Tourism Week – Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. George Genereux Urban Regional Park.

Apply these 9 Secret Techniques to Improve Forest Tourism

Shhhh…Listen Do You Hear the Sound of Forest Tourism?

We tend to take forests for granted, underestimating how indispensable they still are for everyone on the planet. That would quickly change if they all disappeared, but since humanity might not survive that scenario, the lesson wouldn’t be very useful by then.
Russell McLendon

The Trembling Aspen is also referred to as the Quaking Aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx) May 25, 2019

There is no doubt about it, trees help us to breath. When arriving at the hospital, the medical care team, in many circumstances rely on giving the patient oxygen. Trees absorb carbon dioxide from the air, and worldwide, forests emit oxygen to keep us alive.

The afforestation areas provide semi wilderness habitat homes to a diverse range of birds, insects and animals. Have you ever walked in the woods, and heard the woodpeckers, robins or meadowlarks? Did you see the little American Red Squirrels leaping from limb to limb? Did you marvel at the population of butterflies which you see in the afforestation areas, and how many you saw last year and the year before? 80 % of fauna biodiversity can be found in forests! Forests are indeed Magical!

There are a plethora of health benefits to be derived from an outing in the afforestation areas. For an introduction, they boost your immune system, reduce stress, increase your energy level and have even been know to lower blood pressure! It is truly wise to immerse yourself in a forest for better health. It is no wonder that PaRx (parks) are a prescription for health.

Truly forests, also help us during this era of taking action on climate change. Not only do they act as carbon sinks, as mentioned earlier, but woodlands also protect us from natural hazards such as great winds, floods, and heavy rains. There are truly benefits of forests…so important to us and to the world.

“<a href="http://<!– wp:paragraph –> <p>"Walking, cycling, tai chi or doing conservation work regularly in forests" can assist with weight loss</p> Walking, cycling, tai chi or doing conservation work regularly in forests” can assist with weight loss

Shinrin-yoku is the Japanese art of forest bathing to soothe the soul. “Forest Bathing is an accepted part of Japanese preventative health care because of the mental, physical and spiritual health benefits it delivers.”

Educational aptitude and cognitive development are enhanced. “To increase literacy and numeracy, children need to have access to nature, and at the very least, green and natural views of trees.” Studies have shown that outdoor education is of benefit to the human population. “The presence of trees and urban nature can improve people’s mental and physical health, children’s attention and test scores” Therefore, in summary, children are more likely to succeed in school where they can fully receive the benefits from trees, if not through place based learning in a forest, then at a minimum they should be afforded a view of trees.

Identified benefits of community trees and forests include; “trees can be successfully used to mitigate heat islands. Trees reduce temperatures by shading surfaces, dissipating heat through evaporation, and
controlling air movement responsible for advected heat” During these times of warmer, wetter, and wilder weather this is a great benefit to society!

Further to these listed benefits, trees reduce air pollution. ” They help to settle out, trap, and hold particulate pollutants (Dust, ash, pollen and smoke) that can damage human lungs.”

Forests themselves, are bewitching, and beautiful, amazing and enchanting. This week is tourism week May 23, May 30. Enjoy the afforestation areas – the 326 acre Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, and the 147.8 acre George Genereux Urban Regional Park

Long, long ago, when all the world was young and there were but few people dwelling on it, the strangest things could often come to pass. Then fairyfolk still lived in the greenwoods and elves sang and danced in the soft summer dawns. Then trees could sing and flowers speak and birds would carry messages about the world; wild beasts were often loyal friends to men and helped them in their difficulties. Then wise men read the stars and seers would gaze in crystal bowls to tell the coming good or ill they saw.
Loretta Ellen Brady

YouTube

Please help protect / enhance your afforestation areas, please contact the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc. (e-mail / e-transfers )Support the afforestation areas with your donation or membership ($20.00/year). Please donate by paypal using the e-mail friendsafforestation AT gmail.com, or by using e-transfers Please and thank you! Your donation and membership is greatly appreciated. Members e-mail your contact information to be kept up to date! Canada Helps

United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration

Use the UN Decade’s Visual Identity
Make it your own
Spread the word about the UN Decade
Let’s Bring Back Forests
Let’s Green Our Cities

““Be like a tree in pursuit of your cause. Stand firm, grip hard, thrust upward. Bend to the winds of heaven..”
Richard St. Barbe Baker

The Afforestation Areas are ready to Welcome You!

The best things about eating cattails. Do you need to eat Cattails?

Muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus), wetlands mammal enjoys the emergent vegetation around Chappell Marsh such as cattails

Drawing a Cattail Plant emerging from the Chappell Marsh Wetlands in Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area — Muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus), wetlands mammal enjoys the emergent vegetation around Chappell Marsh such as cattails

Beyond the tangible benefits, the experience of wild edibles connects you to nature in a very powerful way. It asks you to slow down from the rushed pace of the modern world and step into timelessness.
Jeannine Tidwell

Cattail shoots are very delicious harvested in the spring. So, today, during Tourism Week, forage some cattail shoots, rinse, then soak in vinegar rinse and use in your favourite recipe. Today, tour the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, rather than the supermarket, find your ingredient for this recipe. This time we share Cattail Shoots in Cream Sauce.

