The majority of regular FOBW constituents are retirement age, and the majority of our stewardship work involves weeding non native plants, and planting native ones, but occasionally we need to clear trash from the woodlands. This clearing of refuse often coincides with our nature gardening, as it did during a recent Saturday SOLVE work party. The beautiful spring morning of March 14th brought together Friends of Baltimore Woods, and SOLVE volunteers including seven volunteers from TE Connectivity Youth Professionals of Wilsonville, Oregon for a community restoration project in St. John’s. Working in the northern Acorn Acre and Woodpecker Point areas of Baltimore Woods, volunteers planted approximately 350 native trees and…

The Baltimore Woods Hugelkulture bed is a small experiment in increasing the fertile area for growing native plants in the rocky and compacted soil of the Lower Meadow. It started as the germ of an idea by FOBW members, as we contemplated ways to increase plant diversity and encourage successful growth and seed production in our meadow. We were inspired by similar projects in Hugelkultur at Green Anchors, a former empty brown field site nearby.  Green Anchors is now a vibrant creative space, where many de-paved areas have been turned into thriving beds of native, decorative, medicinal and food garden plantings originally supported by Hugelkulture beds. When we last wrote…

Sunday May 17 was a perfect spring morning for Ronna Fujisawa’s 5th Free Plein Air Watercolor Class in the Baltimore Woods Lower Meadow. The purple/lavender patch of lupine, the yellow and rosy hues of the meadow grasses, the cloudy deep blue sky, singing songbirds, 50 shades of green…all the necessary elements were visible to inspire one to create art. About a dozen participants took advantage of this free plein air class. The beautiful purple flowers of native Riverbank lupine, Lupinus rivularis, and Large-Leaved lupine, Lupinus polyphyllus are common to Oregon in spring. They are both nitrogen fixing perennials which means their roots help to transfer nitrogen from the atmosphere into…

When some of us Friends of Baltimore Woods old-timers think of Steven McClure, we remember him as a dyed-in-the-wool Lewis and Clark history buff.  He was always eager to engage on that topic. He generously shared his knowledge with FOBW in the form of several lengthy articles for our newsletter, then called The Woods-Worker. [2012 issues can be found in the FOBW Newsletter archives] Steven’s involvement with Friends of Baltimore Woods stemmed much from his passion for studying and writing about the Lewis and Clark Expedition in Oregon and Washington. Steven was especially interested in William Clark’s April 2, 1806 exploratory trip up the Willamette River with York, his enslaved companion,…

Thank you, Sparrowhawk customers and volunteers! We are grateful to everyone who filled the 38 volunteer shifts at the Spring 2026 Sparrowhawk and Friends of Baltimore Woods Native Plant Sale. We also appreciate our partnership with the Bird Alliance of Oregon’s Green Leaders program. The Bird Alliance of Oregon offers a Green Leadership program for youth between the ages of 15 to 20 from the Hacienda CDC community. Hacienda CDC stands for Hacienda Community Development Corporation. It is a Latino-led, non-profit organization based in Portland, Oregon, that focuses on strengthening communities and advancing the social and economic mobility of low-income and moderate-income individuals. Participants are paid monthly to participate in…

North Decatur Street between North Baltimore Avenue and North Catlin Avenue, is part of the Baltimore Woods corridor. Unfortunately, due to its location and isolation it is also a target for homeless RV camping and illegal dumping. There are only a few homes along the North end of Decatur near North Catlin Avenue, and the rest of it is has no residences and no street lights. Friends of Baltimore Woods has been actively working to improve both the camping and dumping problems. Campers and RVs have been reported regularly and evicted. Debris left at former campsites has been collected and properly disposed of.  RV parking spaces have been blocked by…

Tuesday November 11, 2025 was the final day for the Friends of Baltimore Woods (FOBW) and Portland Garden Club (PGC) to work together on the Lower Meadow Restoration Project. About 25 determined and focused women from the Portland Garden Club, joined Friends’ volunteers to plant over 1000 native bulbs into the 12 fenced beds of the Baltimore Woods Lower Meadow located just north of the North Catlin entrance to the Baltimore Woods Natural Area. Once a Toyota Parking Lot, the Lower Meadow was de-paved in 2012. Because of the challenging growing environment, the process of restoration that began 14 years ago, still continues today. All the bulbs selected for this…

No doubt climate change and habitat loss are the crisis of our age, but would it give you relief to know there is action you can take in your own backyard to remedy these trends? You can create a native habitat in your garden. One that uses less water and chemicals, is ecologically sustainable and attracts native insects, birds and mammals. When you plant native plants in your garden, you are supporting native insects who have co-evolved with native plants over centuries. These native insects and pollinators in turn provide food for native birds, reptiles, amphibians and mammals. In short, you would be creating a local healthy ecosystem pocket, in…

Sunday May 18, 2025 was the 45th anniversary of the eruption of Mt St Helens, and the 4th Free Plein Air Watercolor Class offered by the Friends of Baltimore Woods (FOBW).  All the classes in the past have been staged in the Upper Meadow of Baltimore Woods. This class was staged in the cool and shady woods of Catlin Forest near the Lower Meadow. Amazingly, it is remarkable to note that the Lower Meadow was once the site of a Toyota Parking Lot. The parking lot was de-paved in 2012 by FOBW, Metro and Depave. It is now the site of a FOBW & Portland Garden Club Meadow Habitat Restoration…

  Friends of Baltimore Woods thanks everyone who supported our annual sale & fundraiser with Sparrowhawk Native Plants, including customers and, most especially, volunteers. This year’s plant sale offered more than 110 native species from their website, Sparrowhawknativeplants.com. On-line ordering began on March 2nd. Thanks to a community of native plant enthusiasts, we quickly filled up all of our available sale slots. Plant pickups took place in St Johns on a balmy April 18th and 19th. A generous portion of the sale’s proceeds went to Friends of Baltimore Woods for our ongoing work on restoration and plant propagation. Here’s a message from Nikkie West and Tracy Cozine, Sparrowhawk proprietors—the ones in the bright pink aprons: Another annual spring native plant sale knocked it…