Valley residents urged to take part in communal gardens; no experience needed

 

Kids can register for free trees delivered to Ansonia Library for Earth Day

Dig your green thumbs in and order your trees using the link below

before March 15

and we’ll contact you when it’s delivery time. 

No need to select your kiddo's grade or teacher-just pick N/A from the drop-down menu when it pops up. 

And guess what? The trees are absolutely FREE! Just click through the link until you reach the checkout page, and voilà! Happy planting! #EarthDay2025

Register for Trees

Register for Trees Here

Ansonia Nature Center slates sugar maple tree planting event

ANSONIA - Plant, soil, mulch, and water… We at the Ansonia Nature Center need your help at 9 a.m. Sept. 23 with placing 20 new trees into the ground! 

We are excited to announce that we received a grant from the Connecticut Urban Forest Council to plant 20 sugar maple trees. 

The Ansonia Nature Center is one step closer to achieving our dream of planting a stand of trees that will benefit future generations. We ask all to come and help us make history by being a part of our tree-planting crew. 

Tools will be provided. Groups welcome! 

The Nature Center is at 10 Deerfield Lane.

“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is today.” 

Email ansnaturectr@ansoniact.org for more information. 

This is a press release from Daniel L. Bosques, assistant director, Ansonia Nature Center.

Save the date: Pack 51 needs help planting trees at Ansonia Nature Center

ANSONIA - Plant, soil, mulch, and water… Pack 51 in Ansonia needs your help at 9 a.m. Sept. 23 with placing 20 new trees into the ground! 

We at the Ansonia Nature Center are excited to announce that we received a grant from the Connecticut Urban Forest Council to plant 20 sugar maple trees. We’re one step closer to achieving our dream of planting a stand of trees that will benefit future generations. 

As we set up to place our trees into the ground, we ask all to come and help us make history by being a part of our tree-planting crew. 

Gloves and tools will be provided. Groups welcome! 

Click HERE to register.

This is a press release from the Nature Center.

Derby Historical Society to dedicate tree, plant herbs at David Humphreys House

ANSONIA - Come and join the Derby Historical Society Saturday from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. as we dedicate a new tree, commemorate the Housatonic Council Boy Scouts' 100th-anniversary, and plant colonial herbs into our new raised garden beds. The event will be held at the Gen. David Humphreys House, 37 Elm St.

Ansonia Nature and Recreation Center’s Ali Rubelmann will be here with nature crafts, and the 6th Connecticut Regiment will be here in a small Revolutionary War encampment.

Mistress Gunn will be leading the herb planting  immediately following the tree dedication.

This is a press release from Dan Bosques, executive director, Derby Historical Society.

Derby Historical Society, city to go green at Humphreys House event in Ansonia

Derby's Woods 1 Class built planting beds for herb gardening at the David Humphreys House Museum in Ansonia./ Contributed photo

ANSONIA - Derby Historical Society and the City of Ansonia invite you from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. June 12 to the David Humphreys House Museum for a day of environmental stewardship. 

Join us as we celebrate the past by planting a new generation of trees at the birthplace of David Humphreys, our Nation’s first ambassador. The house is at 37 Elm St.

Come and learn about the role trees play in our environment today, and how they served our colonial predecessors.

There will also be a colonial herb garden planting, thanks to volunteer-built garden beds, House tours, and demonstrations by the 6th Connecticut Regiment. 

Sponsored by Jones Family Farm, Derby Public Schools, Lowe’s, Szabo’s Seafood, Ansonia Nature Center, Boy Scouts of America, and the Valley Community Foundation. 

A special thanks goes to Derby's Woods 1 Class for helping us with the upcoming herb garden and tree planting at the Humphreys House. 

For information call 203-735-1908 or  info@derbyhistorical.org

This is a press release from the Derby Historical Society.

Ansonia plants cedars downtown as part of Clean & Green initiatives

City of Ansonia photos

ANSONIA - The first of many trees being added to Ansonia’s landscape were recently planted in downtown as part of Mayor David S. Cassetti’s ongoing Clean & Green initiatives for the city. 

Three five-foot cedars were added, one each at the corner of ION Bank on Main Street, another at Road Ready’s Adopt-A-Spot site, at Tremont and Central Streets, and a third in the park on Central Street. When mature, the cedars will reach heights of 10-15 feet.

By mid-summer, as many as 25 additional hardwood and cedar trees will be planted throughout the city to beautify city streetscapes and other barren city owned property.

The trees are being paid for through the Mayor’s Beautification Fund that is 100 percent funded through corporate and private donations and net profits from the sale of collectible Wakelee Ave trolley tracks.

“We’re open to suggestions from our residents on where to plant additional trees,” Cassetti said.
“For many years trees were cut down by the city and not replaced,” he said. “I hope these plantings will inspire residents to replace trees that they have removed with plantings or trees on their property.”

Road Ready has adopted a spot and will be planting multiple flowers and shrubs that will help to transform the lower East Main Street area.

Cassetti said homes with trees increase property value, reduce homeowner demands for air conditioning by providing shade, and help to beautify their yards and the neighborhood.
“I encourage our residents to join us in planting flowers, shrubs, and trees where appropriate,” he said.