Cattails “have vitamins A, B, and C, potassium and phosphorus.” Scalloped Cattails, are another tasty treat to try, as are Cattail Pollen Biscuits. 3

The white inner centers of the young stems, which can be eaten raw or cooked, are considered a delicacy by both human foragers and aquatic mammals such as muskrats. For muskrats, cattails have the added advantage of supplying the tough leaves used for building their lodges. And for red-winged blackbirds—among the earliest migrants returning to our region—stands of cattails provide the perfect nesting place.
Catherine Tudish

Please, when foraging for your cattails, go alone, and leave puppy dog with another caretaker. There are many animals and waterfowl who may be nesting and depending on the cattails.

Please be careful around the water and consider safety when on an outing near the wetlands.

Send in a comment on how you succeed with your foraging adventure! Stay tuned throughout tourism week for more Cattail recipes for your outdoor foraging forayouTube

For directions as to how to drive to “George Genereux” Urban Regional Park

For directions on how to drive to Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area

For more information:

Blairmore Sector Plan Report; planning for the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, George Genereux Urban Regional Park and West Swale and areas around them inside of Saskatoon city limits

NEW P4G District Official Community Plan

Addresses:

Part SE 23-36-6 – Afforestation Area – 241 Township Road 362-A

Part SE 23-36-6 – SW Off-Leash Recreation Area (Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area ) – 355 Township Road 362-A

S ½ 22-36-6 Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area (West of SW OLRA) – 467 Township Road 362-A

NE 21-36-6 “George Genereux” Afforestation Area – 133 Range Road 3063

Wikimapia Map: type in Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area

Google Maps South West Off Leash area location pin at parking lot

Web page: https://stbarbebaker.wordpress.com

Where is the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area? with map

Where is the George Genereux Urban Regional Park (Afforestation Area)?with map

Pinterest richardstbarbeb

Blogger: FriendsAfforestation

Tumblr friendsafforestation.tumblr.com Facebook Group Page: Users of the George Genereux Urban Regional Park

Facebook: StBarbeBaker Afforestation Area

Facebook for the non profit Charity Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc. FriendsAreas

Facebook group page : Users of the St Barbe Baker Afforestation Area

Facebook: South West OLRA

Reddit: FriendsAfforestation

Twitter: St Barbe Baker Charity Twitter:FriendsAreas

Mix: friendsareas

YouTube

Please help protect / enhance your afforestation areas, please contact the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc. (e-mail / e-transfers )

Donate your old vehicle, here’s how!

Support using Canada Helps

Support via a recycling bottle donation

United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration

Use the UN Decade’s Visual Identity
Make it your own
Spread the word about the UN Decade
Let’s Bring Back Forests
Let’s Green Our Cities

““Be like a tree in pursuit of your cause. Stand firm, grip hard, thrust upward. Bend to the winds of heaven..”
Richard St. Barbe Baker

Artificial stabilization of water levels in the marsh and lake by damming and water diversion has resulted in significant hydrological changes to the marsh and may be enhancing the spread of an exotic hybrid cattail (Typha x glauca) Hybrid cattails are replacing native shoreline vegetation, particularly hard-stem bulrush an important component of Western Grebe nesting habitat.
Nicholas La Porte et al

As the human footprint expands, ecologists and resource managers are increasingly challenged to explain and manage abrupt ecosystem transformations …Our results quantify how, in a cultural landscape where the historical disturbance regime has been altered and diversity has declined, a mechanical disturbance in combination with seasonal drought and flooding has been used to locally restrict a clonal monodominant plant expansion, create habitat heterogeneity, and maintain plant diversity.
Michael J. Osland et al

Little Known Facts About Edible Cattails – And Why They Matter

So, cattails and you, and why all parts of the cattail plant are amazing for a wild spring, summer or fall harvest. “The shoots or hearts, also known as “Cossack asparagaus,” are best harvested in spring or early summer, prior to the devlopment of the flower stalk” source So after harvesting the shoots, just rinse, soak in vinegar for 15-20 minutes and then rinse. <a href="http://<!– wp:paragraph –> <p>So, cattails and you, and why all parts of the cattail plant are amazing for a wild spring, summer or fall harvest. "The shoots or hearts, also known as "Cossack asparagaus," are best harvested in spring or early summer, prior to the devlopment of the flower stalk"<a href="https://wildfoodgirl.com/2013/cold-hearted-cattail-salads/"> source</a> So after harvesting the shoots, just rinse, soak in vinegar for 15-20 minutes and then rinse. </p> Cold Cattail and Tomato Salad is a great way to start out enjoying your Cattail harvest.

