Happy Early Spring

February 16, 2024

Happy Early Spring 

This newsletter is all about preparing for a new season, finding the perfect place to settle in and get comfortable. It’s about our new home for the Terra Depot shop, selecting a new home for your favorite songbirds and the quality bluebird boxes newly installed for the Stark Parks Tam O’Shanter Bluebird Trail. This is also an exciting time to share information about upcoming workshops and presentations. Hopefully as you read this newsletter, the weather will have returned to normal – we don’t want our fruit trees blooming in February!

Anniversary – Earth Day – NEW SHOP

A weekend celebration –

Friday, April 26 – Sunday, April 28 right here at Terra Depot!

We are going to have a fun weekend to showcase OUR BRAND NEW RETAIL STORE!! We will have a tremendous selection of feeders, houses, and home & garden décor. The new building will allow easier access and more room to show off our cool merchandise. Seed choices will be on display and sizes will be expanded. Stop in for refreshments, sign up for some fun gift baskets and specials!

Our NATIVE PLANTS will begin filling the greenhouse by mid-April and this season we will add a great selection of annual and perennial CULINARY HERBS ready to go by Mother’s Day!

As we rearrange Terra Depot, our current shop becomes our new classroom.

We are starting off with a BANG!

All About Hummingbirds
Sunday afternoon: April 28, 2 pm – 4 pm

Rob Symes and the Wildlife Gardens shop have deep connections to the Canton community, going back over 30 years. Up to his retirement in 2019, Rob endeared himself to his nature-loving customers with his knowledge and expertise. Rob will join us to help celebrate our open house weekend with a special presentation “All About Hummingbirds”. Rob will focus on habitat requirements, hummingbird behavior, the best feeders and care for these small marvels of nature! Refreshments will be served as well.

Cost is $15.00 per person, registration includes a 10% discount on hummingbird feeders – Please call us at 330-417-6257 or stop in the shop to pre-register. Class size will be limited.

Backyard Naturalist Program

Saturdays: May 4, May 11, May 18, May 25, June 1, 9:30 am – 11:30 am and September 21 for an evening cookout and class reunion!

Terra Depot will sponsor a 6 session Backyard Naturalist Program taught by local naturalist, Carrie Elvey.

As a Backyard Naturalist participant, you will gain skills and knowledge to observe your backyard and make sound decisions about managing wildlife. Each session will have hands on instruction and take home assignments. By the end of the course you will have the tools to apply for the National Wildlife Federation Backyard Habitat certification.

The classes are scheduled for Saturday mornings, 9:30 am to 11:30 am. Five of the class sessions will begin May 4 through June 1, 2024. Coffee and refreshments are provided. Our 6th  session will be a fall cookout reunion, Saturday evening, September 21, to recap and share our observations and lessons learned!

The Backyard Naturalist Session topics:

  • May 4 – Mapping and Observing Your Backyard, Dark Skies and Light Inventory
  • May 11 – Plant Families and Tree Values
  • May 18 – Insects and other Arthropods
  • May 25 – Soils and Leaf Litter
  • June 1 – Pollinators and Planting for Wildlife
  • September 21 – Class reunion and fall cookout

So many of Terra Depot customers have known Carrie for years! She has an extraordinary knowledge and love of nature! Carrie Elvey is the owner of Darwin’s Dream a company dedicated to fostering connection with the natural world through education, exploration, and art. For the past 30 years, she has worked with students of all ages, helping them discover the amazing natural history stories unfolding in our own backyards. Previously, Carrie served as the senior naturalist at The Wilderness Center. She serves as an instructor at the Wayne Center for the Arts and as the Community Engagement Specialist for the United Titanium Bug Zoo on Ohio State’s Wooster Campus.

We are so excited to launch thisBackyard Naturalist series. We have a perfect meeting space to comfortably accommodate our class. Cost: The program cost is $125 per person. Included in your registration is a $25.00 gift certificate for the purchase of native plants or all sorts of goodies at Terra Depot! Please call us at 330-417-6257 or stop in the shop to pre-register. Class size will be limited.

Concrete Statuary Painting Workshop
Wednesday morning, May 15 at 10 am to whenever your paint dries!

I will teach my painting technique so you can create your own masterpiece garden statue. Select a concrete piece from our large selection and we provide all the needed art supplies. You can have your very own bigfoot statue (or anything else you like!) nestled in your garden that very evening! It is a fast and fun workshop and a great time for friends to enjoy together! Stop in the shop anytime to select your statue, we can set it aside for you till the class.

Cost: The workshop cost is $45 plus the cost of your concrete piece. Please call us at 330-417-6257 or stop in the shop to pre-register. Class size will be limited.

Making a House a Home

Now is a good time to consider placing bird houses around your yard to encourage spring nesting. It’s important to know what makes a house a suitable and successful home!

Here are some basics – some of our favorite songbirds – bluebirds, wrens, chickadees and nuthatches are examples of cavity nesters. The cavity boxes should mimic what is found in nature – standing dead wood with cavities created by woodpeckers! Birds like robins, mourning doves and barn swallows prefer open cup nests and select ledges and platforms usually tucked up under eaves.

Boxes and nesting supports installed now give scouting birds a good chance to select your site for spring breeding. Please avoid using “ornamental houses” and stick with quality houses made from untreated wood, with thick walls, with the appropriate sized entry hole for the species you are trying to attract. Houses should have tight construction, good ventilation and be kept clean in between nesting cycles. Plan how you are going to secure the house
to a sturdy post and consider predator guards. Roaming house and feral cats, raccoons and invasive bird species, like house sparrows, can decimate a nest within hours. We can help with suggestions and contribute to your success this spring. Providing the right housing solution is right up there with creating good habitat to help our songbirds thrive!

Bluebird Trail with Audubon – Terra Depot Donation

This past year, Terra Depot worked with the Canton Audubon Society by providing 15 quality Bluebird Houses at cost to complete a bluebird trail at the new Tam O’ Shanter Stark Park.

The Canton Audubon Society in collaboration with Stark Parks secured a grant from the National Audubon Society to install the new trail in this perfect bluebird habitat. Barb Lewis, a board member of the Canton Audubon Society, managed all details of the project. In the early spring of 2023, the box locations were geo-located for the planned trail. Supplies were secured and included the boxes, posts, and all the materials to construct the pest baffles and sparrow deterrents. The 15 nesting boxes were installed approximately 100 yards apart around the park trails. Throughout the nesting season, volunteers from the Canton Audubon Society will monitor the boxes and document the nesting success.