A Single Spruce, A Single Glory!

A Snow day literally and figuratively falls from the sky ~ unbidden ~ and seems like a thing of wonder”~Susan Orlean<

Colorado Blue Spruce Picea pungens in Winter
Colorado Blue Spruce Picea pungens in Winter copyright Julia Adamson

A Snow day literally and figuratively falls from the sky ~ unbidden ~ and seems like a thing of wonder“~Susan Orlean

A Single Spruce, A Singular Glory; Prithee now the story…

One from the archives…
Colorado Blue Spruce Picea pungens with foliage mottled and marbled with white blanket of snow. The soft cover a marked contrast to the foliage highlighting, nay caressing the pattern which in due time allow and reveal to our eyes beholden  the varied lines, nuances and lacy swirls. For thou art captivating in thy winter charms and this snowy robe has made this fine wonder yours. Hiding leaves so green amid this fair world of ours. It is thus that a wonder such as this doth work inside of me with a canvas rich and beautiful. And is it true that when the winter hibernal months come at last, that it is then that snowflakes become your butterflies? Have you ever entered into that wilderness, have you ever found the spruce decked out in white? Let not God’s rattle rob your sight but on this wintery morn; step out and see the varied shapes amid the wood, a pleasure so fine, that time and space fold away that perchance one may say that the space seems but divine. For ’tis graced with Sun’s warmth and light the heavy laden bough among the green doth shine within the kindly beams. On boughs now gathering winter wool, the snowflakes, so light they worked, and now scarcely should a living soul doth breathe lest the wondrous sculpture shouldst break. Oh have you ever seen a lovely sight as this, bred by the sun on that wondrous winter’s day. Can you walk in the urban wilderness park, and see such sweet music cry? Oh can you hear the snow settle down with laughter in the trees? Such does the wind lay down its the silent spell, so stop and marvel for awhile, drink in Nature’s song~ swallowing the spruce green boundaries. And look around at millions of souls, the spruce turned green to white, and look this day upon their face, and truly do walk apace in joy among the giant spruce in these hibernal months I do so love.

In sleep of helpless infancy
Trees were the arms that cradled me;
On Tree my daily food is spread;
Tree is my chair, and Tree is my bed.
~Theresa Hooley

When snow falls, nature listens ! Antoinette van Kleef.

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

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 SW 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 /commemorate 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: ***

You Tube Video Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area

You Tube Video Richard St Barbe Baker presented by Paul Hanley

You Tube Video Richard St Barbe Baker Afforestation Area and West Swale wetlands

You Tube Video Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area – Saskatoon’s best kept secret.

 

 

I believe in oneness of mankind and of all living things and in the interdependence of each and all. I believe that unless we play fair to the Earth, we cannot exist physically on this planet. Unless we play fair to our neighbour, we cannot exist socially or internationally. Unless we play fair to better self, there is no individuality and no leadership. ~Richard St. Barbe Baker.

 

“Kind people have been expressing superlatives on my work. But I can assure you that anything which I have been able to achieve has been team work. We have a motto in the Men of the Trees. TWAHAMWE. It is an African word meaning ‘pull together’ and I pass this on to all those concerned with conservation in this country. I would like to call you to silence for a moment with the words of Mathew Arnold:

“Calm soul of all things, make it mine,
To feel amidst the City ‘s jar
That there abides a peace of thine
Men did not make and cannot mar. ”
~Richard St. Barbe Baker

 

 

One of the earliest [memories] is that of the pine forest which came up close to the house. I often sat in the sun there and in the tree tops I seemed to hear the sound of waves breaking on the sea-shore. Those pines spoke to me of distant lands and gave me my first desire to travel and see the trees of other countries. At times I would imagine that these tall pines were talking to each other as they shook or nodded their heads at the whim of the winds.~Richard St. Barbe Baker

Dream lofty dreams

Trees worked for millions of years to make it possible for man to come on this planet.

When speaking of the trees planted in the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area, and those wooded areas with native growth, which tree is the loftiest of them all?

  • American Elm Ulmus americana a deciduous tree 20-25 meter (66 – 82 feet) tall.Green Ash Fraxinux pennsyvica a deciduous tree 12 m (39 feet) tall.
  • Balsam Poplar (Black Poplar) Populus Balsamifera deciduous tree reaching on occasion 25 m tall however usually 10-15 meters (33 – 39 feet).
  • Trembling Aspen Populus tremuloides a native deciduous tree usually 20 meters tall, but can reach 30 meters (98 feet) in height.
  • Siberian Elm Ulmus pumila. A deciduous tree. 10-20 meters (33 – 66 feet) in height.
  • Scots pine Pinus sylvestris L. coniferous tree up to 35 meters (115 feet) in height, though an exception may reach higher than 45 meters (148 feet).
  • Blue spruce, (green spruce, white spruce, Colorado spruce, or Colorado blue spruce), Picea pungens is a columnar evergreen conifer which may grow 23 meters (75 feet) in its native habitat, however when planted it usually grows to about 15 meters (49 feet) tall.
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At the moment the Balsam Poplar seems to be the tree reaching lofty heights at the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation Area. Though statistically, the Scots pine can extend higher in its reach, the Scots pine is a slower growing tree than the Balsam Poplar. With the canopy of the Balsam poplar, this tree also has an impressive, and grand stature in this urban regional park with its extraordinary canopy of leaves. Towering above the caragana, snowberry bushes, and roes, the Balsam Poplar is a grand sight with its yellow leaves in the autumn. The Balsam poplar attracts moose, deer,and other ungulates, and it is true that the Richard St. Barbe Baker has become a nurturing environment for White tail deer and Mule deer. Bees also hover to the Balsam poplar using the resin obtained from the buds to waterproof their hives. The eco-system at the Richard St. Barbe Baker Afforestation area, is an amazing aspen parkland system set into the West Swale with picturesque wetlands. The planted trees of the afforestation area, and the geological features of the west Swale combine to prevent the surrounding city of Saskatoon and RM of Corman Park 344 land areas from excessive flooding during years and seasons with high water tables.

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Dream lofty dreams, and as you dream, so you shall become. Your vision is the promise of what you shall one day be; your ideal is the prophecy of what you shall at last unveil. ~ James Allen

Trees worked for millions of years to make it possible for man to come on this planet. Yet man, who owns his presence on this Earth to trees, has been cutting, burning, greedily and recklessly. He has turned the forest into desert, until today we are faced not only with a timber famine, but with a food famine. ~ Richard St. Barbe Baker.

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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

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)

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 : $20.00 CAD -monthly
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

 

 

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