You could learn a few things at the Earth Friendly Fair that took place on Saturday, April 29 on Natick Common as part of Earth Day All Around Natick.

While I found myself yapping with friends about various inane things at first, I also heard at the Natick Trails tent about a vision for an accessible boardwalk going into the town forest where the beaver dam has flooded out a section of the trail near the Oak Street entrance. The big map of Natick trails helped to spread awareness that there might be a trail you’ve never explored not from from where you live.

The Friends of Network Trails, meanwhile, are readying a plan to get more native species planted along the Cochituate Rail Trail.

At a table promoting veganism and vegetarianism, I heard about ways to trick yourself into eating more good veggies and foods in your smoothies. I’d still be able to taste beets, so that’s not happening. I might try working in some beans though.

I kept a safe distance from the people in polar bear hats and costumes—that looked like it was going to be a long, intense conversation on climate change actions. They had plenty of other takers.

Members of the Natick Nipmuc community invited me to make a corn husk doll. I considered doing so, but opted for taking a photo instead of a focused young artist.

The Natick Sustainability Committee always has lots of balls in the air, and that was true this Saturday. It had just been involved with a tree planting demonstration at the high school (look for a Natick Pegasus video coming soon) to promote the town’s new “Planting the Future” program that focuses on providing free shade trees to residents living in areas where surface temperatures are higher than normal. Residents will be able to get vouchers to buy trees from local partners. The program, co-designed by the Natick High School Earth Club, theSustainability Committee, and the Department of Public Works, aims to plant 50 native shade trees on private properties by the end of 2024.

The Committee was also promoting its Heat Pump Par-Tay at the Community-Senior Center at 117 E. Central St. on May 15 at 7pm. Learn about heat pumps for heating and cooling your home. Pizza and snacks will be served.

I shared my tale of taking my electric lawn mower out for its first spin the day before. The battery made it the whole way, which surprised me. I wasn’t surprised though that the mower choked on high, wet grass. Overall, I think the mower and I will get along. It is way quieter than the gas guzzler. I also warned that if you’re going to try to snag a Mass Save rebate for buying electric lawn gear, you’ll want to get the rebate in hand BEFORE buying your stuff to save you some grief (Lowe’s was very nice about sorting this out for me at their Framingham store after calls to customer service proved ineffective).

The town’s Health Department was on hand to remind people about tick safety, and gave us a heads up that we’ll soon be hearing from them about Mental Health Awareness Month in May.