This past week marked the first day of spring 2020! In Palmer Park, we can begin to see the greenery brighten, flowers and plants sprouting from the ground, leaves on trees – our park is greeting the warm weather and sunshine. This week, also marked an unprecedented experience for almost all of as we were encouraged to self-quarantine, keep our social distancing and avoid groups or social gatherings. At this point in time, parks and green spaces can provide a necessary solace to help us all cope with this emerging situation.  

The City of Detroit has mandated that all recreation and community centers be closed, so the Palmer Park Community House will not be open for any meetings or events. Given this is our slower season of activities and events in the park, our main community cancellation is indoor yoga with Yoganic Flow, which has been consistently offered on Saturday mornings in the Palmer Park Community House. Until further notice, yoga is canceled. Note that Yoganic Flow is offering online classes: youtube.com/user/YoganicFlow  for free online Yoganic Flow classes;  yoganicflow.com/online-yoga-classes  for personalized classes.

We have also decided to postpone our planned Annual Meeting, which was to be held on April 18th. I am using the word postponed intentionally as we sincerely hope to host the meeting in the near future as soon as rescheduling is safe. We have much to share about news of upcoming spring and summer events. Stay tuned for announcements of future events. 

Also, sadly, recent evidence suggests that COVID-19 virus can live for several days on surfaces such as playgrounds or other “high touch”  areas in public spaces. For this reason, we discourage use of the playgrounds in Palmer Park. As all of you, we are following the recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and other health authorities, regarding the COVID-19 outbreak, which includes following a 6-ft separation guideline, even when outdoors, to help prevent community spread. We have all been inundated with what not to do. However, one of the positive guidelines is to urge all of us to get outside, enjoy fresh air, exercise your body and clear your mind. My husband, dog and I have been taking daily walks in the park along the miles of trails – we have greeted friends and neighbors along the way and have been grateful for our beautiful neighborhood park. And recently a Detroit firefighter asked if they could do their weekly workouts in Palmer Park, and we have encouraged them to do so. 

What better place to get outside, enjoy fresh air and get some exercise than Palmer Park !

Rochelle E. Lento
People for Palmer Park 
Board President 

​"The Garden Blog: A Family Grows in Detroit" will follow one of our new garden bed renters and her family on their first bed-rental experience this season at Palmer Park.

Beautiful Pests
​By Amy Kuras

Because of my work schedule and my kids’ schedule, my garden time often comes late in the day, sometimes late enough that I’m racing dusk to get my chores done. It’s a very peaceful time to be there – golden light on the meadow, kids joyfully shrieking through the splash park, and the normal bustle of this busy city oasis beginning to slowly wind down. 

A few weeks ago, I was puttering around in the garden when I saw something out of the corner of my eye. I was scared at first, fearing a mean dog, but it was instead something so much better -- a deer! looking for food in the wild meadow that surrounds the garden. I know some people hate deer, because they are pests and will clean out months of hard garden work with a few minutes of munching –and believe me, I put the deer netting we were offered on my raised bed just like everyone else did. 

But for me, a deer sighting is magical. I grew up in the city, and I never saw a deer until I was 24 and working as a reporter on Grosse Ile, a small island in the Detroit River. It’s still exciting and rare for me to spot them, and I relish their grace and loveliness and intelligent soft eyes. I knew they lived in the park, but I’ve hardly ever seen one. This time, there were two. 

I haven’t been this close to one of these beauties. I was worried they might challenge me for my plants or something (again, city kid, I’m completely unfamiliar with wildlife, but ask me about cats!) but instead one of them, a female, kept munching milkweed and tall grass just outside the clearing of the garden area. Every now and again we’d look at each other for a few minutes, me delighted, her wary. She’d stare and then, flipping her tail like an irritated cat, she’d go back to her meal and I’d go back to my weeding. 
​
Since we started this garden project, I keep thinking about the idea of something sparking joy. The garden has been an unalloyed spark of joy for me on many levels. And that night, it was the joy of communing with a wild and beautiful creature, both of us engaging in our evening chores. It’s one of the things I hope I always remember, and one of the many gifts from the garden I’ve already received. 

​Amy Kuras is Research and Policy Program Manager for Detroit Food Policy Council and member of People for Palmer Park.

​"The Garden Blog: A Family Grows in Detroit" will follow one of our new garden bed renters and her family on their first bed-rental experience this season at Palmer Park.

