Austin Bryniarski
URI Internship Year:
2019
Graduation Year:
2019
Degree:
MESc
Austin likes to think about food and justice. Part of thinking about those things involves also thinking about space, place, history, politics, power, plants, and people. *Those* things brought Austin to the Greenspace program. Also, Austin loves New Haven.
Group
Westville Roundabout - The Roundabout Gardeners
Fair Haven Neighbors In Action
Norton Parkway Pollinator Pathway
Greenspace Log
| Date | Category | Photos | Group | Summary | |
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08/07/2019 |
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Nicki and I drew maps of the space to wrap up the season and weeded. |
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08/03/2019 |
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We planted two trees in Bayview Park in the stead of two dying evergreens! It was a scorcher. |
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08/03/2019 |
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Maria, Pat and I planted pollinator-friendly flowers to brighten up the streetscape at the intersection of Castle and Monroe. |
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08/02/2019 |
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We planted boxwoods in each median square and a whole mess of pollinator plants at the end of the median opposite of where we started. |
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07/31/2019 |
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We spread stone dust to begin a path, and planted hostas around the hawthorn and a black-eyed Susan in the center of the garden. |
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07/30/2019 |
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Ed and I planted perennials near the trees we grew and watered. We made plans for where future trees might be planted and who else might get involved. |
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07/28/2019 |
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We cleared trails of knotweed and watered the trees we planted! |
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07/26/2019 |
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Thirteen Foote School friends and their chaperones joined us and helped to excavate sod in preparation for pollinator plantings. We discussed the importance of safety when working in the median, the necessity of pollinators, strategies for digging, and how to successfully transplant liriope. |
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07/25/2019 |
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At Oyster Point we planted a long-awaited beach plum (which was already bearing fruit!). We also watered and made some decisions about which trees to plant and where. Shade tolerant is the way to go in Bayview Park, where older, larger trees block out sunlight against the sound barrier abutting the highway. |
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07/24/2019 |
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This week we spread grass seed to compensate for all the pruning back of shrubs we did in weeks prior, and to bring back lawn to the curbstrip in front of the residence here. We also pruned and did site selection for the tree we'll plant next week. |
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07/24/2019 |
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We finally got to plant our winter king hawthorn tree after a few sessions of delay — mostly weather related. It was great to meet and work with Ivan, who has seen the greenspace progress over the past three years. |
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07/24/2019 |
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In conjunction with the green team, we planted two hybrid maples that will grow to form a threshold that structures the canopy above the promenade that parallels Edgewood Avenue. |
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07/23/2019 |
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We planted a greenspire linden tree and a pin oak tree adjacent to a lot that is tended to by the local urban agriculture organization New Haven Farms. |
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07/20/2019 |
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We planted an amelanchier in front of Pat's house. We had a strong showing of volunteer support despite the fact that it was one of the hottest days of the summer. |
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07/20/2019 |
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The Oyster Point team watered its beachy plants and marked out where three other trees would go. |
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07/19/2019 |
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We planted a whole mess of pollinator-friendly plants as a test-run for how the rest of the pathway might look. We plan to replicate it across the section of the median we've been tending to. |
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07/18/2019 |
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Robin and I planned out what a "tile" of the median full of pollinator-friendly plants might look like. |
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07/17/2019 |
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We planted a number of purple-and-green flowering perennials that would be more manageable than the juniper and hostas of the past along a corner of the roundabout. |
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07/17/2019 |
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This week I was at a meeting so the Green Team tended to trails and paths in the park. The following Friday, however, the URI Youth at Work team joined the Edgewood Park Youth at Work team to plant a crabapple tree and a hybrid elm tree along the promenade that parallels Edgewood Avenue. |
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07/16/2019 |
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We CBYD'd and watered. |
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07/13/2019 |
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We planted two cherry trees that will blossom beautifully and caliper up nicely. We decorated them with daylilies and coreopsis. |
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07/13/2019 |
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We planted two more porcupine grasses and watered. I spent a lot of the time shuttling another intern around but was happy to support the group with plants, materials, and my feeble advice. We also secured a closer water source to keep our porcupine grass lush and its crispiness at bay. |
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07/12/2019 |
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We canvassed the Norton Parkway neighbors again and they expressed great interest in and approval of planting more pollinating plants in the median as well as addressing the overgrown burning bush. |
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07/10/2019 |
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We spread mulch and watered. |
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07/10/2019 |
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We gave some TLC to the greenspace in the form of weeding and watering. In preparation for path-making, we laid down some stone dust. |
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07/10/2019 |
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We planted two trees with the Edgewood Youth at Work group: a sturdy red maple that replaced an old tree at the bike path entrance to the park on Edgewood Avenue, and a kuosa dogwood at the midbridge section of the park. Two trees, six to go! |
