conservation

If you're interested in using rain water for your garden, lawn, to wash your car, or simply just to run through a sprinkler on a hot day then check out this page on the Dedham-Westwood water district web site. Every year the Dedham-Westwood water district arranges a special discount with a local rain barrel supplier. We've purchased four over the past two years and rarely do we need to ever use our public water supply for our garden. Why pay for public water and sewer? This water is free (although the barrels are not, but they are a VERY reasonable $50). Act now before the summer drought hits.

Today, I learned of an interesting business coming to town: Wild Star Stables plans to build a 22-stall horse barn at 401 Sandy Valley Road. From their website, it sounds as though they intend to use the Lowell Woods as an area to ride horses. I know very little about this, but have a hard time imagining how horses would navigate the trails in Lowell woods. I don't want to imagine how such a use would require me to carry a shovel with me the next time my family goes for a walk in the woods...

Thursday, November 13th, the Westwood Land Trust (WLT) is sponsoring the second annual Capturing Nature in Westwood Art Exhibit to raise awareness and appreciation for Westwood’s beautiful natural environment. "Artists help us to see what’s around us, and the exhibit is a wonderful way for Westwood residents to view nature through artists' eyes," explains Westwood Land Trust President Nancy Dempze. The public is invited to attend a reception to view the exhibit at the Westwood High School theater lobby from 6:30 to 9:00 pm.

Westwood Public Schools art students from a wide variety of grade levels have diligently worked on event submissions as part of their fall art curriculum. Sheehan third graders studied the artist Marc Chagall who believed that "Great art picks up where nature ends." These students combined poetry and artwork based on Chagall's work. At the high school, studio art students "looked closely" at aspects of nature that aren't normally considered beautiful, insects for example, and portrayed their beauty through brilliant pastels. In ceramics, students learned how to make coil pots and produced various vessels decorated with leaves.

Submissions from Westwood residents will also be displayed; over 40 entries were exhibited last year. This year, the work of guest artist Crystal Woodward will also be on display. Ms. Woodward is a professional artist, teacher and land conservationist. She was raised in Belmont, MA, and now lives in France. She is currently in the Boston area teaching the course "Landscape, Art and Visual Language" at The Landscape Institute of the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University. Ms. Woodward will be at the exhibit to meet with viewers and answer questions about her artwork and conservation activities.

Founded in 1999, the Westwood Land Trust is a charitable organization dedicated to preserving open space, forests, and habitat in Westwood. WLT works cooperatively with landowners who wish to retain their property in its undeveloped state by raising funds to buy development rights from landowners and by receiving and enforcing conservation restrictions on Westwood properties. WLT currently holds conservation restrictions that protect 158 acres of land in Westwood.

This is a great deal and I strongly encourage all gardeners and outdoor water users to take advantage. My family purchased two of these last spring and we're getting two more this year. I've found cheaper unfitted barrels online but the shipping costs alone were more than $50 per barrel.

http://www.nerainbarrel.com/DedWest.html

Through the Dedham-Westwood Water District, you can get a New Englander rain barrel, normally priced at $99, for only $66.50*. If you buy more than one, you may also want to buy a connector kit to connect your rain barrels together.

*SPECIAL!
Through a subsidy by the Dedham-Westwood Water District, residents of Dedham and Westwood get an additional $16.50 discount, making your price $50! To take advantage of the discount, please enter your ZIP code in the Discount code field on the order form.

To qualify for the discount, your discount code must match your billing ZIP code.

To take advantage of this program, orders must be placed by Friday, May 2, 2008. The pickup for all orders is Wednesday, May 7, between 4 and 7 p.m. You may pick up your order at the Dedham-Westwood Water District offices, 50 Elm St., Dedham.