DELTA — The Delta Community Garden Club Monday held a ceremony to install signage designating a garden area along the Wabash Cannonball Trail as part of The Green Ribbon Initiative.
This garden is located on the site of the Northwest Ohio Rails to Trails Association (NORTA) maintenance building at the corner of State Route 109 and County Road EF, which is positioned along the trail. The Green Ribbon Initiative recognizes efforts to preserve, enhance and restore critical nature areas in the Oak Openings Region of northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan.
The signage and designation indicates the local club has “adopted” a natural area along the trail.
Club President and committee chairperson of the project Myrna Macke noted this native flower garden is positioned on the edge of the Oak Openings Region, which represents one of the most unique and bio-diverse landscapes in the state. The Wabash Cannonball Trail, part of the North Country Scenic Trail, is one of the longest trail systems in the nation, as it connects to the Lewis and Clark Trail and the Appalachian Trial.
“This trail demonstrates how recreation and conservation can coexist when land is thoughtfully managed,” Macke said at the ceremony.
Macke said the Adopt a Natural Area program is intended to encourage stewardship of the grounds of critical nature areas in the Oak Openings Region. It also has the goal of connecting people to nature and allowing volunteers to form a relationship with a piece of land.
Macke said the club’s work with NORTA began when it was noted the area of the trail had garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata), a biennial herb labeled as an invasive plant by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, as designated by the Ohio Invasive Plants Council (www.oipc.info).
“We asked, ‘Can our club come out and pick garlic mustard?’ And we received a response, ‘What if you guys do this?” Macke said of working with NORTA on the garden.
Plants are currently sprouting at the site, which came to the surprise of multiple club members considering the abnormally dry fall.
Macke noted the support NORTA has provided to the club, noting a water barrel positioned at the maintenance building has allowed the club members to amply supply the plants with water.
“Even with the drought, we never ran out of water last year,” Macke said.
“It’s been a challenge to get plants to grow, and it’s been a great experience learning about our native plants and how unique this area of Ohio is,” Macke said of the overall experience of planting at the site.
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