Remember to harvest your cattails alone, and without your puppy dog with you, as spring is nesting time for many waterfowl and animals. Humans are not the only animals who forage on cattails. “Wherever there are cattails, there’s food. The seeds, roots and shoots attract plant-eating animals, and predators that eat the cattail’s visitors. Ducks and Canada geese sometimes eat the tiny seeds, and geese dine on the plant’s new shoots and underwater roots…. Muskrats gnaw on the roots, and use the leaves to build a shelter, called a lodge, to keep themselves safe. It’s common to see red-winged blackbirds hanging around cattails. After the male finds a mate the birds use plants including cattail leaves to build their nest.” source

As you embark on the Cold Cattail and Tomato Salad, consider the nutritional benefits from Cattails, such as Manganese, Vitamin K, Magnesium, Iron, Vitamin B6 and Sodium. According to Health Benefits of Cattail, Uses And Its Side Effects, Cattails, help with mitigation of Anaemia, preventing cancer, controlling hypertension, reducing atherosclerosis risks, controlling diabetes, and is also a natural antiseptic.

Nature is the source of human subsistence but the transformation of nature into food is a cultural process that is not independent of power relations. The colonization of America comprised the systematic repression of indigenous ways of knowing and even after the elimination of political colonialism the relationship between European cultures and the others is still one of colonial domination. The colonial repression of different knowledges also affects the culinary epistemology that informs food preparation and consumption.
Xilkia Janer

Muskrat West Swale Wetlands. Chappell Marsh. Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. Saskatoon, SK, CA

Chappell Marsh. West Swale Wetlands. Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. Saskatoon, SK, CA — Muskrat West Swale Wetlands. Chappell Marsh. Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. Saskatoon, SK, CA

Always be careful about safety when around water . So today, is another momentous day to celebrate Tourism Week In Canada. Pop out for a visit to the afforestation areas, enjoy the delightful spring weather, and enjoy this man-made forest on the prairies.

Send in a comment on how you succeed with your foraging adventure! Stay tuned throughout tourism week for more Cattail recipes for your outdoor foraging foray.

“All of these things are food for insects, for birds, for bears, deer, elk and moose, and if we compromise that by our foraging … it won’t be long before these things are no longer here,” … Julie Walker recommends people plant some of these species in their backyard gardens — or at least stop the war on weeds and let and nature take its course. Many native species have qualities that can benefit a home garden, like requiring little to no maintenance and being drought-resistant, she added. People can also forage on public lands, as long as they learn to recognize healthy populations of wild plant species.
Jessica Barrett. Edible Forest: Guided Walks teach which weeds and wild greens you can eat.

YouTube

United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration

Use the UN Decade’s Visual Identity
Make it your own
Spread the word about the UN Decade
Let’s Bring Back Forests
Let’s Green Our Cities

““Be like a tree in pursuit of your cause. Stand firm, grip hard, thrust upward. Bend to the winds of heaven..”
Richard St. Barbe Baker

What is Cattail Foraging?

This Tourism Week across Canada we are running a series on cattail foraging! We agree with the Tourism Industry Association of Canada (TIAC), that “We encourage all Canadians this #TourismWeek, to take the pledge, and when you are able, plan and travel in Canada this year!“

Enjoy this Fermented Cattail Heart recipe, the little cattail shoots taste so much like cucumbers, and with a bit of radishes and garlic added to the brine, they come out amazing!

If you cut your newly harvested spring cattail shoot recipes into 1/2 inch rounds, then you can cook them up like shallots to enjoy! Here is an amazing Shallot and Garlic butter recipe that converts to nicely to cattails from Epicurus.

This Tourism Week we encourage you to have a “staycation” at Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area or George Genereux Urban Regional Park in Saskatoon! In 326 acres, and 147.8 acres, there is lots of room to socially distance, and enjoy the mixed woodlands, meadows, wetlands and wildlife.

Stay tuned for more recipes during Tourism Week as we explore Cattail Nutrition and Cattail recipes. Did you know that the fresh spring cattail heads taste like corn on the cob?

A super easy recipe is to just barbecue your foraged cattail heads. Clean them first by rinsing, and soaking in vinegar, and then rinse off the vinegar. Next parboil them for a short while. Now you can brush a bit of olive oil on them and grill or barbecue them for a short while.

Also the pollen can be collected in paper bags, or by inserting the cattail head into a bottle? Just give the head a shake, while it is all wrapped up inside, and the pollen will be so easy to collect, and so healthy to add to any of your baking dishes, or to your rice pilaf or pasta dishes! Stay tuned for some more amazing cattail recipes!

Young cattails are loaded with nutrition, and according to specialty produce, cattails provide beta-carotene, niacin, riboflavin, thiamin, potassium, phosphorus, and Vitamin C.

Cattails are a great way to try your hand at foraging, they are everywhere and are easily identifiable.
Shawn Bailey

Alternatively, you can peel the fibers away, and eat the tender root. Parboil your root, and then grill with a sauce made from your favourite salad dressing!

Send us a comment on how you succeed with your foraging adventure! Stay tuned throughout tourism week for more Cattail recipes for your outdoor foraging foray. Remember to be safe around the water.

