We have news from the community garden and an urgent need from the park.
First, the news. The Old Tennis Court Farm community garden is open! The property owner agreed to an interim lease with Neighborhood Gardens Trust, and thanks to the tremendous effort of the gardeners, park neighbors, and volunteers who cleared more than 20 months of overgrowth in just a couple weeks, there will be a 2017 harvest. (There are a few plots left; those interested should go to www.oldtennsicourtfarm.org). In the meantime, the purchase process is moving along, with the environmental assessments and survey now complete.
Now, the need. Two of Cloverly Park's beautiful old trees, the soaring katsura (near the School House Lane steps) and the enormous pawlonia, urgently need some professional care that Parks & Recreation cannot provide at this time (see the dedicated page with photos). We have found a trusted arborist who has given us a very, very reasonable proposal for the work. However, we need to raise $1,500 to ensure that these treasures get the timely and special care they need. We also need to clear the growth around the katsura.
Can we pull together to help give Cloverly's trees this urgent TLC?
• To contribute, please use this form and mark the "tree campaign" box.
• If you would be willing to come out to the park for a couple hours to help clear vegetation around the katsura, please let us know via email to cloverlypark@yahoo.com
While new vegetable plots and towering old trees may seem disparate topics, what joins them is gratitude. We thank the many people who came out for the Cloverly’s spring Love Your Park service day and so generously gave of their time: park neighbors and gardeners, a group of men from the Drexel University chapter of Pi Kappa Alpha, and middle-school students and teachers from Fitler School. And we are so grateful to Natural Lands Trust and Neighborhood Gardens Trust, our partners in the Old Tennis Court Protection Project, for everything they are doing to effect the purchase of the Old Tennis Court Farm site.