Miyawaki Urban Forest Events & Timeline
Check out many more photos and videos from all Miyawaki activities, including behind-the-scene preparations!
June 29, 2024 – MIYAWAKI FOREST CELEBRATION
More than 300 people came together to celebrate the first summer of the Miyawaki urban forest. We stirred up the earth with sounds of drums from different cultures with performances from Seattle Kokon Taiko (Japanese percussion instruments) and JHP Legacy (Ghanian percussion instruments).
March 8, 2024 – WATER CISTERN INSTALLATION
The new water cistern was installed. This will collect rainwater from the museum archive building to be used to water the Miyawaki Forest and Pollination Hill.
December 9, 2023 – PLANTING DAY!
Over 100 community members of all ages helped to plant, beginning the life of a Miyawaki forest — a restorative method of re-wilding urban spaces that simulates layers of a natural forest.
The celebration is part of the Shoreline Historical Museum’s ongoing Miyawaki Urban Forest History Project which began in 2022, when community members were tasked with brainstorming ways to utilize the empty field on the museum’s grounds.
A group was formed, Miyawaki Forest Friends (MFF), to develop an incremental plan for the space that incorporated local history, the environment, and educational programming with the intent to cultivate and foster community.
Rather than pursue a traditional exhibit, MFF decided to plant a forest to “act as the walls for their museum project.” The forest will incorporate exhibits throughout.
December 1, 2023
Marking out boundaries for the Miyawaki Urban Forest planting area, hardscape, and staging areas.
November 30, 2023
Creation of Mini Miya! A group of volunteers came out to build a miniature Miyawaki Urban Forest as a way for visitors to visualize what the actual forest will be. They also placed woodchips in front of where the check-in table will be.
November 27, 2023
Creation of Pollinator Hill! In a little corner of the field is now Pollinator Hill. On this day, the ground was prepared with a mound of topsoil and tree bark. On Planting Day, other volunteers will plant seeds of native wildflowers that will grow in the spring and provide a variety of flowers for pollinators in the area. This will also help the Miyawaki Forest to grow and thrive! Thank you to the volunteers who did the work and to our sponsors who funded the project – Miyawaki Forest Friends and the Rotary Environmental Club of Puget Sound!
October 2023
Contract signed with Ethan Bryson, Founder at Natural Urban Forests
May 2023
Installing the Miyawaki banner on the side of the museum and taking a soil sample from the grass field.
Saturday, June 3, 2023 – Field Day
The Miyawaki Urban Forest History Project had a tent with kid’s games and information about the project. A special soil core sample was prepared from the field next to the museum to illustrate the “history beneath our feet.” There was also an “Imagine Walk” through a layout in the field representing the approximate location of the future Miyawaki Urban Forest. Here are some photos from the day!
Also, read the article in the Shoreline Area News.
Photos courtesy of Linda Baarslag-Benson, Anne Udaloy, Dan Benson.