Park Slope Nature: Spring In Park Slope

It isn’t hard to get the impression, reading into the signs of the natural world, that every flower, tree and squirrel is as excited for the coming of spring as we humans are.

Take a walk in Prospect Park to do as the horticulturalists do and monitor the first blooms of our common perennial flowers. Snowdrops, the hearty little white bells, pushed stubbornly through snow drifts as early as February this year. In March you can expect to see tight purple bouquets of crocus sneaking out of the ground, accenting the forest floor and giving us hope that the city’s windiest month will soon be blowing in the familiar waft of warm air.

What better way to usher in a new season than by eating like it’s spring. Help jumpstart the pulse of local green markets by picking up some early spring greens like lettuce, spinach or coveted garlic scapes and ramps. Colonial settlers and modern-day wildlife would agree that the charmingly chilly days of spring can be a tricky time to meet caloric requirements. Pair the old with the new and cook up some of the staples that have been long forgotten in your pantry then finish them with leaves of spring. A quick mosey on down to Grand Army Plaza on Saturday or Bartel Pritchard Square on Sunday can pay dividends in farm-to-table fresh greens. 

If you want to eat your way through more than one hundred local and regional food purveyors than find your way up to Breeze Hill in Prospect Park for the return of Smorgasburg. The lines are long but the inventive and tasty snacks on offer come with a view. You can take your meal to go and trek down the rustic trail at the back of the market to the quiet Lullwater where herons may also be searching for a meal. Just do everyone a favor and pack out your trash. The feast begins on April 7th and continues every Sunday from 11 AM to 6 PM. 

Spring really encompasses two seasons: the abatement of winter is marked by a sticky mud season and the thirsty joy for those first sips of warm, fragrant air; then summer is around the corner.

Maybe cooped-up kids are the priority, their energetic limbs itching for activity after a winter short on sledding opportunities. Little Leaguers won’t have to wait long to start lapping those bases. The opening day ceremony hosted by the Prospect Park Alliance and the Prospect Park Baseball Association arrives on Saturday, April 6th. Park Slopers might remember the opening day parade by the throng of children marching down 7th avenue in baseball regalia, outstripping the marching band and posse of civic leaders. Anyone can join the parade which works its way to the ballfields, (best accessed around 9th street, 11th street, or Bartel Pritchard Square,) to watch the first pitch get thrown out. The day coincides with the seasonal opening of the lawns for ball players, picnickers and frisbee enthusiasts alike. 

Those who are looking to ring in the spring with something a little more grueling can sign up for one of the near constant barrage of races that loop Prospect Park starting in the warmer weather. The Brooklyn Spring Half Marathon (http://www.citytri.com/brooklyn-spring-half-marathon ) is just one option to tour the park on four consecutive loops of its 3.35 mile track. For the less competitive runner our local tri-sport provider, JackRabbit, will continue to host community runs through the park for all paces. You can meet at their 7th Ave. location on Mondays and Fridays at 6:30 PM.

Spring really encompasses two seasons: the abatement of winter is marked by a sticky mud season and the thirsty joy for those first sips of warm, fragrant air; then summer is around the corner. April is a month of transition, manifest in the fleeting, show-stopping flower blooms. Daffodils dot woodland borders and blanket the 3rd street berms in sunny yellow. Tulips add a diverse color palette to the ground, their rainbow blooms sometimes surprising the gardener who planted them. The rotund buds of magnolia trees pop open and promptly the park is a pastel wonderland. Delicate little flower nubs run up the thin branches of the redbud, wide open dogwood flowers look up to the sky, lilacs perfume the air and a score of perennial flowers from hyacinths to bluebells join the floral fray. These and more are on display in Carmen’s Garden, just in front of the Litchfield Villa on 4th street and Prospect Park West. But nothing gets the casual flower enthusiast as excited as the sight of an allée of flowering cherry trees as they burst into fecund bloom, thick cotton-candy canopies of silky pink, purple and white petals. The display at the Grand Army Plaza entrance to the park is hard to top. A loop around the long meadow will offer a more complete collection of impressive blooming plants and trees.

By the time earth day rolls around on April 28th the bees will be buzzing and the park staff will have all hands on deck planting spring trees, shrubs and flowers. Engage with the environment by coming out to Prospect Park on that Sunday for citizen science exhibitions. The Prospect Park Alliance is making it easier than ever to get involved as a student of nature with their Audubon center educational programming. Earth day also starts off the park’s volunteer season. One of the most rewarding ways to give back to your community is by volunteering with the PPA’s volunteer corps (https://www.prospectpark.org/get-involved/volunteer/) and donating your time to repair trails, pick up trash and remove invasive weeds, among other ecologically-minded projects.

If you’re familiar with It’s My Park Day, a regular May occurrence, you may be surprised to find that this year the park has upped the ante. Spring Fling, encompassing the weekend of May 18th and 19th, is a celebration of the park and all the opportunities that come with nice weather. You can still volunteer in events sponsored by REI as in previous It’s My Park tradition, but now you can also expect a family fair with educational activities at the Audubon Center and the historic Lefferts house, ensuring the weekend has something for everyone. 

By late spring the park is in full leaf, busy soaking up the sun’s rays and growing dense with greenery and life. Parkgoers are busy playing sports, taking walks and enjoying the most beautiful weather of the year. Brooklyn’s back yard is rife with opportunities from taking a kayak out on the lake to rollerblading around the drive. My personal recommendation is to simply explore the grounds. I’ve lead locals on tours that left them saying there’s an entirely different park inside of the heavily trafficked loops and zones they were used to. Getting lost in the Midwood or trying to catch a view from the top of lookout hill make Prospect Park one of the last places in the city where you can forget, for a few peaceful moments, that you are in New York City.