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Sap Savers
Our new naturalist, Jenny Rupp was part of the crew that tapped our first maple trees of the season this past Saturday. She is anxious for her first syruping season!
What a marvelous winter it has been for those of us who enjoy being outdoors! Winter is sneaky sometimes, and waits for the most inopportune time to bring on the cold weather! If you found yourselves out and about on Saturday morning, you may have noticed a severe drop in temperature from the day before. At the Indian Creek Nature Center, we can’t wait to start preparing for spring and the Annual Maple Syrup Festival!
Bags fill with sap to be boiled into maple syrup at the Nature Center
Saturday, volunteers from the community and staff from the nature center could be seen making their way down Wood Duck Lane carrying drills and hammers. Not even a negative wind-chill could stop us from taking the first steps toward delicious maple syrup! Now is the time to start collecting the sweet sap that is just beginning to slip through the trunks of the trees! It only took an hour for our great group of volunteers to make a dent in the sugar bush. Some of the trees had even started dripping before we left the area! Here’s hoping for a great sap season!
If you happen to have access to silver maple trees and are interested in tapping them this spring, come down and get some spiles (the metal spouts that help gravity pull the sap out of the tree) and more information from the friendly staff at our center.
~Jenny Rupp
Summer fun
Summer camps started this week and we’ve got kids all OVER the place here all having a BLAST! Our Young Explorers are planting an American Indian “Three Sisters” garden of corn, squash and beans that other campers will tend throughout the summer. The Polliwogs (and their parents) are out searching for animal and insect homes to discover “Who Lives Here” and making some pretty cool nests of their own. We’ll post pictures later in the week!
Cool, cool, cool! Fun new merchandise in the shop! These birdhouses are CUTE and literally SNAP together quick and easy. You can use them indoor for decoration or outdoor as actual birdhouses! Many designs available. We’ve gotten in a bunch of new books, butterfly nets, kids’ games and activities and yes, we still have MAPLE CANDY! We’re on our last little basket though so if you’ve got a hankering….get here and get some!
New program for ‘tweens and teens
We’re often asked about programs for older kids and admittedly, we haven’t had as many as we do for the younger set. But Education Facilitator Jan Aiels has been working on a brand new program that’s specifically geared towards middle and high school students. One of the cool aspects of our new Naturalist Adventurers program is the kids can have a say in the programs to be offered!
Jan says the goal is to have a monthly program that includes an activity to learn about a chosen nature topic, enjoy an adventure led by a guest leader or participate in a hands-on conservation project. “This is their program,” Jan says. “We invite them to come plan future events. Do they want to know about fly fishing? Archeology? Solar cooking? If they’ll tell us what they’re interested in, we’ll put together a program around it.”
Kids can get involved by attending the first event on Saturday, June 18th at 1:00pm. There will be a GPS/Geocaching activity and then the planning session for future meetings. Cost is $3 for members, $4 for non-members. You can register by phone at 362-0664, through our Calendar of Events or click here to go directly to online registration. Join us and bring your ideas!
Welcome to our new website!
We’ve been working hard since late last year and we’re proud to introduce you to our labor of love! Spring seems to be just the right season to see this beautiful new site in bloom. Fresh new pictures, a whole lot of updated information, an improved and easily accessible calendar and our coolest new feature – online registration!
We have so many interesting, fun programs going on out here and we thought the old calendar was a little hard to find. Then you had to wait until we were open to get signed up for these cool programs. Not any more! You can go online any time that’s convenient for you, read about all the neat stuff we’re doing and sign up! Easy as pie!
A HUGE thank you to all the folks at Henry Russell Bruce who designed the new site and helped us through the process of getting it ready for you to see. We think they did a brilliant job!
Let us know what you think! Send us an email under “Contact us” with your comments, suggestions, thoughts, ideas or whatever you’d like to share with us. If you’re on Facebook, don’t forget to “Like” us…and tell your friends to do the same! Happy Spring…Happy New Website!
Paddle Day is coming!
Yes, I know we’ve been quiet lately but we’re working on something really exciting we’ll be ready to unveil shortly! In the meantime, we’ve got a few special programs to tell you about.
First, PADDLE DAY is coming this Saturday, Jan 29th. If you’re a kayaker, a canoeist or other paddle enthusiast, you won’t want to miss this! Eco-adventurer John Pearson will share some of his recent excursions across America in a beautiful and exciting photo-narrative. John Craun will tell you why Isle Royale is a MUST on your destination list and he’ll show you his latest creation – an Aleutian biadarka! It’s a beautiful wooden kayak he’s constructed that you’ll definitely want to see. Registration opens at 12:30…cost is $7/ICNC members; $10/non-members
We’ve got three workshops coming up for folks interested in chickens. First, noted author and co-host of the wildly popular “Chicken Whisperer” radio show – Patricia Freeman – will Skype in to the Nature Center on Sunday, Feb 6th at 2pm for a presentation on integrating chickens with gardens and increasing your backyard production. We’ll also have a presentation on coops and fencing. If you’re raising chickens or thinking about it, you’ll want to be here! Cost is $7/ICNC members; $10/non-members.
And if you’re thinking you want to raise chickens and want to know more about it, come to our Basic Chicken Workshop on Saturday, February 19th at 2pm. This is the workshop required by the City of Cedar Rapids before a permit will be issued for residents to raise hens in their backyards. This same workshop will also be presented on Wednesday, March 2nd at 7:00pm at the new Theisen’s location (1800 51st St NE…formerly Econofoods). Thanks to our friends at Cargill and Nutrena for helping us with the Theisen’s workshop! Cost for either workshop is $7/ICNC members; $10/non-members.
If you’re interested in more information or to register for these events, give us a call at 319-362-0664. See you at the Nature Center!
