What's new at your land trust . . .

Free Seeds

Your land trust is partnering with the Hamden Public Library and its Seed Library to provide free seeds to interested gardeners. Come visit the seed library display on the lower level of Miller Memorial Library now through June 6.

To receive your free seeds, visit the Hamden Seed Library display on Thursdays from 1-4:30 p.m. or 
Saturdays from 2-4:30 p.m. Knowledgeable gardeners will be there to distribute seeds and answer your planting questions. 

Come browse a variety of annual flower seeds that serve as host plants for native pollinators, as well as herb and vegetable seeds. You don't need to have a library card to receive free seeds. This offering is available to the public through the generosity of the Greater New Haven Green Fund, the NewAlliance Foundation, the Friends of the Hamden Library and your land trust.
​  

March 25 Film Viewing

Picture
Photo: Casey Johnson
Join us for a viewing of "The Little Things that Run the World," on March 25, 7pm at Whitney Center, 200 Leeder Hill Road, Hamden, CT. ​For all that humanity has accomplished, we actually don't run the world, as the great, late ecologist E.O. Wilson pointed out. This engaging documentary by filmmakers Dru Carr and Doug Hawes-Davis shifts the focus to a group of animals, without which, the world would cease to function. By taking a closer look at bees, butterflies, beetles, and other often-overlooked creatures, the film shows how deeply they support ecosystems and, ultimately, human life itself. As insect populations face unprecedented decline, the message is clear: their survival is closely tied to our own. And importantly, the story doesn’t end in despair—there is still reason for hope. Sponsored by the Cheshire Pollinator Pathway and your land trust. 

Shout Out

Picture
We call them Work Parties because, although we get work done, we have a lot of fun together. Thank you to our intrepid volunteers from this season who have planted native pollinator perennials at Jepp Brook Meadow along the Farmington Canal Trail and tamed invasive mugwort at the land trust's portion of the Stormwater Retention project (rain garden) at Hamden Town Center Park this fall.

​If you like, join us for a future volunteer Work Party to come. The next one is coming up on April 11 at our Jepp Brook Preserve. (Details to come.) You'll get your hands dirty and meet some super folks who care about our environment. Come for an hour or whatever time you can spare. As always, wear gardening gloves, sturdy shoes, and bring drinking water. 

​​About Six Lakes

Picture
Owned by out-of-state Olin Corporation, Six Lakes is a 102.5-acre fenced-off property in Hamden, Connecticut, featuring mature forests, hiking paths, and six beautiful ponds. Home to deer, waterfowl, birds, fish, and turtles, its diverse habitats include a cattail marsh, a red maple swamp, and a 150-year-old oak-pine forest as well as wetlands that connect to the Regional Water Authority’s Lake Whitney water supply. Sadly, it is also a heavily polluted former industrial site contaminated with heavy metals, PCBs, solvents, and petroleum from decades of munitions testing and waste dumping by the Olin Corporation. Despite a 1986 consent order filed by the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, the site remains fenced off and awaiting remediation. Your land trust is part of the Six Lakes Coalition, a group working to try to ensure that Six Lakes eventually becomes a valued natural and recreational resource open to the public. In 2024, the Six Lakes Park Coalition conducted a two-part visioning process to hear from neighbors about what they hope to see from the Six Lakes property once the pollution has been cleaned up. Check out the report that resulted from that process: "A Community Vision for Six Lakes"

 and find out more about this remarkable property at sixlakespark.org.