Avoid harvesting your cattails with your puppy dogs with you in the spring while waterfowl are nesting. “For waterfowl, other marsh birds, and small mammals, broadleaf cattail provides food and important nesting, brooding, and loafing habitat. Broadleaf cattail is extremely important to common muskrats. It provides a major food source and important nesting habitats and materials” FEIS source

Today, during Tourism Week across Canada! We agree with the Tourism Industry Association of Canada (TIAC), that “We encourage all Canadians this #TourismWeek, to take the pledge, and when you are able, plan and travel in Canada this year!“ Why not venture out to the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas, and enjoy Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area or George Genereux Urban Regional park. They are great places to socially distance in 326 acres and 147.8 acres respectively.

Typha latifolia, the common cattail, or one of its varieties, will be found all over the Northern Hemisphere. There is everything to like about this plant: it’s all edible (and tasty!), easy to identify, and easy to harvest. This makes it both a fine staple and an excellent survival food.
Fred Demara

Shall I not have intelligence with the earth? Am I not partly leaves and vegetable mold myself.
Henry David Thoreau
For directions as to how to drive to “George Genereux” Urban Regional Park
For directions on how to drive to Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area
For more information:
Blairmore Sector Plan Report; planning for the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, George Genereux Urban Regional Park and West Swale and areas around them inside of Saskatoon city limits
NEW P4G District Official Community Plan
Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area is located in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada north of Cedar Villa Road, within city limits, in the furthest south west area of the city. 52° 06′ 106° 45′
Addresses:
Part SE 23-36-6 – Afforestation Area – 241 Township Road 362-A
Part SE 23-36-6 – SW Off-Leash Recreation Area (Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area ) – 355 Township Road 362-A
S ½ 22-36-6 Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area (West of SW OLRA) – 467 Township Road 362-A
NE 21-36-6 “George Genereux” Afforestation Area – 133 Range Road 3063
Wikimapia Map: type in Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area
Google Maps South West Off Leash area location pin at parking lot
Web page: https://stbarbebaker.wordpress.com
Where is the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area? with map
Where is the George Genereux Urban Regional Park (Afforestation Area)?with map
Pinterest richardstbarbeb
Blogger: FriendsAfforestation
Tumblr friendsafforestation.tumblr.com Facebook Group Page: Users of the George Genereux Urban Regional Park
Facebook: StBarbeBaker Afforestation Area
Facebook for the non profit Charity Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc. FriendsAreas
Facebook group page : Users of the St Barbe Baker Afforestation Area
Facebook: South West OLRA
Reddit: FriendsAfforestation
Twitter: St Barbe Baker Charity Twitter:FriendsAreas
Mix: friendsareas

YouTube

United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration

Use the UN Decade’s Visual Identity
Make it your own
Spread the word about the UN Decade
Let’s Bring Back Forests
Let’s Green Our Cities

““Be like a tree in pursuit of your cause. Stand firm, grip hard, thrust upward. Bend to the winds of heaven..”
Richard St. Barbe Baker

Don’t Just Sit There! See the Super Flower Wolf Blood moon Lunar eclipse!

The Super blood moon occurs in the early morning hours of May 26 [tonight]. Take this opportunity to celebrate Tourism Week here in Canada and in the #afforestationareas. The Super flower blood wolf moon lunar eclipse which will begin in Saskatoon on Wednesday May 26 at 2:47 a.m., will feature the best of the best viewing time at 5:01 a.m., and ending at 5:06 a.m. So this means, according to TimeandDate, that there will be 2 hours and 18 minutes to view this total lunar eclipse at the afforestation areas (he forecast is for partially clouded skies) This event will appear as a partial lunar eclipse in Saskatoon.

lunar eclipse: 'super blood wolf moon' — lunar eclipse: ‘super blood wolf moon’

2019 lunar eclipse: 'super blood wolf moon' — lunar eclipse: ‘super blood wolf moon’

Today, during Tourism Week across Canada! We agree with the Tourism Industry Association of Canada (TIAC), that “We encourage all Canadians this #TourismWeek, to take the pledge, and when you are able, plan and travel in Canada this year!“ Why not venture out to the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas, and enjoy Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area or George Genereux Urban Regional park in the City of Saskatoon. They are great places to socially distance in 326 acres and 147.8 acres respectively.

These earthly godfathers of Heaven’s lights, that give a name to every fixed star, have no more profit of their shining nights than those that walk and know not what they are.
William Shakespeare

For directions as to how to drive to “George Genereux” Urban Regional Park
For directions on how to drive to Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area
For more information:
Blairmore Sector Plan Report; planning for the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, George Genereux Urban Regional Park and West Swale and areas around them inside of Saskatoon city limits
NEW P4G District Official Community Plan
Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area is located in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada north of Cedar Villa Road, within city limits, in the furthest south west area of the city. 52° 06′ 106° 45′
Addresses:
Part SE 23-36-6 – Afforestation Area – 241 Township Road 362-A
Part SE 23-36-6 – SW Off-Leash Recreation Area (Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area ) – 355 Township Road 362-A
S ½ 22-36-6 Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area (West of SW OLRA) – 467 Township Road 362-A
NE 21-36-6 “George Genereux” Afforestation Area – 133 Range Road 3063
Wikimapia Map: type in Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area
Google Maps South West Off Leash area location pin at parking lot
Web page: https://stbarbebaker.wordpress.com
Where is the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area? with map
Where is the George Genereux Urban Regional Park (Afforestation Area)?with map
Pinterest richardstbarbeb
Blogger: FriendsAfforestation
Tumblr friendsafforestation.tumblr.com Facebook Group Page: Users of the George Genereux Urban Regional Park
Facebook: StBarbeBaker Afforestation Area
Facebook for the non profit Charity Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc. FriendsAreas
Facebook group page : Users of the St Barbe Baker Afforestation Area
Facebook: South West OLRA
Reddit: FriendsAfforestation
Twitter: St Barbe Baker Charity Twitter:FriendsAreas
Mix: friendsareas

