"Let me take you down, 'cause I'm going to Verbena Fields. Nothing is real."I jump at any excuse to allude to a rock and roll song in my blog, especially since I mentioned "Penny Lane," the flip side of this Beatles song, in a post a few weeks ago.
The reference to "Strawberry Fields Forever" isn't entirely gratuitous. Verbena Fields, near the east end of East First Avenue, has been described as a nature park, but nature is being helped along. It's being manipulated by humans. The park now has enough low places that an invitation to "let me take you down" has become feasible -- at least in the dry season. Parts of it have been excavated so that Lindo Channel can overflow into it during winter storms and create a wetland.
The park is also being planted with native trees and other vegetation, some of which is being sheltered as much as possible from the elements.At Verbena Fields, it's not so much that nothing is real. It's more a case of not knowing exactly what part of the setting is natural and what is manmade.
I'm fine with that. As a gravel pit and later as gravel pit graveyard, the property was an eyesore. After such a severe thrashing, I'm sure that nature is going to have to be coaxed into making a comeback on the 17 acres.
In a way, its use as a gravel pit was a lucky break for the property. If it had been vacant land, it would have been covered with houses by now, just as the rest of the neighborhood is. But now it has become a park, more or less. This photo shows one of the few obviously manmade parts. But most of it is not not a park in the usual sense. It doesn't have lawns, playground equipment, picnic tables and athletic fields. Verbena Fields could have ended up looking like a conventional neighborhood park. But the city, which has owned the property for the last 15 years, didn't have money to develop or maintain it. Neighborhood residents were told they would have to bear the costs. They didn't want to do that. Keep it natural, they told the city.
The city, with the endorsement of a couple of environmental organizations, took it a step beyond that and declared the property would become a habitat restoration area. It applied for and received about $1.3 million in state funding to develop the property, if "develop" is the right word to use in this case.
The fate of this land has apparently been discussed for the 15 years the city has owned it. I have clippings from the E-R dating back to 2000 that report on the status of these discussions. In Chico, it's not unusual for decisions to be preceded by discussions that last a generation or more. Judged by Chico standards, it didn't take forever for Verbena Fields -- and woodlands and wetlands -- to become a reality.
I walked the property for the first time about a month ago. I was struck by how hot and dry it is. It's far less hospitable than a conventional park. I decided it would be best to come back during the rainy season when the water has breached Lindo Channel and flowed into the low places destined to become wetlands. I like the idea of this project. Chico is blessed by having Bidwell Park, but it has been lacking in smaller patches of open spaces. I'm looking for a reason to enjoy Verbena Fields.
About Me: Steve Brown is a copy editor at the Enterprise-Record. He began his blog,
"But This is Chico, too," in 2006. His column, "But This is Chico," ran in
the E-R from 2001 to 2008. He's a flaneur, which is a sentient ambler
through urban space. He sometimes writes about his adventures as a flaneur
in his blog. He hopes to eventually walk every block in Chico.
My family has always taken our dogs to that area. When we walked the new park three or four times, we were astounded at the amount of dog poop on the ground, unbelieveable. I mean, that area was always heavily used by people with dogs, and I never saw that much dog poop before. I see they have bags and the garbage can also stinks of dog poop, but I'm guessing the park is just heavily used and that's the way it is.
I've never had a dog that would go poop off our property, but I always have the same bag we picked up the first time we went, just in case. But, after the last trip through that minefield, we won't be back. Too bad, it's really nice, except for the dog poop all over the ground.
'Fields' hot and dry in the Chico summer, you say? Give those 6,000 oak and sycamore saplings a few years. It reminds me of the people who complained about small trees being planted in the plaza downtown.
Also, a binary understanding of natural versus man-made comes across in this piece, which is surprising.
I, too, think that Urbena fields will transform--both seasonally and over time; and I'm excited to have it.
I just walked around Verbena Fields for the first time today. I'm in excrow to buy a house that backs up to it. It was cool and breezy, and I enjoyed the "park" very much. It was quiet and peaceful. While I did pick up two piles of poop that didn't belong to me (I don't even have a dog), I mostly appreciated what will be when it gets rainy and the trees grow a bit. I am very pleased with what the city has done there. I look forward to more time spent walking along the paths.