3VCT receives funding to start ‘seed library’ program
After receiving $20,000 in funding from the Northern Cincinnati Foundation in West Chester, 3VCT is planning to start a wildflower seed exchange program across Butler County by creating “seed libraries” in key locations. Randy Evans, executive director of 3VCT, said the idea for placing seed libraries came from one of the property owners 3VCT works with.
“She said it would be interesting to be able to trade seeds with people and try different things and share these wildflowers,” Evans said. “That’s how we kind of got the idea of creating the equivalent of the little libraries that you see in the communities, creating native wildflower little libraries throughout the county.”
The pilot libraries will be placed in Ruder Preserve, Voice of America MetroPark in West Chester Twp., Timberman Ridge MetroPark in Hamilton and Cherokee Park in Liberty Twp.. Mark Boardman, a board member for 3CVT and professor at Miami University, built the prototype for the libraries, and a local boy scout troop is helping to make the final versions to be installed.
The project aligns with other initiatives in Oxford to help residents and businesses seek out alternatives to grass lawns. The city recently updated its property maintenance code to be less strict about what lawns should look like. Grass lawns tend to be less beneficial to the environment than native lawns because they take more water and don’t provide pollinators or habitat for local wildlife, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council.
“I hope that these become something that the community kind of adopts and starts to populate themselves ... and then just kind of utilizes it to create these kind of backyard habitats for pollinators, native bees, native insects,” Evans said.
Extending a popular boardwalk across Four Mile Creek
Four years ago, 3CVT opened a boardwalk through the woods on Ruder Preserve, land operated by the organization right next to Yager Stadium. With $30,000 in additional funding from Duke Energy Foundation, Adams Legacy Foundation and the Disability Foundation in Dayton, the organization recently opened a second boardwalk just across Four Mile Creek. The Oxford Community Foundation has also provided funding to 3VCT for Ruder Preserve’s signage and kiosk.
Like the initial boardwalk, the new section is built to be ADA-compliant. It connects to a recently paved portion of the Oxford Area Trails System, a network of multi-use paths that will eventually connect to a number of locations throughout the city.
“We’re still continuing it, so we’ll build a boardwalk along the stream, as well,” Boardman said. “But right now, it goes to the stream [with] a platform [and] benches.”
The new boardwalk is higher than the original one on the west side of the creek, so Boardman said they’ve added more substantial railings. He and others like the new look so much, he said they plan to retrofit the original boardwalk with balusters, too.
Boardman said the Ruder Preserve boardwalk has been popular among community members and Miami students and staff alike since its creation, and the new addition will continue that. The boardwalk was intentionally designed to be accessible to people with varying levels of mobility, including wheelchair users and parents with children in strollers, to allow everyone in the community to connect with nature.
“It’s getting the use we want,” Boardman said. “The more the better. It’s a beautiful place to come down.”
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