Medford Leas Birders
The Medford Leas Birders hold monthly meetings, organize field trips, and provide a yearly January census of birds on the two campuses. They also have a website (mlra.org/MLBirders) with a calendar of upcoming events and a record of past sightings on both campuses and on trips.
The Farm
The Farm is the Medford Leas community garden. It gives residents the opportunity to tend their own gardens. Plots of all sizes are available including “table-top” raised beds, so that gardens can be as large or small as a resident wishes. All sorts of fruits, vegetables, and flowers can be found growing at The Farm.
Haddon Greenhouse
The Haddon Greenhouse is located on the ground level of the Haddon Building near the Thrift Shop. It is open from mid-October through mid-May. A sign-up sheet is posted in mid-September. After spaces are assigned, but before any plant can be put into the greenhouse, each plant is sprayed by volunteers so as not to bring in pests. Once plants are in the greenhouse, residents are responsible for the care of their own plants and for keeping their areas tidy.
Resource Conservation
Medford Leas residents explore avenues to reduce the ML footprint in the environment using conservation and recycling methods. Other residents are invited to join us in this journey to share their personal contributions and encourage others in the community to help in this effort. The committee also researches other organizations that may offer assistance in reaching these goals.
Walk and Talk
The Walk and Talk Committee provides opportunity on a regular basis for residents to walk and enjoy our beautiful surroundings as a group, thus providing socialization as well as exercise.
Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 1:00 p.m. participants meet at the Medford Campus Main Entrance and leave on a walk, destination determined by the participants that day. In inclement weather we “walk the courts.” The pace is set by the participants of the day, using both the macadam trails and the woodland trails. During the heat of the summer, participants enjoy “Evening Strolls.”
Woodlands/Trails
Medford Leas (ML) has more than four miles of unpaved trails that traverse the woodlands and meadows of its Medford Campus. This committee, with support from ML and its contractors, maintains and improves these trails and the 20 benches that are installed along them. Supported by, and represented on, the Arboretum Coordinating Committee, the committee uses hand tools to maintain the trails. It also prepares trail maps, installs trail markers, and refurbishes benches along the trails. Herbicides or dangerous power equipment are not used. ML and its contractors support the work by using power tools to remove large trees blocking trails, mowing trails, removing brush piles created by our trail maintenance work, and depositing woodchips and other materials to make trail sections safer and more appealing to walk. Residents and others are encouraged to enjoy the Medford Campus Arboretum by hosting a Pathways trail walk and regularly scheduled “Walk and Talk” trail walks for residents and local area residents.
Located on a Sharps Run, a branch of the Rancocas Creek, a dock is maintained for canoe and kayak enthusiasts, as well as a rack for both personal and public storage of vessels.
Lumberton Community Garden
The Lumberton Community Garden provides an opportunity for residents to grow flowers and vegetables, both annual and perennial, in individual plots.
Lumberton Meadow Committee
The Lumberton Meadow Committee oversees the health of the meadow located at the center of the Lumberton community. The Meadow Committee plants native wildflowers and grasses beneficial to wildlife, removes invasive plants, and conducts nature walks in spring, summer, and fall.
Lumberton Trail Maintenance
Lumberton has an extensive trail system that winds through a beautiful wooded area down to the Rancocas Creek. The Trail Maintenance Committee maintains the trails, repairs walking bridges, “mucks out” the creek for canoes and kayaks, and leads nature walks.
In the private, password-protected directory, the MLRA Activities List and LCRA Committees List provide contact information for these activities.