Mulch ado about nothing

We had great weather for Saturday's work party on the RecPath at Lane Street. The guys at Parks & Rec had dropped off a couple of loads of woodchip mulch which were spread by trails volunteers at the entrance and along the RecPath to dress the edges and prevent erosion. The stumps and brush will have to be hauled away later by City employees for chipping at the City's grinder.

Tom Harbinson from the Conservation Commission was kind enough to volunteer the use of his time and trailer to bring over our Gator, garden cart, and the new DR Field Mower so we were able to make some progress with a small crew. Tom's trailer worked out great for bringing the equipment in.

There's our Gator and mower. Unfortunately, nobody brought a camera during the work party (see what happens when you're not here Rich). But Jim, Luis, Darleen, Bill, & Terry got a number of tasks done. (Thank you Darleen for all your help). We were able to mow, haul rocks, and place woodchips with the Gator.

Here's the new DR Mower all dusty. It can take out briars, sapplings & brush along some of our trails & the edges of the RecPath. This should simplify some of our maintenance tasks along the powerlines. Jim & I used this to get a head start on the briars that have started encroaching into the RecPath, and this works WAY better then hand-held cutters. And nobody lost any hands, feet or other valuable parts.

The end of the boardwalk was stabilized & the edges trimmed with mulch by Harriet's Bench.

Joe Welch's apple tree, and the dogwood trees were in bloom on the Land Trust property. We didn't see the pheasant though, but one guy's dog went into "point" mode when he got to that spot so I wouldn't be surprised to see something in there. The wildlife really likes that edge of the RecPath between Means Brook and the open fields.

We installed this waterbar at the end of the improved portion of the RecPath to control runoff & prevent further erosion damage. We were able to fix some of the washout, but there is more to do. Anybody with a wheel barrow and a shovel is welcome to pitch in. This portion of the RecPath still needs a lot of cleanup work along the edges and we appreciate it if anyone wants to tackle a piece of it some night after work.

And here are some of our customers enjoying the RecPath. We had a number of folks out strolling, walking their dogs, or biking and enjoying the Greenway today. Take advantage of one of Shelton's hidden gems and enjoy the RecPath off Lane St. in Huntington Center.

Thanks to our trail volunteers for coming out, and thanks to all the scouts, residents, and Land Trust folks who were out picking up trash in the area as part of Clean Sweep Shelton Week this weekend.