In April 2020, Earth Day is celebrating 50 years since its inception. Here are some ways that locals participated in the event. If you can’t plant something indoors or outside, go out and hug a tree, kiss a flower, wave to a bird, or talk to a plant this month!
River Maureaux, two years old, Lyons, discovered how to plant on Earth Day (April 22). She learned to use her spade and how to water. She and mom Cherie planted tomatoes and peppers. Their next project will be planting a blue spruce tree in front of their home on Arbor Day. Photo: Cherie Maureaux
To fill her time at home after losing her job due to the COVID-19 outbreak, Jackie Hiebert decided to grow vegetables from seeds. She ended up with more than she could use, so she put some cucumber and tomato seedlings in individual cans of dirt and invited her Lyons neighbors to stop by on Earth Day to get one. She cautioned them to take into consideration social distancing and not touch anything other than the plant they were taking home. Photo: Jackie Hiebert
Doug D’Arcey has dozens of seedlings growing in pots to be transplanted into his tilled garden plot in May. Meanwhile, his “pussy willow seeds” seem to have produced a new cat! This spring he has some peas, beans, corn, radish, basil, oregano, turnips, potatoes, squash–all from seeds, except the tomato and oregano plants. Photo: Doug D’Arcey
The Lyons labyrinth offers a spiral stone path where you can meditate while meandering along it. Phyllis O’Rourke is a caretaker of the labyrinth, located off CO Highway 7, near the Rocky Mountain Botanic Gardens. She painted a pine cone and added it to the landscape in honor of Earth Day. Photo: Phyllis J. O’Rourke
Two young mule deer are enjoying the eruption of plant life in Lyons, and the quiet spring due to the absence of tourists in the Town’s parks. Spring is time for molting, and they are ready to shed their winter coat. Photo: Phyllis J. O’Rourke
Earth Day can also be celebrated indoors. On my Earth Day 2020 Lyons, Colorado Facebook page, I list five detailed ways on how you could brighten your spring day with indoor plants. This could involve planting bulbs and seeds, putting vegetable cores in water, bringing in flowering tree branches to force bloom, or taking cuttings from existing house plants to propagate into new plants. Photo: Kathleen Spring
The yellow daffodils are cradled among the red rocks of Lyons, unharmed by April’s two heavy snowfalls. Spring is popping up all over Lyons. The crocus, snowdrops, grape hyacinth, iris, and tulips are heralding the 50 year celebration of Earth Day 2020. Photo: Kathleen Spring