darling Coffee baker, actually created a new recipe for Julia's brithday.  We cut into it and it was largely gone before we thought to photograph it.  It was delightfully light with a strawberry  filling (seen tumbling out of the last bit).   Thank you Kimberly and Darling Coffee!

Thank you also so much to the presenters for the VIP Art Stroll 2012 series: Susan De Vries, Director at Dyckman Farmhouse Museum, Cole Thompson, "Lost Inwood" co-presenter and author of "myinwood.net", NYC Parks Ranger Martha Brodylo, Harlan Pruden, and Don Rice, "Lost Inwood" co-presenter. To see snapshots of the tours, go to each of the blog posts for June 2012.

Since It's My Park Day on May 19th, a single tireless volunteer has gone out almost each weekday morning at 7:30am to work in Isham Park with me.  The next post will reveal some of the work we have done in Isham Park...