INSIDE: See You at Seedy Saturday; Spring Nature School Spaces Available; Tracking Winter Wildlife; Birding in the Backcountry of Northern Ontario; Save the Date for the Spring Plant Sale and Eco-Market; Ages Foundation Scholarship and Bursaries Application Deadline Coming; First Week of March Species Madness

Photo by Emily Leslie

This Saturday, March 5, from 10 a.m. to noon, you are invited to a free event where you can swap and exchange seeds! Join us at the rare ECO Centre and Slit Barn at 768 Blair Road in Cambridge with packets of vegetable, herb and/or native pollinator seeds to exchange.

If you don't have seeds to exchange, come anyway! You'll meet fellow gardeners and find exciting seed varieties that other seed savers are sharing. Some will simply share their seeds and the interesting stories that come with them. There will be socially distanced seating available, and guests are required to wear a mask for the event. Dress for the weather as the barn is not heated.

This is a great event whether you're a first-time gardener or a seasoned expert. There will be movies (the film Modified, a "personal and poignant investigative journey to find out why genetically modified organisms are not identified on food product labels in Canada"), and our community partners at Idea Exchange Preston, Seeds of Diversity Canada, and the Cambridge Food Bank will be on hand to talk about their ongoing and upcoming projects.

The rare Nature School's spring season is set to start on Thursday, April 21, running every Thursday until June 9. This weekly outdoor education program for children aged 6-12 is a safe and engaging alternative to homeschool, classroom or virtual learning that will allow your child(ren) to engage and interact with the local environment through art, exercise and exploration.

Classes run from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., with an hour of extended care available at the beginning and the end of the day. It costs $60/week to attend ($480 total for the Spring season), with an additional $10/week for extended care (bringing the total to $560 for the season).

At rare, we strive to provide opportunities to get Every Child Outdoors. Subsidies are avilable for children for whom registration costs (and in some cases, travel costs) are a barrier for participation. Contact Jenna Quinn to learn more about nature school subsidy assistance.

At this time, only seven spots are available, so sign up today

In winter, with snow on the ground, it's a perfect opportunity to look out for and identify the footprints our fellow critters leave behind. Educator Michelle MacMillan walks you through what you and your kids should look for when identifying who made what animal tracks, so you too can become an expert animal tracker!

Our second Conversation for Conservation was well attended, as over 60 attendees logged in to see Dr. Mhairi McFarlane talk about the planning, set-up and highlights of her 18-day canoe trip through northwestern Ontario as well as her commentary on the wildlife she met along the way. If you missed this discussion, or if you wanted to see it again, the video has been made available on our YouTube Channel. If you enjoyed it, please consider giving it a like, sharing it with your friends, and subscribing to our channel for more such videos.

The next Conversation for Conservation will take place on Wednesday, March 30, on Zoom from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Stay tuned, as the speaker and subject will be announced shortly.

The Spring Plant Sale and Eco-Market at rare will take place on Saturday, May 14 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the rare ECO Centre and Slit Barn at 768 Blair Road in Cambridge. As well as being the fourth annual Spring Plant Sale, this will be the first sale to feature an Eco-Market. Attendees can stay dry under our weather-proof party tent and see what's on offer at the tables staffed by local artisans and organizations.

There is still time for artisans and socially & environmentally-focused local organizations to apply for tables at this event. To apply, simply fill out the form linked here and e-mail your application, including photographs and links, to Jessica O'Connell's e-mail, or you can mail it to:

rare Charitable Research Reserve

1679 Blair Road

Cambridge, ON

N3H 4R8

The deadline to apply is Friday, March 18. Early acceptances are possible, though, so apply early!

So, save the date - Saturday, May 14 - and we will see you under our tent and in the Slit Barn celebrating the start of the growing season!

The deadline for graduate students to apply for scholarships and bursaries to support research projects taking place at rare is less than a month away. The deadline to apply is 11:59 p.m. EDT on Friday, April 1, 2022, although applicants should submit their applications at least four weeks before the anticipated start date of their projects.

Applications are open to graduate students enrolled at a Canadian or International institution who have a project with an environmental focus or component they can work on while on rare property between May 2022 and April 2023. The rare Charitable Research Reserve supports diverse, inclusive and equitable practices and approaches to environmental issues, so we encourage applications from Indigenous students utilizing Indigenous and/or Western knowledge-systems and methodologies. Black, Indigenous and other People of Colour graduate students may also apply for a $5,000 BIPOC award, alongside the Ages Foundation Fellowship's regular $5,000 award, and up to five $1,000 bursaries.

Any questions can be directed to Jenna Quinn. Good luck to all applicants!

The first matches in rare's March Species Madness are playing out on Twitter and Facebook. This for-fun playoff bracket of 32 species celebrates the over 5,000 species that call rare home. However, you don't have to have a Twitter or Facebook account to participate. Below are four of the Round 1 matches where you can vote to see who wins. Follow this link to see a write-up on the contestants, and cast your vote below: Will the White-Tailed Deer prevail over the Red Fox? Will the Common Snapping Turtle bite back at the Smooth Green Snake? Or will the Coral Tooth Fungus kick aside the Giant Puffball? You decide!