We have harvest!!
By Amy Kuras

One thing I have learned about gardening is that a lot can happen in a little time, and sometimes there’s a lot of waiting and then bursts of frenzied activity.

​Case in point: We put in our cold crops in late April. And we waited, and waited, and worried about what to do when it was time for the hot crops to be planted when the cold crops hadn’t even begun to really take off yet. Thanks to some great advice from Molly and some surprisingly meticulous garden planning from me (let’s just say “meticulous” isn’t a character trait one typically associates with me) I figured out how to find good spots for the hot crops without crowding out the cold crops. So we planted, and watered, and hoped.  That was May 18, the first day the garden officially opened.

We had a long-standing plan to head to DC and Maryland for a family reunion the following weekend, because it was Memorial Day. I slogged through the mud to look over the garden the day we left, May 23, and was happy to see a little bit of growth in just the five days since we’d planted. We got back late the night of Memorial Day (May 27) and finally moseyed over to check the garden on Tuesday evening.

Well. Mother Nature apparently held quite a Memorial Day party because things have just exploded. The lettuce plants doubled in size, the band of lettuce seeds needed a third thinning because the seedlings were all crowding each other out, the peas and broccoli grew a good couple inches, and beans and cucumber seedlings were starting to push above ground. The beets and carrots are starting to look well established, too. Teaches me to come to the garden without anything to bring home a harvest -- I pulled up the deer netting, had my husband hold out his shirt, and began piling lettuce into it!

It’s amazing what a little sun, a lot of rain, and good soil can do.

However, not all is perfection. I’d planted Brussels sprouts down the middle of the bed, because they take a long time to mature. Unfortunately, half of them look great but half have died, as have some of my kale plants and all of my collards. It’s disappointing, but realistically I’m the only one in my family who would have eaten a bunch of it anyway. More room for juicy tomatoes and snappy beans, right?

​Amy Kuras is Research and Policy Program Manager for Detroit Food Policy Council and member of People for Palmer Park.

​"The Garden Blog: A Family Grows in Detroit" will follow one of our new garden bed renters and her family on their first bed-rental experience this season at Palmer Park.

The garden is open!
By Amy Kuras

This past weekend, I and all my fellow Palmer Park gardeners kicked off the season in style. On a day that started out pouring rain and ended up sunny, warm and beautiful, we planted our beds, helped a contingent of volunteers from Home Depot spread wood chips, and probably ran our site farmer, Molly Leebove, ragged with all our questions.

The gardeners are as diverse as the people who use Palmer Park for any number of things; families,
singles, and groups like Yoganic Flow and GirlTrek. Some of us are experienced gardeners, some are
brand new, and we’re planting everything from arugula to zucchini.

For my family and I, this garden represents something we’ve long hoped for in a place we already love.
When my husband Paul and I moved into our house in Greenacres 17 years ago, I immediately planted a
vegetable garden and learned how amazing food can taste when it was picked mere minutes before
hitting your plate. I kept it up for a few years, but lost my mojo when my daughter Maggie (who now
goes by Max) came along in 2004 and when my son Will arrived in 2008. By the time I was thinking I
might want to start up again, the big maple tree in our backyard had grown enough to keep the whole
yard in shade for almost all of the day. I managed to eke out a few tomatoes and get an herb garden
going, but generally any really productive growing was not happening.

When I was a kid, I remember my dad belonging to a community garden, where you could rent a bed for
the summer. I work for the Detroit Food Policy Council, which has close ties with the urban agriculture
community, but my inquiries about such a thing here in Detroit came up empty. I’d resigned myself to
getting my fresh seasonal veggies at the farmers market. Then, late last year I heard about the Rent A
Bed program. To say I was excited is an understatement. We already love Palmer Park and spend a lot of
time at the splash park and on the trails when the weather is nice. I attended the annual meeting to find
out more and signed up on the spot!
​
We joined Keep Growing Detroit’s Garden Resource Program, took their basic gardening class, and Molly
kindly let us start planting all our cold crops early. At our kick-off meeting in mid-May, I dragged my kids
over to see the bed. “WE HAVE BABIES!!!” I cheered, seeing the band of lettuce seeds germinating into
little microrgreens and the peas Will had planted slowly unfurling themselves toward the sun. This was,
to my teen and tween, about the most embarrassing thing a person has ever done, but I didn’t care. We
were even able to harvest some lettuce from the plants we’d taken home from KGD and had our first
official salad from the garden (okay, with a LOT of store bought lettuce as well) at Sunday dinner.