This is a press release from the City of Ansonia.

Kellogg Environmental Center in Derby to host program on seeds

DERBY - Spring is coming and gardens are being planned.  

Families and adults are invited to a free program, Seed Celebrations, from 10-11:30 a.m. April 20 at Kellogg Environmental Center, 500 Hawthorne Ave. 
Susan Quincy will be the guide for this

exploration.  

We will investigate the science of seeds from their parts through their cycles.  

Seeds are designed to withstand many impacts that weather and natural events throw at them.  
The marvels of their design allow them to travel and spread out over distances to compete for sunlight, water and space, sometimes waiting years to emerge.  

Knowing a bit more about seeds can help you successfully start your seeds to be transplanted outdoors.  
We will provide the materials and a variety of seed starter pots that are environmentally safe that allow easy transfer to your garden or planters.    

The very young and the young at heart will enjoy this relaxed and fun morning. Come and learn the secrets and adaptations of seeds that help ensure their survival.  
Enjoy spring as we take a hike around the fields and pond to look for emerging plants and seed remains.  We will end the program back at the center so you may plant a collection of seeds for small space gardens.  

Please register for this free program by calling 203-734-2513.

The Kellogg Environmental Center, a facility of the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, is open 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. 

For information or directions contact donna.kingston@ct.gov or call her at 203-734-2513. 

This is a press release from the Kellogg Environmental Center.

Sign up now for subscription program at Massaro Farm in Woodbridge

WOODBRIDGE - It might still feel like winter outside but Massaro Community Farm staff is reporting for duty and they are busy planting crops that will yield the abundant produce for our subscription program of organic vegetables, herbs, and flowers beginning in June. 
The farm is located at 41 Ford Road on the Ansonia town line.

Enrollment is now open for the farm’s 2018 Community Supported Agriculture seasonal subscription program.

Signing up now is an essential aspect of the CSA model. By doing so you provide the necessary funds to support the farm operation, lighten the farm staff load during the height of the growing season, and enjoy a weekly bountiful harvest throughout the season. 
Check out our website for 10- and 20-week subscription rates and options - $675 full share/$375 half share.

When you secure your spot in Massaro's 2018 CSA, you join other like-minded people around the country who are committed to:

• eating healthy foods and preparing them for their families;
• supporting farmers;
• buying local;
• investing in community.

Download a registration form from our website or sign up online for the Massaro Farm CSA to get our certified organic produce, June through October, grown and harvested daily at Massaro Community Farm. 
On farm pickup, delivery, and flexible season options available.

Spring festival

On May 20 from noon-5 p.m. the farm will host its annual Celebrate Spring festival. 
This unofficial opening of the season will include the sale of organic vegetable seedlings, flowers and perennials. 
The day will also include a lineup of workshops, kid-friendly activities, a Maypole dance, food for purchase and music. 
Entrance is free; certain workshops may have a suggested donation. 

Massaro Community Farm, Inc. is a nonprofit certified organic farm. Its mission is to keep farming, feed people and build community. 

The farm fulfills its mission by offering the sale of produce to seasonal subscribers, and to restaurants and farmer’s markets; by running farm-based education for youth and adults, and by holding several events each year. 

The farm donates a minimum of 10 percent of its weekly harvest to hunger relief agencies, which amounts have totaled more than 53,000 pounds of food to date. 

For more information, contact the office or visit www.MassaroFarm.org. 


This is a press release from Massaro Farm. 

Ansonia Nature Center to celebrate Earth Day April 29

ANSONIA - The Ansonia Nature and Recreation Center, 10 Deerfield Road, will hold an Earth Day celebration from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday.

The event will include plantings, hikes, live animals, environmental exhibitors, and a special guest. 
Storyteller Leslie Elias will create Grandmother Turtle masks with families for $5, and then perform the Iroquois creation myth.

An Audubon biologist will present the 2016 Bird Habitat Assessment findings for the Nature Center property. 
Food and snacks will be available from local vendors and the Nature Center bake sale. 
Admission is free.

Friends of Gatison Park in Ansonia to present spring festival

Native planting scheduled on Earth Day at Ansonia Nature Center

ANSONIA - Employees, volunteers, and students at Ansonia Nature and Recreation Center are planning a native planting at an Earth Day celebration at 9 a.m. April 30.

The program is funded by the Lorrie Otto Seeds for Education Grant Program administered by Wild Ones: Native Plants, Natural Landscapes.  

Here everyone, but especially the children, will learn about native plants that have grown in this area for thousands of years, while getting a close-up view of butterflies, songbirds, and other creatures that use the plants for food or shelter.  

Site preparation will be provided by staff and volunteers near our picnic pavilion #2.  
Members of the community are invited to participate in this project.  

Seeds for Education grants include technical assistance and advice from local experts.  
The grants honor Lorrie Otto who originated the modern era of school garden projects in the 1970s in the Milwaukee area.  

Earth Tones, LLC, a local native plant nursery, will partner with Wild Ones to supply plants at a discount.

For more information, contact Alison Rubelmann, Director at 203-736-1053.


This is a press release from the Ansonia Nature and Recreation Center.