YouTube

United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration

Use the UN Decade’s Visual Identity
Make it your own
Spread the word about the UN Decade
Let’s Bring Back Forests
Let’s Green Our Cities

““Be like a tree in pursuit of your cause. Stand firm, grip hard, thrust upward. Bend to the winds of heaven..”
Richard St. Barbe Baker

Astronomy is, not without reason, regarded, by mankind, as the sublimest of the natural sciences. Its objects so frequently visible, and therefore familiar, being always remote and inaccessible, do not lose their dignity.
Benjamin Silliman

You Will Thank Us – Tips About Cattail Nutrition You Need To Know

There are truly amazing benefits to cattails. They are high in Manganese, Vitamin K, and Magnesium. The roots ground into powder to provide a high protein flour for your favourite recipe.

Manganese supports bone health, reduces blood sugar, aids in the formation of blood clots alongside of Vitamin K, and helps the body form superoxide dismutase, an anti-oxidant enzyme which may indeed reduce inflammation related to inflammatory bowel disease for instance according to Medical News Today.

Healthline reports that magnesium is essential to facilitate the biochemical reactions taking place in your body. These include energy creation, protein formation, prevent depression, gene maintenance, mitigates Type-2 diabetes, aids muscle movements, prevents migraines and aides in the regulation of your nervous system.

There is a very easy way to forage for your cattail roots according to Northern Woodlands is by baking the roots in the oven under a slow oven about 200 degrees Fahrenheit to let them dry overnight. Then place the roots into your coffee grinder or use your mortar and pestle to create a fine high-protein flour. This flour is wonderful to use as a gluten free thickener, or to make pancakes for instance. Just reach down, and remove the connecting rhizome between two cattail plants. The outside layer of the rhizome is spongy, and not great to eat. Just peel your rhizome like a banana peel separating the outer layer with your thumbnails, remove it and you should be left with core.

The Farmer’s almanac says that to “prepare a cattail root, clean it and trim away the smaller branching roots, leaving the large rhizome.” A great means to clean your cattail harvest is to rinse, then soak in vinegar for a few minutes, then rinse again.

There are two choices in using your newly harvested cattail roots.

You can bake the roots in the oven under a slow oven about 200 degrees Fahrenheit to let them dry overnight. Then place the roots into your coffee grinder or use your mortar and pestle to create a fine high-protein flour. This flour is wonderful to use as a gluten free thickener, or to make pancakes for instance.

Markus Rothkranz believes that God wants us all to be healthy and happy and so has given us free foods and medicines all over the planet. As he points out, there will be wild plants we can eat and others that will make us well, growing outside where we live and in our neighbourhoods.
Steve Andrews

Alternatively, you can peel the fibers away, and eat the tender root. Parboil your root, and then grill with a sauce made from your favourite salad dressing!

Send us a comment on how you succeed with your foraging adventure! Stay tuned throughout tourism week for more Cattail recipes for your outdoor foraging foray. Remember to be safe around the water. Try not to forage cattails with puppy dogs in tow during the spring nesting season. Audubon mentions that the Pied-billed Grebe “nests are unusual too – little platforms of plant material that float on water, hidden behind vegetation. …Martin Muller, an expert who loves unravelling the mysteries of Pied-billed Grebes: “Well, there’s the nest…there it is! We didn’t even see it because we were standing on the wrong side of the cattails, so if we step back a little bit…without the bird seeing…us directly staring at it, it’ll carry on.”

Shall I not have intelligence with the earth? Am I not partly leaves and vegetable mold myself.
Henry David Thoreau
For directions as to how to drive to “George Genereux” Urban Regional Park
For directions on how to drive to Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area
For more information:
Blairmore Sector Plan Report; planning for the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, George Genereux Urban Regional Park and West Swale and areas around them inside of Saskatoon city limits
NEW P4G District Official Community Plan
Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area is located in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada north of Cedar Villa Road, within city limits, in the furthest south west area of the city. 52° 06′ 106° 45′
Addresses:
Part SE 23-36-6 – Afforestation Area – 241 Township Road 362-A
Part SE 23-36-6 – SW Off-Leash Recreation Area (Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area ) – 355 Township Road 362-A
S ½ 22-36-6 Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area (West of SW OLRA) – 467 Township Road 362-A
NE 21-36-6 “George Genereux” Afforestation Area – 133 Range Road 3063
Wikimapia Map: type in Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area
Google Maps South West Off Leash area location pin at parking lot
Web page: https://stbarbebaker.wordpress.com
Where is the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area? with map
Where is the George Genereux Urban Regional Park (Afforestation Area)?with map
Pinterest richardstbarbeb
Blogger: FriendsAfforestation
Tumblr friendsafforestation.tumblr.com Facebook Group Page: Users of the George Genereux Urban Regional Park
Facebook: StBarbeBaker Afforestation Area
Facebook for the non profit Charity Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc. FriendsAreas
Facebook group page : Users of the St Barbe Baker Afforestation Area
Facebook: South West OLRA
Reddit: FriendsAfforestation
Twitter: St Barbe Baker Charity Twitter:FriendsAreas
Mix: friendsareas

