Nature, Nurture, Nutrition

A single red berry clings tenuously to a slender twig, providing a bright shot of color in the winter landscape. Bare branches reach toward the sky, and evergreen leaves and needles take center stage without deciduous leaves to steal their thunder. The distinctive honk of the Canada goose flies crisply through the air. Walking in the winter forest is truly a treat for the senses.

Jump at the chance to feed ALL your senses when the Arboretum hosts the year's first Soup 'n Walk program on Saturday, February 18. Led by a docent naturalist, you'll venture into the forest in search of plants that seek the warmth of the winter sun. While searching for mosses, magnolia and holly leaves, cranefly orchids, and other green plants, you'll work up an appetite for the delicious lunch and brief nutrition lesson that follow.

Do you know that you can arrange for a Soup 'n Walk program for your group of 15 or more? Contact Ginna Tiernan at gtiernan@adkinsarboretum.org or 410.634.2847, ext. 27.

The Soup 'n Walk program is an Arboretum favorite, so register now for this weekend to guarantee a spot. It's the perfect opportunity to feed yourself, body and soul.

by Jodie Littleton
Communications Consultant

November Soup & Walk

What a beautiful fall day for our last soup ’n walk of the year! The day was sunny and temperature was in the 60s. There were 24 guests out of 28 who had signed up. Only a few had not been here before, and we always enjoy telling new and old friends about our Adkins Arboretum. Our theme was looking for the nuts, berries, and seeds that feed the wildlife.
We split into two groups. Nancy B. started hers at the regular entrance to the woods and I took the other half and looked out at the wetland’s variety of seeds and cones. We took a closer look at the red cedar and noted the blue berries on the female tree by the bridge and then headed to the other woods entrance by the sassafras trees. There are lots of red sumac berries at this entrance. We went past many Oriental bittersweet vines loaded with their yellow capsules over orange berries. Two of us had been to Sylvan’s talk on invasives, so we talked about keeping these seeds from spreading by using them indoors, if you must use them, and packaging them for disposal in black plastic so they will be buried in a landfill and no longer available for the birds to spread. Weed warriors are needed for our volunteer program.
Sassafras trees have berries only on the female trees, and we went by the female tree at the edge of the woods. These edge trees such as the sassafras and sweet gum have lovely color in the leaves that are still left on the trees. The sweet gum balls left on the trees are quite showy and are even showier as winter comes and the leaves drop. There are also quite a few tall tulip trees still showing yellow color at the skyline, and one can imagine lots of seed pods at the treetops.
The dogwood trees had been stripped of any berries much earlier and in the past week had lost their leaves. We still saw berries on the female holly trees along the way. Along this trail there were quite a bit of red leaves still showing on the blueberry and deerberry bushes, but the berries, if any, had been eaten much earlier. Maybe because of the hot summer and dry weather, many of the berries have been eaten already or were not produced this year.
Acorns were quite plentiful this year from both the white oak and the red and black oak families. White oak acorns take only one year to grow to maturity and have less tannic acid. Mature red oak acorns are often stored/planted by the squirrels for later use. Going past the pine forest, we could spot lots of pine cones for squirrels and birds, and when the pines ended at the birch allee we started to see lots of hickory and oak trees. Some of the golden pawpaw leaves were still on the trees. Not only is the fruit used by the critters, but the leaves are needed by the zebra swallowtail butterfly larva.
We joined Nancy’s group just before the Visitor’s Center, and the entire group hurried back to enjoy our soup, salad, bread, and dessert, which were made with some fruits, berries, nuts, and other fall vegetables that help us live well. So we enjoyed refreshing our minds and spirits in the woods and our bodies at the luncheon. Mickey B., Pat B., Michele W., and Lynn L. had everything ready for us. Other volunteers who helped were Janet H., Norma J. E., Shirley B., Nancy B., and Zaida W. with setup, cleanup, and help with the tours. Lynn L. and I brought the amaranth date nut bread. Ann R. was taking pictures. It felt wonderful to have everyone together to share the entire experience.
Thanks to all the staff that helped, as well as all the volunteers.

Soup and Walk -- June 19, 2010

Soup and Walk, June 19, 2010


Saturday was a hot day but the Soup and walk was planned to be in the cooler forest and stress ferns. How much cooler could we choose to be?
I got there early and docents were already setting up for our visitors. We were expecting a large group from Methodist Manor House from Seaford, DE plus others. That group arrived a little early and had plenty of time to check out the bookstore and the shop. Visiting with them I found some folks had been here before but most had not, also among the group were several retired teachers, a minister, and a nurse. Of course since I came from DE we had to compare notes on who knew who.
We gathered on the patio and walked to the entrance to the forest. One of the visitors asked about the history of the arboretum so we talked about Leon Andress and his desire to keep place from being flooded for a lake and saved for the trees.
At the first bridge we talked about the outstanding group of ferns, and we talked about what caused such a lush area. It had what ferns need to grow and flourish –water and shade Julie had picked a lady fern frond and a New York fern and we pointed out the things to look for to identify them.
Though it was a fern walk, folks asked about the paw – paw, I pointed out the fruit and mentioned that this is the farthest north it grows in the wild. Everyone seemed impressed with the huge leaves. One of the visitors broke out in the Picking Paw Paws song.
At the next bridge we talked about naming the parts of the fern, it was a fun exercise to see how many remembered the after I first pointed out the parts, the rachis, the rhizome, the pinna, pinule, spores and frond is made of the blade and stipe. I made a fiddlehead from a pipe cleaner to demonstrate one because there weren’t any in sight.
The cinnamon fern does not have the fertile frond right now but it is tall and impressive, after making note of the beads on the back of the frond and pointed out the wooly tufts at the base of the frond used by ground nesting birds to line their nests, which led to a discussion of uses of ferns in the environment.
Everyone was interested in the tall bracken fern with its three triangular shaped fronds and that it is found worldwide. We discussed the dangers that creatures including humans take when they eat ferns.
We checked out the netted chain fern and tried to compare one to the sensitive fern. It was getting warm even in the forest and most everyone seemed to be managing except one lady she had a portable fan and seemed warm but she said she was fine and wanted to continue on.
I knew the last three ferns were all together further up the trail so we did not stop for the ebony spleen wort. Up the trail past the downed log is a wonderful area of Christmas fern, a rattle snake fern and the ebony spleenwort. Wort an unusual word, means used as medicine so I explained the doctrine of signatures. I explained the rattlesnake fern is in the adder’s tongue family and looked carefully at that fern. One visitor disagreed about naming it rattlesnake and said it looked like a ballet dancer, we all could see that comparison too. The last fern was the Christmas fern they all loved the pinna shaped like a stocking, We discussed how many ferns have the spores on the back of the blade and pointed out the the fertile fronds on the Christmas fern and the ebony spleenwort.
As we walked out of the forest the visitor that was having trouble with the heat was having to stop more often and for longer so Shirley and Zaida went on with the rest of the group and Zaida went down to the nursery for the golf cart and brought it back to us. It was a welcome sight, because that lady needed to have a rest, air conditioning and some water even though she kept protesting she was ok. Michelle met her with a cool glass of water and we went into lunch. After lunch she said she was feeling better. I really am glad Zaida went after the golf cart. It was a relief to see her coming like the Lone Ranger to save the day. It is my opinion the golf cart should be up at the visitor’s center to be available in case it is needed when we are leading walks. All docents should know where the cart key is kept and how to drive it also.
Bev