Nature Along the El Camino Real
Blog of the El Camino Real Chapter, Texas Master Naturalists, Milam County, Texas
By Linda Burgess
We had a great turnout yesterday afternoon for seed packaging at the Free Seed Library!
We now have some garden seeds and herbs in our seed library, as well as native and adapted seeds.
Come to the Cameron Public Library during operating hours and take advantage of Nature’s bounty
By Linda Burgess
(This was posted on Facebook yesterday)
It’s Earth Day! …. and a beautiful day to get outside and plant some wildflowers!
The El Camino Real Texas Master Naturalists and the Little River Basin Master Gardeners, with the help of the Cameron Public Library, have created a free Seed Library for the public.
We have lots of native wildflowers, adapted plants, and some herbs. We are always adding new varieties, so come by and get a few packets of free seeds. We can’t wait to see our community become even more beautiful …and it’s a huge benefit to our environment. You’ll also feel joy from being outside and watching your seeds grow!
We had our monthly seed packaging at the Library on Earth Day. With Master Naturalists and Master Gardeners combined, we had 21 volunteers! We’re grateful to them all.
by Catherine Johnson
Linda, Carolyn, Debra, Catherine, Rosie, and Master Gardener Monica attended the last seed collection of the season for the Little Free Seed Library.
Natives that beat the freeze include Yarrow, Evergreen Sumac, Skeleton Leaf Goldeneye, Nolina, Agave, and Wax Myrtle. Asters and Coneflowers were greening up again.
Wildscape friend Rosie, expanded a 30-foot Bluebonnet strip.
Now that it’s winter, our Mason bees can be viewed walled in their houses.
Meanwhile, we are continuing to make preparations for upcoming Wildscape programs.
Come visit the garden and see what Winter interest YOU can find.
by Linda Burgess
We have met several times at Bird and Bee Farm to harvest seeds for our newest El Camino Real Master Naturalist project.
Yesterday, November 26th, we met at the Cameron Public Library to start packaging the seeds. Our project has been embraced by Elena Berkes, the library’s Director. She even joined us yesterday!
Elena is letting us use the beautiful card catalog cabinets at the library to store our seeds and make them available to the public.
We made 275 seed packets yesterday! I was thrilled! I want to thank all the volunteers who have come to harvest seeds and those who came yesterday to package the seeds.
This will be an ongoing project and you will receive volunteer hours under Community Outreach- Indirect, as well as travel time.
I would love for you to collect seeds, native and adapted, to contribute. Just put your seeds in a brown paper bag or envelope, the name of the plant, and the date you collected the seeds.
I would like to say special thanks to Catherine Johnson (an expert in native and adapted plants)! She has helped me immensely.🎉
Come join us at our next gathering to package seeds, which will be on Tuesday, December 17th, at the Cameron Public Library.
by Catherine Johnson
Saturday , the Little Free Seed Library group met at Milam Wildscape to discuss the new project and collect seeds. Coordinator Linda Burgess gave updates and Jackie Thornton and Ann Collins collected seeds including Turks Cap, Coneflower, Texas Rock Rose, and Button Bush. We enjoyed the cooler weather.
We also discussed how the Wildscape, Wild Wings Bird Sanctuary, and Little Free Seed Library projects are going to benefit the community in our outreach efforts.
Construction of user-friendly pathways and permanent weed control continues at the Wildscape. A recently installed water feature for birds and pollinators is the top of a pedestal sink from Facebook Marketplace.
Nature Along the El Camino Real 