YouTube

United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration

Use the UN Decade’s Visual Identity
Make it your own
Spread the word about the UN Decade
Let’s Bring Back Forests
Let’s Green Our Cities

““Be like a tree in pursuit of your cause. Stand firm, grip hard, thrust upward. Bend to the winds of heaven..”
Richard St. Barbe Baker

Many more people are becoming interested in foraging and are going out looking for free wild foods. This puts them in touch with nature and with ways of the hunter-gatherer our ancestors were long, long ago.
Steve Andrews

Create A Cattail Recipe You Can Be Proud Of

#TourismWeek #TourismCounts #SaskatoonAfforestation This week, May 23-May 30, 2021 Celebrate your family staycation at the 326 acre Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, and at the 147.8 acre George Genereux Urban Regional Park!

As a great activity during this City of Saskatoon staycation during COVID come outdoors and forage for cattails, this is the second in the series for some great spring recipes. Why Cattails? Cattails contain Vitamins A, B, and C, along with the minerals potassium, and phosphorous. Healthline states that a high potassium diet will “reduce blood pressure and water retention, protect against stroke and prevent osteoporosis and kidney stones.” Whereas Medical News Today states that the benefits of Phosphorous are that this mineral “plays a role in how the body processes , or sugars” and supports “the nervous system, kidney function, muscle contraction, and heartbeat regulation.”

Here is the next amazing cattail recipe for you, as you come out to the West Swale wetlands to forage for some delicious cattails!

All of the people who work in the kitchen with me go out into the forests and on to the beach. It’s a part of their job. If you work with me you will often be starting your day in the forest or on the shore because I believe foraging will shape you as a chef.
Rene Redzepi

So, this spring, as you go out to the West Swale wetlands in Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area – the north side of Chappell Marsh, and cut off some cattail shoots, also called cattail leaf hearts. You can clean your newly foraged cattail shoots by rinsing, and then soaking in vingar and then a second rinse, and then eat them with a bit of peanut butter on them.

Another great way to eat them, is to cook them like you would lightly boil asparagus, and then make a nice hollandaise sauce to pour over them! There are some pre-packaged hollandaise packets in your grocery store, just add butter, and stir! Then pour over your delicious cattails! Easy goodness.

Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you.
Frank Lloyd Wright

Let us know in the comments how you make out with your spring foraging, and recipe once you get the cattails home again! Remember to always be safe around the water. Try to forage without your puppy dogs in tow around the wetlands to protect the waterfowl in the spring months. There are “overwater nesters, such as black-crowned night herons, Franklin’s gulls, eared grebes…[who] have also taken advantage of the increasing vegetation growing in wetlands…Aquatic vegetation such as cattail and bulrush …provide[s] cover for duck nests and broods.” source

Doesn’t this sound like a fantastic long week-end treat to enjoy?

While you are out at the wetlands, take photos of the waterfowl, and enjoy the amazing tunes provided by the red-winged and yellow-head blackbirds.

National Sweater Day First Thursday of February — n

YouTube

United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration

Use the UN Decade’s Visual Identity
Make it your own
Spread the word about the UN Decade
Let’s Bring Back Forests
Let’s Green Our Cities

““Be like a tree in pursuit of your cause. Stand firm, grip hard, thrust upward. Bend to the winds of heaven..”
Richard St. Barbe Baker
“Hunter-gathers, by nature, store information for use, understanding that there may be a time when information is scarce.”
― Brian C. O’Connor, Jud H. Copeland, Jodi L. Kearns

Everyone Loves Cattail Recipes for Tourism Week

Today, the Sunday of the long weekend of May marks the beginning of Tourism Week across Canada! We agree with the Tourism Industry Association of Canada (TIAC), that “We encourage all Canadians this #TourismWeek, to take the pledge, and when you are able, plan and travel in Canada this year!“

To that point, we encourage you to have a “staycation” at Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area or George Genereux Urban Regional Park in Saskatoon! In 326 acres, and 147.8 acres, there is lots of room to socially distance, and enjoy the mixed woodlands, meadows, wetlands and wildlife.

Autumn picture of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas supported by the non profit group Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc. Please join now, like, support, share. — C

Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area and West Swale Wetlands , Saskatoon, Saskatchewan — C

For an activity, this spring, the spikes or stems are amazing to eat, as are the roots, and the pollen-covered cattails heads are also wonderful. Off the Grid News recommends that after harvesting your cattails, to rinse, them at home, and then soak in vinegar for 10-15 minutes, and then rinse again. The little shoots make a delightful spring vegetable to eat with your favourite dip!