​Amy Kuras is Research and Policy Program Manager for Detroit Food Policy Council and member of People for Palmer Park.

Charlotte Mason Community School presents their
RUN FOR EDUCATION!
5K Walk/Run in Palmer Park
Saturday, May 11, 2019
​
Registration at 8am at the Palmer Park Community House
Walk/Run starts at 9am
Suggested donation $25

The Charlotte Mason Community School supports educational justice for students in the City of Detroit. Students grow in a love of learning that extends beyond the classroom, for their good and the good of their communities. You can learn more at the Charlotte Mason Community School.

TEXT ALERTS FROM PEOPLE FOR PALMER PARK!

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IMPORTANT UPDATE!
Due to a vendor glitch, our entire list of contacts was recently deleted. So we need anyone interested in using our text alert system (EVEN IF YOU SIGNED UP BEFORE APRIL 2019) to sign up again. We are so sorry for the inconvenience!

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Will tonight’s bike ride be cancelled due to rain?
Is the ground too wet this week for yoga or t’ai chi?
Now you can receive instant updates for our recreation programs and events, in text form RIGHT ON YOUR PHONE.

INSTRUCTIONS:
(This is a one time setup and will only take a moment...)

Text “PalmerPark” to the number 41411.
No quotes, no spaces. It is not caps sensitive. Now SEND.

You will receive a reply that looks something like this:

Rply Y to confirm 4+msg/mo automated mktg txt msgs from PeopleForPalmerPark @your number here
Consent not reqd for purchase
Msg&DataRatesMayApply
Info? Rply HELP


Reply with just the letter Y.
You will receive next msg like this:

Welcome to PALMERPARK.

Msg&Data Rates May Apply
4msg/mo 
Rply HELP for help
Rply STOP to cancel 

Reply with your first and last name.
You will receive next msg like this:

Your name has been changed to: your name here

Pro-Tip:
Rply #NAME to change your name at any time.


Then you're all set!
Expect to receive approximately 4 messages per month. These will ALL be People for Palmer Park related (weather updates for recreation programs, event reminders), Not spam. Charges may apply, check your individual cellular/data plan.

The People for Palmer Park are helping put together the first of what is hoped will be MANY free handball workshops at the newly renovated Palmer Park Handball Courts. 

The historic courts reopened with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on October 13, 2018. Passionate members of the Michigan Handball Association from the surrounding communities worked diligently for many months prior to raise the funds needed to get the courts back to a playable state after many years of neglect. These players in turn partnered with PFPP and the City of Detroit and its Parks & Recreation department to bring these courts to a whole new generation of handball enthusiasts.

The group together with PFPP Recreation committee is looking to hold
FREE 4-week introductory Spring workshops 5/18-6/8/2019:

Kids aged 12 & up Saturdays 10-11am 
Adults Saturdays 12-1pm

To help us gauge interest, please send an email if interested--along with any questions or suggestions-- to Stewart Shevin at sshevin@comcast.net.

Saturday, January 19th, 2019
at the Palmer Park Community House 
11am-1pm and 2-4pm

Come share your thoughts on a future walking and biking route crossing 31.5 miles of Detroit and let the city know how to make this greenway work for you! Get involved in the preliminary stages of the Joe Louis Greenway by viewing the finalists’ proposals for the planning framework and participating in a Q&A with the city officials and consulting firms behind its development. The meeting will be at the Palmer Park Community House from 11 am - 1 pm and again from 2 - 4 pm

The Joe Louis Greenway (JLG), named after Detroit boxing legend, will be a new 31.5-mile recreational pathway connecting neighborhoods across the city and to the rest of the region. The Greenway' project will be a combination of new infrastructure and links to existing but disjointed trails, ultimately providing a safe and efficient loop around the city, with connections from 8 Mile all the way to the Detroit Riverfront, all without a car. The greenway is expected to stabilize neighborhoods, create jobs, support transportation, and create new spaces for play citywide. This will be a greenway for every Detroiter.

The Palmer Park Community House is the colorful painted building next to the Splash Pad at the split of Merrill Plaisance and Pontchartrain.

Facebook page for JLG - ​https://www.facebook.com/JoeLouisGreenway/

Meetings are also set up as events on our Facebook page so it's easier to invite community - 
www.facebook.com/events/2266390863372528/