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07/09/2019 |
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We planted two trees — a honey locust that will grow tall and provide some canopy to Wolcott Street, and a crabapple tree that will grow up in its shadow and provide color and habitat. |
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06/29/2019 |
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Mostly we tended to the garden area by the beach by picking weeds, spreading mulch, and planting porcupine grass. Lemonade was on tap and much needed. |
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06/29/2019 |
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We canvassed the Norton Parkway neighbors and they expressed great interest in and approval of planting more pollinating plants in the median as well as addressing the overgrown burning bush. We pruned burning bush as well in preparation for median transformation! |
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06/29/2019 |
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I met Maria and Jose on Castle Street and we talked shop and made plans for the rest of the summer — our goals are to plant a few trees to replace ones that had been damaged and accessorize them with colorful flowers. |
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06/28/2019 |
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We collaboratively planted a crabapple on Poplar Street that will graciously take up space between electrical wires and add some color to the streetscape there. |
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06/26/2019 |
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We planted catmint, achillea, and ninebark in the midbridge garden. |
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06/26/2019 |
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We spread a fair amount of mulch around the traffic circle's territories. |
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06/26/2019 |
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We planted a goldenrain tree that will add a punch of color and a bit of shade in future years. |
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06/22/2019 |
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Some solid canvassing followed an equally solid attempt to reinforce the fence surrounding the Washington Avenue site. |
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06/20/2019 |
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We weeded. We planted a rosa rugosa. |
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06/19/2019 |
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06/19/2019 |
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We planted shrubs in the midbridge garden. |
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06/18/2019 |
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We gathered 'round to make a plan of the pollinator pathway's summer ahead. We also attended the W.E.B. management team meeting to get a sense of how people would feel about breaking ground on the median. |
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06/15/2019 |
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At the beachy waterfront at the toe of Howard Avenue, the Oyster Point crew picked mugwort and other weedier plants in advance of what we hope will be some salt-tolerant planting. We filled an entire truck-bed with mugwort. We hope to maintain the space with semi-regular weed whacking. |
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06/12/2019 |
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We tore up the dead yucca and managed most of the leaves in the areas where the junipers are thriving. We made the decision to plant a boxwood in the middle of the traffic circle next week to fill it out. We filled no less than six yard waste bags today. |
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06/12/2019 |
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Pat and Stephanie had the pleasure of meeting David, who is also working with URI this summer, and we tended to a path and weeded out some burdock. We also planned to plant some shrubs the next time we met, and took stock of which trees we'd plant throughout the summer (and where). |
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06/12/2019 |
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We weeded the garden, cleaned the space up, and canvassed so that neighbors know our regular meeting time — see you on Wednesdays at half past three! |
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06/11/2019 |
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Ed and I canvassed the neighborhood to garner support and consensus around street tree planting around the block. We met with a number of neighbors who expressed interest in getting involved and we are hopeful next week's turnout will reflect that interest. We also painted a sandwich board and distributed flyers to disseminate our meeting time and place, and we called-before-we-dig. |
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06/07/2019 |
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Ed and I walked the neighborhood to assess how trees planted last year were faring, who we could get involved in the summer's work, and where we might plant more street trees. A new sidewalk on Poplar Street means that there will now be a curb strip where there was not before. We planned to canvass the neighbors who live there to see if they'd be interested in joining the group. Wielding loppers, we pruned back the colorful trees that grace Exchange, Wolcott, and Poplar streets. |
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06/07/2019 |
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At the Saltonstall and Lloyd garden we came up for a maintenance plan and decided to prioritize some minor infrastructural changes that need to be made, including at the garden's entrance. |
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06/06/2019 |
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Our initial Oyster Point meeting was a comprehensive scan of the multi-sited greenspace — the "Beach" at the intersection of Water and Howard, Bayview Park, and the triangle park at the corner of Sea and Water. |
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06/05/2019 |
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Denise, Carla, and I talked shop and made plans to maintain the roundabout. The curbs surrounding the little islands that buttress the roundabout are quite adept at collecting leafy material, so we are keen to address those. The tree in the roundabout is healthy, yet we thought it could use the company of some evergreens. |
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06/05/2019 |
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We made some plans for the garden on Washington Avenue this year. In store: some intensive canvassing, flowering perennials, infrastructural adjustments, some tentative veggie beds, and plenty of weeding. |
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06/04/2019 |
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A handful of volunteers met on a humid summer day to enjoy the shaded side of the Mid-Bridge in Edgewood Park and tackle some knotweed that had made itself at home among the garden beds. We swung hand weeders to clear paths and address some overgrown grass around the perimeter of the garden to make it more visible to passers-by and chatted about what we might plant moving forward. The dogwood planted last year wasn't doing so hot, so we agreed to replace it this summer. |