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Dear TTF Neighbors,

The TTF team has not been together, in our office at Globe Dye Works in Frankford, since Friday, March 13th.  How does an organization committed to hands-on education and engagement, on-the-ground stewardship and restoration, and providing constituents with native seeds and rain barrels face-to-face, make staying safe at home work?

We know how important it is for everyone to be out in nature safely. You can enjoy our parks, trails, and creeks while practicing social distancing. That’s what we are trying to figure out! Here’s what we’ve got going and are planning for you so far.

We are all working from home and meeting via Zoom three times each week. We are using new (and old tools), hosting webinars and mailing resources.

Native Seeds to Plant: We’ve always given out free packets of native seeds at events (donated by our friends at Ernst Seeds). After one of our Juniata Park families asked if we still had seeds, we decided to continue to make and share these packets, just now through the US mail!

We have mailed out more than 80 seed packets along with Simple Steps to Create a Native Plant Garden in Your Yard, provided by Wyncote Audubon Society. We can’t wait to see photos of these gardeners with their blooms!

Pages to Color: We know that most people don’t have printers at home, so they can’t easily print documents from online sources. That’s why we are mailing coloring sheets from the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s Pennsylvania Wildlife Student Guide. These sheets show lots of the wildlife in our watershed, even our mascot, the Great Blue Heron.

Outside & Seek plus

Nature’s Hidden Surprises Activities: We have created two new activities for you to enjoy when you’re outside: a TTF Watershed Outside & Seek (Hunt #1) and Nature’s Hidden Surprises: Finding Knowledge and Artistic Inspiration from the Wind (in Spanish, too)! You can download these or we can mail them to you!

Audubon Adventures: We have always loved Audubon Adventures, the environmental education curriculum product created by the National Audubon Society for grades 3–5. Developed by professional environmental educators, these colorful magazines provide standards-based science content about birds, wildlife, and their habitats.

Thanks to the generosity of Wyncote Audubon Society, we have a limited supply on hand that we can mail to interested families. Topics include: Caretaking Our World’s Water, The Buzz About Native Bees, and Wetlands: Where Water Works.

We are doing our best to keep an eye on our project sites, parks, trails, and creeks. Staff is on the Tacony Creek Park trail and visiting our green stormwater infrastructure and Soak It Up Adoption sites often. Please say hello when you see Nate, Doryan, or Susan walking in Tacony Creek Park or Ryan delivering rain barrels.

Cleanup Kits: We need your help, though! Please help us keep our watershed streets, parks, and trails clean. We know that what goes down the drain ends up in the water, so keeping on top of litter is so important.

Would you like a free TTF Cleanup Kit? These come in a special bag complete with gloves, a trash grabber, trash bags for trash and recycling, a TTF bandanna you can use as a mask, and a Tacony Creek Park map. Request a kit, and we will deliver it your home or business.

Educational Webinars: We’ve heard from you that you want online resources, too! We have taken our in-person workshops online.

We’ve hosted three workshops on Zoom, that you can see on our new YouTube channel:

And yes, you can still order a rain barrel from us. We’ll even drop it off for you!

We have even more in the works, so stay tuned. We are developing a couple of new online programs, because that’s what you told us you wanted.

We will soon start posting our Storytime Series: Listen to Our Watershed, featuring short videos of our favorite local heroes reading nature picture books for children. Keep an eye on our social media for the first book, In My Backyard, this week!

We’re also planning a series of virtual watershed tours led by environmental educator Brandon McCracken. These tours will be in English and Spanish. You will be able to take these guides along with you on your phone for a walk in Tacony Creek Park or a visit to one of our project sites along the Jenkintown Creek.

We miss you! But we want all of us to be safe and healthy. Please stay in touch.

For any of the above resources, email us at [email protected]. You can also call the office at 215-744-1853 and leave a message.

Be Sure to Visit this Online Adventure with your family: Flexing Our Mussels!

Freshwater mussels filter the water in the creek as they feed. Years ago, streams throughout our region were loaded with many species of freshwater mussels. Now, due to pollution and other environmental factors, they are the most imperiled of all plants or animals in America. Learn more about mussels and other wildlife on the super fun and interactive Mighty Mussel website from our Fairmount Water Works friends.

We worked with the Partnership for Delaware Estuary to reintroduce freshwater mussels at two locations in the Tacony Creek. Fifty freshly tagged Elliptio complanata, or Eastern Elliptio, were tucked into the silty substrate of the creek to improve water quality.