Cedarvale park tree tour

key points of interest from the tour:

- the entire valley would have been the site of the spadina expressway, if it weren't for protests which resulted in the cancellation of the project in 1971.

- the university-spadina subway that runs under cedarvale park needs to be pumped free of water or it would flood within a couple days! that's because the stream that used to run through the valley was burried in a sewer pipe, so the rain now has nowhere to go.

- there are some old oaks and one old pine that we saw that remain from early days (150-200 years ago), but they have a hard time regenerating as other species (Norway and Manitoba Maples) take over in areas disturbed by people. So the valley is a mix of native species and European exotics (sometimes planted by settlers to remind them of home).

- still, there's a process of regeneration happening as areas that were once mowed lawn have been left to grow 'wild' and/or planted with native trees (a lot of silver maple).

- there's a children's garden that produces organic food you can buy on the spot on Wednesday evenings.

What struck me in all this:

- about 35 people or so! mostly (not entirely) white in 20s-50s, middle-class

- not a lot of interaction among "tourists", that is, most of the talking comes from the tour leaders, so you only get to know each other to the extent that you strike conversation while walking along.

- still, there was a weird sense of commraderie that seemed to form as we moved along. At one point, we were standing on a street near the ravine cheering at the fact that a homeowner had torn up some of her lawn to plant more trees (the homeowner actually came out of the house and joined us for the rest of the tour!). Then, following the cheers, we boooed the opposite household for not having disconnected downspouts (thereby sending rain water into the sewer instead of onto the lawn or garden). very strange.

- a couple times there was mention of how "sad" it was that we had lost the landscape of the past, that exotic invasives were taking over. these comments imply a moral landscape, a kind of fall from grace.

- this moral landscape was connected to a scientific language about health, diversity and ecosystems, as well as to a political landscape about human choices.

Overall, a fairly informative grassroots approach, yet with certain assumptions about who should be talking, where authority comes from, and what each of our roles could be (a restrictive view, I thought).