Richmond’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities will continue offering its guided walks on the Slave Trail throughout March and has added a new walk to see the growing nesting colony of Great Blue Herons in the James River Park.

The guided walks along the Slave Trail will be offered on the remaining Saturdays in March at 2 p.m. These are emotional walks that originate at the docks at Ancarrow’s Landing in the James River Park and cross the river to conclude at the site of Lumpkin’s Jail and the Reconciliation Statue.

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Betsy at the Richmond Landscape Design Examiner looks around the region for Best Gardens for Weddings and includes the Edgar Allan Poe Museum Enchanted Garden in the top 3:

The word that best describes this garden space is intimate. The elegant enclosed garden can accommodate 125 people but it feels like a gathering of close friends and loved ones. Although the museum is in the middle of the city, the courtyard garden is completely enclosed so it’s very private.

Save the date to celebrate Richmond’s environmental community with bands, green exhibitors, vendors, and activities. For more information see the Falls of the James Group Sierra Club’s March/April newsletter and stay posted for ways to get involved.

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Tricycle Gardens will be hosting a free showing of DIRT! this Sunday, February 28th, at 6PM at the TG headquarters at 211 West 7th Street:

The film offers a vision of a sustainable relationship between Humans and Dirt through profiles of the global visionaries who are determined to repair the damage we’ve done before it’s too late. There are many ways we can preserve the living skin of the earth for future generations. If you care about your food, water, the air you breathe, your health and happiness… it’s time to see DIRT! the Movie, roll up your sleeves for action and Get Dirty.

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We are breaking ground on our first Urban Mini Farm (yet to be named) at the corner of 9th St. & Bainbridge St., in old Manchester. We are setting up a vermiculture operation, hoop houses for cold weather growing, a living fence of raspberries, blackberries and blueberries (YUM!), and gardens for intensive growing. Thanks to the generosity of Robin Miller and Dan Gecker of Monroe Properties, we are ready to get the first model of high yield urban farming up and running on 1/2 an acre of under utilized urban land. The ultimate goal is job creation, as we implement urban farms throughout Richmond. Jobs, healthy food access, bio-diversity, ecological restoration, and more….Stay tuned for volunteer work days!

From the City:

The city of Richmond will close several city streets on Tuesday, January 26, 2010, due to anticipated flooding, as the James River crests from heavy rains in the western portions of Virginia.

If motorist encounter standing water on any street, they should not try to drive through it as hidden obstacles may exist.

The following streets will close at 8 a.m. on Tuesday, January 26, and are expected to reopen at noon on Thursday, January 28:

North of the River:

Dock Street between 19th Street and Water Street

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You are invited to join various civic groups, private sponsors, and Mayor Dwight Jones to uncover the cobblestones on the 2700 block of East Cary Street, in front of the Power Plant at Lucky Strike. Join the Mayor for the kick off event Friday, November 20, 2009 3:30 pm to dark. Help finish the job Saturday, November 21, 2009 10:00 am to 2:00 pm

A message from the Shockoe Bottom Neighborhood Association states:

Our robust participation will help the Mayor and other city staff to understand our needs for sidewalk and cobblestone upgrades in the most high traffic and visible area of the bottom- Main Street and the Farmer’s Market.

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The RTD has an update on the city project to address flooding in Shockoe Bottom.

A contractor for the city removed about 25,000 cubic yards of sediment from the basin near Hospital Street in Shockoe Valley. The basin can hold almost 20 million gallons of water when the drainage system in the Bottom is overwhelmed.

All that’s left of the Shockoe Bottom project are the finishing touches on an underground chamber that will allow the Bottom to drain and upstream floodwaters to be released into the James River at the same time. [via]

Celebrate the James River with an evening of storytelling on Thursday, Nov. 19, from 6 to 8 p.m. at The Richmond Times-Dispatch downtown offices. The event will feature stories from the people who fish, explore, swim and protect the James. Times-Dispatch writer Rex Springston and photographer P. Kevin Morley will also share their experiences creating the year-long series, the James River Journal.

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A manatee has been spotted in the James River, just past downtown. A spokeswoman from the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries confirms the sighting.

Anyone who sees the manatee or gets a picture of it should call the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at (804) 693-6694. However, a wildlife service official asked that people not go out looking for the animal, which is an endangered species. Officials don’t want people hitting the manatee with their boats or otherwise disturbing it. [via]

Check out David Turner’s amazing Shockoe Bottom paintings 2003-2007.

Seen on the Hope in the Cities FB page:

If you are interested in being a part of one of the most significant historical sites in our city, come to Lumpkins Jail on Saturday, October 17 at 9 am to help clean up the site. It is an excellent time to work with others who care about our history and preserving sites that tell our story in such a powerful way. You can call 646-8911 to let them know you are coming, or just show up.

The will be an event on Wednesday, October 14 from 5-7PM launching The Riverfront Petition. Sponsored by Together We Stand, Partnership for Smarter Growth, Scenic Virginia, and the Alliance to Conserve Old RIchmond Neighborhoods, the petition is intended demonstrate the number of people “who support public ownership of all riverfront land along the north bank of the James RIver in the East End”.

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