Author: Phil Huhn
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Thanksgiving 2025
From Judy S.: The day before Thanksgiving, 2025. I am thankful for many things these days, including still existing on this beautiful, if sometimes distressed, planet. One of those things is living a stone’s throw from Scarlett-Mitchell Natural Area and being part of a group, The Friends of Scarlett Mitchell Woods, that works to keep it…
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Sunset Walk
We like to get outside and walk 30 minutes each day. We’ll walk in the neighborhood or to one of the parks like Lille North/South or Scarlett Mitchell Woods. With it getting colder it’s harder to get the motivation to go out. On November 23rd we decided to walk in Scarlett Mitchell Woods. We got…
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FSMW Board Meeting (December 18, 2025)
Online Zoom Meeting December 18 7:30, Thursday FSMW is a 501(c)(3) non-profit. In this meeting we will explore what we as a community can do to manage and care for Scarlett Mitchell Woods, the central 40 acres of the Scarlett Mitchell Nature Area. This area contains the heart of the woods and the pond, which…
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Pokeweed
Pokeweed (phytolacca americana) is also known as dragonberries, inkberry and poke sallet. It has a reddish stem, green and white flowers and, in the fall purplish leaves and grape like berries. Pokeweed is native to Michigan, eastern and south North America. It is seasonally edible. In the spring the shoots and leaves of pokeweed are edible but…
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The Moon
When I grew up I remember playing outside at night with the moon as the night light of the evening’s fun; or regretting the moon when I was looking for shooting stars. The moon is a constant object in movies, books, songs, art and poetry. Horror movies have to have a moon. Many songs have…
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Workday – December 6, 2025
Who: Anyone who’s willing and able to help. Scarlett students are welcome to participate but you must bring a parent. Where: Meet at the bench near the showcase at the main entrance to the woods. Why? spreading wood chips, trash cleanup along old Ellsworth and removal of invasive buckthorn and honeysuckle. What to bring: When: Saturday December 6, 2025 at…
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Weeds or Wildflowers
What’s a Weed? The answer to that question is a lot more complicated than you might think. Some weeds are considered wildflowers and are welcomed in your garden. Other weeds are edible. Still others have been used in folk medicine over the years. The most common definition is “a weed is something that is growing…
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Cattails and Phragmites
When I was growing up in the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s, in the ditches, streams or marshland one would see cattails. The brown top that looks like fuzzy hotdogs were commonplace. In the 80’s, I first noticed this grassy plant in the ditches, that I now know as phragmites. Typha latifolia is commonly known as…
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FSMW Board Meeting (November 20, 2025)
Online Zoom Meeting November 20 7:30, Thursday FSMW is a 501(c)(3) non-profit. In this meeting we will explore what we as a community can do to manage and care for Scarlett Mitchell Woods, the central 40 acres of the Scarlett Mitchell Nature Area. This area contains the heart of the woods and the pond, which…
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Ann Arbor Guys for Good Grant
Good news! We have been awarded a $1000 grant from the organization Good Guys of Ann Arbor. This comes as a complete surprise and we are still awaiting details. Judy started the process after being contacted by Good Guys. She, Manfred and I presented to the group last Friday, and Friends was selected for an…