Inside this issue:

• rare's Trail Party registration now open!
• Thank you for a successful Spring Plant Sale & EcoMarket!
• Sign up your pollinator garden!
• Spaces available for June 7 PD Day ECO Camp!
• Sign up your children for our Summer ECO Camps!
• Last chance for seats at Steve Burrows' Conversation for Conservation
• Volunteer sessions begin at Springbank Farm
• More invasive species pull dates and native plant propagation dates announced.
• Other rare events & volunteer sessions
• Poll results and new poll

Photo by Jeff Moser and Jeanette Dillon

Lace Up and #StepUpforNature at 2024's Trail Party: a "Walk, Hike & Run" Fundraiser

Register by July 1 for the Early Bird Prize Draw

Just four months until our annual Trail Party and registration is now open for this fundraising celebration ($30; children 12 and under are free)!

#StepUpforNature by raising money for rare's ECO programs, providing an outdoor education for our children, the next generation of conservationists.

Register before July 1 and your name will be entered into our Early Bird prize draw for two tickets to see the Blue Jays at the Rogers Centre (with special thanks to Cambridge Centre Honda)! Further details can be found at raretrailparty.ca.

REGISTER TODAY to start fundraising, and we look forward to seeing you on the trails celebrating nature on Sunday, September 15!

Thank You for a Successful Spring Plant Sale & EcoMarket!

Thanks to everybody who came out to the Slit Barn last Saturday, breaking attendance records for our Spring Plant Sale & EcoMarket. Over 800 people shopped the thousands of plants in the barn, or the one-of-a-kind items on offer from local artisans, took in the music, enjoyed the food and engaged with local social and environmental groups.

A great time was had by all and, together, we raised over $12,000 in support of Springbank Farm's organic food bank garden, growing fresh organic produce for the Cambridge Food Bank.

Thanks to everybody who showed up, especially staff and volunteers who helped with the set up and clean up. We could not have done this without you.

Mark your calendars for next year's Spring Plant Sale & EcoMarket on May 17, 2025!

Register Your Pollinator Garden and Join the 1,000 Gardens Project

Whether you were buying plants at the Spring Plant Sale to make a new pollinator garden, or buying bee houses to bolster an existing pollinator garden, we invite you to register your garden as part of our 1,000 Gardens Project.

The 1,000 Gardens Project is an initiative to promote pollinator gardens across Ontario, creating a ‘virtual critter corridor’ of waystations. The more native pollinator gardens, the healthier our pollinators, and the nature they support.

To join the initiative, simply fill out this form, providing your name and information about your garden. You can also purchase your own "This is a Pollinator Garden" sign for $20 to show your neighbours the work you're doing for pollinators. Over 740 gardens are already registered across southern Ontario, creating a pollinator corridor between Toronto and Waterloo. We want to get that to a thousand, and then beyond, so we can create a Trans Canada Pollinator Highway.

Join the movement, build the Trans Canada Pollinator Highway, and help our native pollinator species as well as the native plants that they support.

Space Still Available for an Awesome PD Day Outdoor Adventure on June 7th!

On Wednesday, May 29, from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., Steve Burrows will be joining us at rare's Slit Barn at 768 Blair Road to talk about his ecological-themed detective mystery series in From Birder to Birder Murder: the Mystery Deepens.

Steve Burrows has a new book out featuring DCI Domenic Jejeune entitled A Nye of Pheasants. The book "intertwines avians with the classic whodunit in a completely original way," says the Audobon Society of the U.S., while Publishers Weekly credits the series as "high quality, nuanced mystery fiction."

Seats are going fast. Don't miss out! The event is FREE, but registration is required, so register now!

And don't forget to register for our June Conversations for Conservation, featuring Helmi Hess, Recovery Biologist at Wildlife Preservation Canada speaking on Loggerhead Shrike - On the Brink of Disappearance in Ontario. This event takes place at the Slit Barn at 768 Blair Road from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, June 26. This event is also FREE, but registration is required.

Stay tuned for announcements of further events to come!

Volunteer Garden Work Begins at Springbank Farm

Volunteer season continues to ramp up at rare. In the coming weeks, we need volunteers to help take care of the gardens at Springbank Farm, fix up a greenhouse and pull more garlic mustard.

Springbank Farm's Wednesday volunteer sessions start May 22 running each Wednesday until the fall from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Teen volunteers (aged 14-17) are welcome for the Wednesday sessions, but we ask that they please download and have their parents fill out a volunteer waiver form to be presented by the teen.

Sunday sessions start on June 2nd and run from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., but these are limited to people aged 18+.

Volunteers will weed, water, plant, rake, shovel compost and mulch and harvest in our organic Food Bank gardens. Many hands helps ensure a bountiful harvest for those most in need in our community. In the past we have sent as much a 6,000 lbs to the Cambridge Food Bank. Help us get there again this year.

Registration is not required for these sessions, just show up to 681 Blair Road, and staff will be on hand to provide tools, tasks and guidance. Click here for more details.

More Invasive Species Pull Days and Native Plant Propagation Dates Coming Up!

Volunteers are needed to help fight back against invasive species and promote the health and propagation of native plants at rare.

The Land Management team is looking for help removing aggressive Garlic Mustard, which has taken over ditches and many forest understories. These pulls are happening Thursdays from 10:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and from 1:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Volunteers will meet at Lamb's Inn at 1679 Blair Road where staff will lead them onto the property to pull affected areas. Click below for more details and to register for your favourite dates:

Thursday, May 23 - Morning | Afternoon

Thursday, May 30 - Morning | Afternoon

Thursday, June 6 - Morning Only

Volunteers are also needed on Tuesday, May 28, from 10:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. for our Native Plant Propagation Program, performing general maintenance of the Land Management greenhouse. Click here for more details and to register.

Further volunteer dates have been added through the month of June, so be sure to visit our Events Calendar to check them out and register your attendance. Thanks to everyone who comes out to rare to help protect native species and fight back against invasives, improving the health of our natural areas.

Register Now for These Coming rare Events!

• Wednesday, May 22 at 9:00 a.m. - Springbank Food Bank Garden Volunteer Session.
• Wednesday, May 29 at 7:00 p.m. - Conversations for Conservation: From Birder to Birder Murder: the Mystery Deepens with Steve Burrows
• Sunday, June 2 at 1:00 p.m. - Springbank Food Bank Garden Volunteer Session
• Wednesday, June 26 at 7:00 p.m. - Conversations for Conservation: Loggerhead Shrike - On the Brink of Disappearance in Ontario, featuring Helmi Hess.

These events are FREE, but most require registration. We look forward to seeing you here at rare!

Our Bi-Weekly Poll: Plant Sale Results and Invasive Species Pulls

In our last issue, we asked how many plants people would be buying at the Spring Plant Sale & EcoMarket, and 60% of you said, "why limit us to a number?" Another 31.4% wanted to keep things modest, with only 1-5 plants. However you chose to populate your garden, we're grateful for everybody who came to our event.

For our next question: if you knew what an invasive species looked like, would you pull it out wherever you found it (including on public land)?