The park is looking lovely, but the weeds in the rain gardens are getting out of control. Join your neighbors at Gemenskap Park on Saturday, July 27, between 10AM and 12PM and help us get the gardens looking pretty again. We’re also seeking neighbors who’d like to organize the next work party. Reach out to us at eastballard@gmail.com or talk with us on Saturday if you’re interested!
A big thank you goes out to our vigilant neighbor and resident Master Gardener, Peggy Cooper, who identified poison hemlock (a noxious weed) growing in the rain gardens at Gemenskap Park. She posted the information on NextDoor and it was picked up by KIRO-TV. They came out to interview her and brought along folks from the King County noxious weed control program as an opportunity to spread the word on a recently launched noxious weed mobile app, called “King County Connect“, that allows users to report potentially noxious weeds. See the full KIRO interview here.
King County successfully removed the the poison hemlock plants, but we have not confirmed how they found their way into the rain gardens. Peggy believes that seeds may have been introduced in the potting soil of some of the shrubs planted in the rain gardens. We have informed Seattle parks, and they will be contacting the contractor who installed the landscaping.
According to the King County website, “poison hemlock is a Class B noxious weed, is a widespread toxic biennial plant in the Carrot Family often found in open sunny areas, fields, vacant lots, and on roadsides. Eating even a small amount of any part of this plant can kill people, livestock, and wildlife.“
Although all of the poison hemlock plants have been removed, we ask that you be vigilant, like Peggy, and use the “King County Connect” app to report any new growth (or email us at eastballard@gmail.com and we’ll report for you).
Although it had rained throughout the week, the sun shone this Saturday as we set out to clean up 14th Ave NW! We had over 25 volunteers who picked up trash and weeded the medians and rain gardens along 14th. Coffee, donated by Woodland Coffee and donuts donated by Top Pot, kept us fueled as we picked up trash from NW 65th all the way to Leary Ave.
Big thank-yous go out to the following volunteers who went the extra mile to support this great event. If you want to be on the volunteer call-out list for next time, reach out to eastballard@gmail.com
…and thank-you to Rachel, Giulian, Scarlet, Nola, Estelle, Pam, Roxanne, Susan, Felix, Mary, Erin, John, Casey, Indu, Banu, Ellen, Leon and more who showed up and made a difference by helping us keep the neighborhood looking so nice!
Check out more pics in our Flickr album to see all the fun we had! Thank-you neighbors and we’re looking forward to seeing you again in the fall for our Clean Sweep event!
Join the EBCA as we clean up 14th Ave NW (now including Gemenskap park!) and tidy up the medians and planters. Bring your friends, bring the kids, we’ll bring the rest! This will be a rain or shine event, so come dressed for the weather and bring your sunscreen!
What: EBCA Spring Clean
Where: Blowing Sands Glass (5805 14th Ave NW)
When: Saturday May 18, 10AM-1:00PM
This past Sunday, the Friends of Gemenskap Park Steering Committee got together to fill eggs for this Saturday’s Inaugural East Ballard Spring Fling in Gemenskap Park. Let the party begin! If you’re interested in working with these fine neighbors to plan the next park event, please reach out to gemenskap.park@gmail.com or come by on Saturday and speak with one of our volunteers!
Join us from 10AM-1PM this Saturday April 20 at the south end of Gemenskap park for an old fashioned egg hunt for all ages. We’ll start off with the youngest kids around 10:15AM and then phase in the older kids after that. We’ll also have face painting, coffee and treats from the Ballard Market and games at the north end of the park. Bring your neighbors, friends and family, and enjoy a fun morning in the park. Bring the sun with you too while you’re at it!
WHO:: Families and friends of East Ballard & Gemenskap Park
WHAT:: East Ballard Spring Fling in Gemenskap Park with an egg hunt for all ages, refreshments, face painting, games, and community. Bring your kids and furry friends too!
WHEN: Saturday, April 20th, 2019 from 10:00am – 1:00pm
WHERE:: Gemenskap Park – 14th Ave NW (Between NW 59th St/ NW 61st St)
WHY:: It’s a beautiful park to enjoy and we want to play in it now that the weather is getting nicer.
Hope to see you there!
After we posted our reminder a few weeks ago, neighbors started reviewing the vast amounts of information provided on the Sound Transit Online Open House and came away with more questions than answers. Neighbor, Brian LeBlanc, helped us understand a bit more from his writeup after his visit to the open house at Ballard High School. Now, East Ballard neighbor, Kristin Doll, has posted an incredibly researched and in depth analysis of the Ballard Light Rail options under consideration. We encourage you once again to take a little time in the next couple of days to study the options, make your own decisions based on your own research and most importantly, participate in the process by providing your input by Tuesday April 2.
This was our second Fall Clean Sweep in a row where the weather was absolutely perfect! We had 27 volunteers who picked up 10 bags of trash, filled up 6 bags of yard waste and 2 large yard waste cans full of leaves and weeds. Coffee and cocoa, donated by the The Ballard Market, kept us fueled as we picked up trash from NW 65th all the way to Leary Ave.
Big thank-yous go out to the following volunteers who went the extra mile to support this great event. If you want to be on the volunteer call-out list for next time, reach out to eastballard@gmail.com
…and thank-you to Marilyn, Susan, Andrew, Steph, Ulysses, Leon, Erin, Mary Pat, Zack, Tom, Rose, Lesa, Rick, Lia, Rachel, Javier, and his son, Emnett, Indu, Banu, and more who showed up and made a difference by helping us clean up the neighborhood!
Check out more pics in our Flickr album to see all the fun we had! Thank-you neighbors and we’re looking forward to seeing you again in the spring for our next Clean Sweep event!
Join the EBCA as we clean up 14th Ave NW (now including Gemenskap park!) and tidy up the medians and planters. Bring your friends, bring the kids, we’ll bring the rest! This will be a rain or shine event, so dress for the weather.
What: EBCA Fall Clean Sweep
When: Saturday November 17 10AM-1PM
Where: Blowing Sands Glass (5805 14th Ave NW)