Wild Ones Field Trip – Kalamazoo’s East Side

Saturday, June 20, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Wild Ones Field Trip to TRANSITIONal Native-Plant Gardens Three locations on Kalamazoo’s east side.

Join Kalamazoo Area Wild Ones for their June field trip to three unusual native-plant gardens, each of them linked to an important TRANSITIONal community project.

The first visit will be to the Trybal Revival Gardens of long-time Wild Ones members Tomme Maile and Dale Abbott, on Kalamazoo’s east side, at 1429 E. Michigan Avenue. On either side of their home, where they have a rain garden and various
native plantings, Tomme and Dale have established several projects on County Land Bank properties, including beehives, an extensive composting operation, community gardens, a production garden, a food forest, and a community tool-lending shed.

From Tomme and Dale’s, we go around the corner to Peace House, at 313 and 321 Phelps Avenue. Established by Jen and Mike DeWaele and Jerry and Molly Mechtenberg-Berrigan, Peace House is an intentional community in the Eastside Neighborhood of Kalamazoo “dedicated to nurturing the next generation of peacemakers. In the summer and through the school year we offer activities that let kids stretch their
bodies and minds, experiment with nonviolence and earn fun and useful skills.”

Finally, we’ll take a short trip over to the extensive native plantings around the People’s Food Co-op, at 507 Harrison Street. The Food Co-op is yet another important community center that features native plants in its landscape.