If you’ve ever driven down Webster St. in West Newton you have probably noticed the Nathaniel Allen House and wondered “what is that?!” Besides being a beautiful property with impressive educational and historic roots, it is the Newton Cultural Alliance’s rehabilitation and rejuvenation project. The ultimate goal for the property is to establish it as a dynamic center for arts and culture. There is an enormous amount of planning and fundraising to do and approvals to obtain before we get there so, in the meantime, we’re starting the sweat equity campaign!
On Wednesday we had our first Yard Cleanup Day and it was a great success! There is another one tomorrow, Saturday, July 26 from 10am-2pm (though someone will be there starting at 9 if you’re an early bird). Consider joining us! We’re pulling weeds, removing trash, making way for new landscaping, and generally beautifying. Bring your favorite yard tools (especially gloves). Brute strength is also welcome!
There’s no experience necessary! I, for one, can hardly identify a dormant flower from a weed but the inimitable Julia Malakie was there Wednesday and she showed me the evil garlic mustard weed and I made it my job to find every last one and pull it up!
The Nathaniel Allen House is located at 35 Webster St (intersection of Webster and Cherry St) in West Newton. There is parking available in a lot on the Cherry St side of the house plus plenty of parking in West Newton. After you spend some time in the yard you can reward yourself with one of the delicious fresh lemonades from the stand at the new Elm St Farmers Market – sounds like a satisfying Saturday!
Questions? Call NCA at 617.332.4300.
Great idea to do a little work here then hit the Farmer’s Market, which I would do were we not having a Newton Citizen Pruners session to work on the Comm Ave trees down near BC.
I really hope to see the Allen House restored and used as a community resource, for concerts and lectures and meetings and who knows what else (is this one of the hidden bowling alleys??) It represents an important part of Newton’s history which should not be lost. The work needed on the building is rather daunting, but the yard work does not take any special skill.
By the way, someone had already started piling up the garlic mustard by the time I got there. (And everything I know about invasive weeds I learned from Katherine Howard and Eric Olson.) It will need to be pulled year after year for several years, as this year’s spiky pods were brown and some seeds had already fallen out, and seeds can germinate anywhere up to 5 years from now or maybe longer. The good thing it, the grounds of Allen House are a contained area, so it can eventually be eradicated. I’m less hopeful for the vast swaths of Japanese knotweed I’ve been seeing along highways this year. If you see either one of these in your yards, get rid of them early and often — garlic mustard roots and all in trash, Japanese knotweed roots in trash, but the rest of the stalks are okay to put in yard waste.