Don’t forget to try the Marinated Cattail Hearts recipe. Right now is the best time to forage for your cattail leaf hearts. You may want to wander out to the wetlands with a pair of rubber boots on for the best and tastiest morsels. This delicious Marinated Cattail Hearts recipe makes a divine relish that is very delicious.

Send us a comment on how you succeed with your foraging adventure! Stay tuned throughout tourism week for more Cattail recipes for your outdoor foraging foray. Remember to be safe around the water. Try to forage for your cattails without puppy dogs in tow as spring is when waterfowl are nesting. Pied-billed Grebes, for instance, “build floating nests of cattails, grasses and other vegetation…..look for Pied-billed Grebes on small, quiet ponds and marshes where thick vegetation grows out of the water.” Cornell University All About Birds.

Foraging for food is a little like a mythic quest. You may think you know what you want and expend a lot of energy and dogged determination making lists and plans for obtaining it — losing a lot of sleep and garnering no small amount of heartache along the way — only to find it shimmering elsewhere, like a golden chalice, just out of reach.
Risa Nye

YouTube

United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration

Use the UN Decade’s Visual Identity
Make it your own
Spread the word about the UN Decade
Let’s Bring Back Forests
Let’s Green Our Cities

““Be like a tree in pursuit of your cause. Stand firm, grip hard, thrust upward. Bend to the winds of heaven..”
Richard St. Barbe Baker

Earth was not built for six billion people all running around and being passionate about things. The world was built for about two million people foraging for roots and grubs.
Douglas Coupland

Take the first step

Today is the first day of Tourism Week.

Before the development of tourism, travel was conceived to be like study, and its fruits were considered to be the adornment of the mind and the formation of judgement.

Paul Fussell

Permanent wetlands in the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area with cattails and emergent vegetation in the summer

Autumn picture of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas supported by the non profit group Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc. Please join now, like, support, share.

Richard St. Barbe Baker AFforestation Area, Saskatoon, SK

Arbor Day Safe Forests Go Fund Me Page to support our trees in the afforestation areas!

For directions as to how to drive to “George Genereux” Urban Regional Park

For directions on how to drive to Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area

Canada Helps

For more information:

Blairmore Sector Plan Report; planning for the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, George Genereux Urban Regional Park and West Swale and areas around them inside of Saskatoon city limits

P4G Saskatoon North Partnership for Growth The P4G consists of the Cities of Saskatoon, Warman, and Martensville, the Town of Osler and the Rural Municipality of Corman Park; planning for areas around the afforestation area and West Swale outside of Saskatoon city limits

Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area is located in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada north of Cedar Villa Road, within city limits, in the furthest south west area of the city. 52° 06′ 106° 45′
Addresses:
Part SE 23-36-6 – Afforestation Area – 241 Township Road 362-A
Part SE 23-36-6 – SW Off-Leash Recreation Area (Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area ) – 355 Township Road 362-A
S ½ 22-36-6 Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area (West of SW OLRA) – 467 Township Road 362-A
NE 21-36-6 “George Genereux” Afforestation Area – 133 Range Road 3063
Wikimapia Map: type in Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area
Google Maps South West Off Leash area location pin at parking lot
Web page: https://stbarbebaker.wordpress.com
Where is the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area? with map
Where is the George Genereux Urban Regional Park (Afforestation Area)? with map

Pinterest richardstbarbeb

Facebook Group Page: Users of the George Genereux Urban Regional Park

Facebook: StBarbeBaker

Facebook group page : Users of the St Barbe Baker Afforestation Area

Facebook: South West OLRA

Twitter: StBarbeBaker

Please help protect / enhance your afforestation areas, please contact the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc. (e-mail)

1./ Learn.

2./ Experience

3./ Do Something: ^***

Canada Helps

Take the first step, the rest will follow. Book the ticket, apply for the job, send the email, jump into the water. The rest gets easier from there. – Abi

The whole object of travel is not to set foot on foreign land; it is at last to set foot on one’s own country as a foreign land G. K. Chesterton

Life, as the most ancient of all metaphors insists, is a journey; and the travel book, in its deceptive simulation of the journey’s fits and starts, rehearses life’s own fragmentation. More even than the novel, it embraces the contingency of things.” Jonathan Raban

Meewasin Valley Authority managed and City of Saskatoon owned

The Afforestation Area Tourist

May 26 – June 2, 2019 is Tourism Week in Canada

On behalf of the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area and the George Genereux Urban Regional Park, thank you for taking the opportunity to behold this very first ever Special Report for our afforestation area tourist. Where to begin? That is the question. How much do you know about these afforestation areas? These wilderness empires, namely our two afforestation areas have been stealing hearts with their expansive beauty and this heartfelt outpouring of love from around the world, and close to home is what will snatch them from leveling forces of development. They are likely to prove the richest, noblest heritage of our city. Here the world is at play, here are scenes ever new and that will greatly help to keep the city young.

