25 down, 25 to go...

Just a reminder that there will be a workday here at MWW on Sunday, March 27 from 11am - 4pm. Please bring rakes and gardening tools.

Yesterday I planted 25 Eastern White Pine in the common worship area, and there are still 25 on order yet to arrive. In all, there will be 50 White Pine encircling (270 degrees of it at least)the worship area. The main floor of the area still needs to be cleared of leaves and trimmed up. We will also be spreading Maxide over the worship area, and then planting grass seed. Everyone will need to bring a lawn chair for the service. Hopefully by the end of Spring we will have some benches constructed in the area.

The white pine are planted in such a way that when they are mature they will create a solid wall around the worship area. I chose white pine not only because of the fragrance, but also because of the sound the wind makes when blowing through. Of course, it will take several years for the trees to grow, but then again, we aren't going anywhere anytime soon either.

We will be planting trees, bulbs and seeds during the workday on the 27th, so please feel free to contribute to the botanical pool. Of course, a cookout will follow after the work has been done. We are looking forward to seeing everyone on the 27th.

Common Worship Site for Services

The grass is growing at the gathering hut site

The hut will eventually have a grass floor - grass is just starting to grow inside the hut

White Pines planted at the common worship site

Started clearing the common worship site

The main path leading to the Rivendale Druid site

The Rivendale Druid Circle

Larger view of Rivendale Druid site

Trees, trees, trees...

What an exhausting day! Today I planted 50 Shortleaf Pine and 25 Ninebark trees around the property surrounding the MWW office. We still have 25 Witch Hazel trees arriving next week. Tonight is the Board of Director's Meeting for IEFC. I will post pics of the new trees as soon as I can.

MWW prepares for the Spring Celebration

We've been busy here at Middleworld Woods preparing the worship site for the upcoming Interfaith Service on April 9, 2011 at 11am.  We've cleared all of the trees from the area and now just need to clear the ground. Worshipers will need to bring a lawn chair or blanket to sit on for the service.  Eventually we will try to have benches built into the area. We are going to have to schedule a work day sometime before the March 19th celebration to make sure everything is ready to go.

We have renamed the OOS area - it is now called the "Rivendell Druid Sanctuary. (RDS)" All of the sites in MWW will be named after cities in Middle Earth (LOTR.) The worship site is comparable in size to the RDS site

We've also received some free merchandise from VistaPrint - a yard sign and a banner. I will bring these to the Board Meeting for everyone to see.

Below are some photos of the worship site.

No Hibernation at Middleworld Woods

You might think that winter at Middleworld Woods is a dormant time, but we actually work throughout the entire year to complete projects and improve and expand other ones. I love working outdoors in the winter. Below are some of the the projects that we are currently working on.

We dug up several cinder blocks that can be used by a group in constructing an altar, platform, or whatever else they can think of using it for.

We opened up and cleared a large space right off the Festival Area. This is actually a very large, grassy area.

This is the path going from the new area (pictured above) into Middleworld Woods.

We've added a customizable "tree person" to each area that is already cleared. These can be painted or decorated and sealed with polyurethane. We have about 30 more in storage.

This is OSO's organizational area

Another closeup of OSO's area

This is the restoration of a trail that was once established and was taken out by the ice storms a few years back. This will eventually circle the property along the northeast and east perimeters of the property and join up near OSO's site.

We have cleared the main path through Middleworld Woods to accomodate a pickup truck so that supplies and equipment can be brought into the woods.

We have cleared another 20' x 15' section near the front of the property. Perfect for establishing a herb garden should a group decide to add one.

Snow Comes to the Forest

Middleworld Woods had its first snowfall of the year.  Walking through the woods today was amazing. Yes, it was cold, but the woods is beautiful.  Here are some photos from my hike today.

Christmas Eve at Middleworld Woods

T'was the day before Christmas, and all through the woods,
The birdies are feeding - the seeds all taste good...

Woke up to a light covering of ice on the trees - just enough to make the woods look like glass.  Took a hike out to check on the OSO site - it's very cold but peaceful out in the woods. The wood nymphs are are sleeping, the squirrels are all cozied up with their stache of nuts. The temp has risen to 35 degrees so the ice is melting and all the dripping in the woods sounds like the flowing of a stream. 

Solstice was excellent Tuesday morning. I stayed up all night to film the enire Winter Solstice-Full Moon-Total Eclipse.  If you didn't see it, you missed an historic event. 

Here are some photos from the woods.  Have a Happy Holiday folks!

Planning for Spring

This week I made some investments into Middleworld Woods - I ordered 25 Ninebark seedlings, 50 Shortleaf Pine seedlings, 25 White Pine seedlings, 1500 Heavenly Blue Morning Glory seeds, 1500 Pearly gates Morning Glory Seeds, 50 mixed Tulip bulbs, 25 Ice Follies Daffodil Bulbs, and 30 Mixed flower bulbs.  This Spring we will decide how best to utilize these in beautifying Middleworld Woods.
We will be taking donations of packets of seeds, bags of grass seed, potting soil, bags of landscaping rocks, bags of mortar or concrete, etc... Most of these run less than $5 a bag, so even donating 1 bag of something will really help.

There had been some discussion about planting a garden in the pasture area to grow lavender, herbs, vegetables, etc... There's plenty of room to do this, with the understanding that the groups that plant the gardens will be responsible for their maintenance and upkeep. 

We're looking forward to the workday tomorrow. While it may be a bit cool, the weather is supposed to be nice. We will be working from 11am - 4pm and we do have sausages to cook on the grill if anyone is hungry.  If you can come out, please do.