Free Eld Inlet Heritage Meeting and Workshop Series Begins March 29

Area residents are invited to participate in a free Eld Inlet Heritage Meeting and Workshop Series, beginning March 29th.

This is a special series of workshops designed specifically for shoreline landowners and featuring a variety of speakers, workshops, history, food and fun!

This series of workshops is a new program aimed at helping shoreline landowners along Eld Inlet to attain the best and most sustainable practices for managing their shoreline and providing them with assistance to do just that. Participants that live on the shoreline of the Eld will also have the opportunity during these workshops to apply for a scientist to assess their property and may receive free plants, labor and other assistance.

March 29th
1:30 to 4 p.m.
“Rain Gardens – Your Key to managing Drainage & Protecting South Sound”
Native Plant Salvage – Erica Guttman
Mason County Public Works
W. 100 Public Works Drive
Shelton, WA 98584

Participation is free, but seating is limited.
Please call Karin at (360) 427-9436 x 22 (Mason Conservation District) for more information and to sign up.

The workshop will begin at 1:30 p.m. They anticipate that the program will be full, so please make every effort to arrive a little early so you can get checked in before hand, allowing them to start on time.

What to bring: This workshop will be as hands-on as possible. They encourage everyone to bring: A soil sample or soil samples from an area or areas in your yard that you are considering turning into a rain garden. Make sure you are planning at least 10 feet away from any structures and at least 50 feet away if you are uphill of a septic system, or at least 15 feet away from septic a septic tank or drain field in flat terrain.

To take the soil sample: carefully remove your top vegetation in a small area, then dig down about 12 to 18 inches; place a few cups of soil from this level in a plastic bag and label its location and depth. If you can go deeper (up to 24 inches), that provides additional helpful information about your underlying soils. Put a few cups of this lower level of soil in a plastic bag; label its location and depth. Refill your hole and replace your plants. If you are thinking about making more than one rain garden, or you have different sites you are considering, then bring additional soil samples if the different areas aren’t near each other in your yard.

If you want more information about what rain gardens do, please check this link. We will also discuss this with you at the workshop.

Potluck and Eld Inlet Heritage meeting
April 17
6 to 8 p.m.
Olympia Community School
4346 Sunset Beach Dr NW.

This is going to be a potluck and Eld Inlet Heritage meeting (bring a dish to share and get to know your shoreline neighbors) with guest speaker historian Drew Crooks.

For more information about the Potluck and Eld Inlet Heritage meeting, contact Gabby Byrne, Education and Involvement Coordinator, People For Puget Sound, at (360) 754-9177 or click this link to email.

We’ll pass along whatever information we receive, about additional events in this series.

Posted in Uncategorized.