The tourist who moves about to see and hear and open himself to all the influences of the places which condense centuries of human greatness is only a man in search of excellence.Max Lerner

Richard St. Barbe Baker Word Cloud — Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area and George Genereux Urban Regional park, Saskatoon, SK A Statistical Word Cloud Report sampling

“It is as if Nature in these places had in self-defense devoted all her energies to scenery, proclaiming to the nation, ‘Here I will make playgrounds for the people. Here is nothing for commerce or industry. Here is natural beauty at its wildest and best. Elsewhere man must live by the sweat of his brow. Here let him rest and play. Here I will rule supreme for all time.'”John Dickinson Sherman

These interesting afforestation areas are becoming every day more and more the subject of inquiry and personal investigation.

Why? Well, scenery is, without doubt, one of our most valuable resources.

The climate is varied, the wetlands are extensive, the grasslands are covered in roses and wild flowers, while those studying botany the treasures abound with a varied ecology of wonder, and the woodlands tempt the eyes with sightings of deer, moose, and woodpecker. The man of science is appeased with the thrill of a rich vein of geological history. The inquisitive traveler doubtless will ascertain statistical observations as they progress throughout the green spaces.

The traveler sees what he sees, the tourist see what he has come to see. G. K. Chesterton

It is our great hope and belief that they will become a marked factor in public education. Surely, these wonderlands mean much for the general welfare, and will help to develop greater men and women—to arouse enthusiasm for our native land, and for nature everywhere.

“Travel is the great
source of true wisdom.”
—Beaconsfield.

It is told that the Piute Indians recount a legend which goes like this. Just at the close of creation, woman was consulted. She called into existence the birds, the flowers, and the trees. That is the kind of a woman with whom to start a world. Our cities still need green places full of hope and beauty, with birds, flowers, and trees! With their help we may live long and happily and harmoniously upon a beautiful world.

Scenic parts of this poetic and primeval world—parts rich in loveliness and grandeur—are “preserved in perpetuity” for us. They contain splendid scenic and scientific features not elsewhere to be seen. The traveler might spend hours and hours in them without exhausting even their best attractions.

An afforestation area is an island of safety in this riotous world. Splendid forests, the wetlands that sparkle in glory, the wild flowers that charm and illuminate the earth, the wild deer of the woodland nooks and crannies, and the beauty of the birds, all have places of refuge which our afforestation areas provide.

Our afforestation areas are the fountain of life. They are without doubt a potential factor for good in our city life. They hold within their magic realm benefits that are health-giving, educational, economic; that further efficiency and ethical relations, and are inspirational. Every one needs to play, and to play out of doors. Without parks, afforestation areas and outdoor life all that is best in civilization would be smothered. To prevent our perishing, to save ourselves, to enable us to live at our best and happiest, afforestation areas are necessary. Within these areas is room—glorious room—room in which to find ourselves, in which to think and hope, to dream and plan, to rest and resolve.

Puppies. Puppy Day March 23.

Branta canadensis Canada Goose

Fresh Snow in the Sun

For directions as to how to drive to “George Genereux” Urban Regional Park

For directions on how to drive to Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area

For more information:

Blairmore Sector Plan Report; planning for the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, George Genereux Urban Regional Park and West Swale and areas around them inside of Saskatoon city limits

Pinterest richardstbarbeb

Facebook Group Page: Users of the George Genereux Urban Regional Park

Facebook: StBarbeBaker

Facebook group page : Users of the St Barbe Baker Afforestation Area

Facebook: South West OLRA

Twitter: StBarbeBaker

You Tube Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area

You Tube George Genereux Urban Regional Park

Please help protect / enhance your afforestation areas, please contact the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc. (e-mail)

Support the afforestation areas with your donation or membership ($20.00/year). Please donate by paypal using the e-mail friendsafforestation AT gmail.com, or by using e-transfers Please and thank you! Your donation and membership is greatly appreciated. Members e-mail your contact information to be kept up to date!

QR Code FOR PAYPAL DONATIONS to the Friends of the Saskatoon Afforestation Areas Inc. — Paypal

Payment Options

Membership : $20.00 CAD – yearly
Membership with donation : $50.00 CAD
Membership with donation : $100.00 CAD

1./ Learn.

2./ Experience

3./ Do Something: ^***

What was Richard St. Barbe Baker’s mission, that he imparted to the Watu Wa Miti, the very first forest scouts or forest guides? To protect the native forest, plant ten native trees each year, and take care of trees everywhere.

“We stand in awe and wonder at the beauty of a single tree. Tall and graceful it stands, yet robust and sinewy with spreading arms decked with foliage that changes through the seasons, hour by hour, moment by moment as shadows pass or sunshine dapples the leaves. How much more deeply are we moved as we begin to appreciate the combined operations of the assembly of trees we call a forest.”~Richard St. Barbe Baker

“I believe with Ruskin, that I must be just to the Earth beneath my feet, to the neighbour by my side and to the Light that comes from above and within that this wonderful world of ours may be a little more beautiful and happy from my having lived in it. “Richard St. Barbe Baker.

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

May 26 – June 2, 2019 is Tourism Week in Canada

Share this:

Like this: