New Year, New Workshops!

Harvest Roots Presents:
Kombucha 101 January 25th, 12:00pm - 2:00pm &  
Kraut 101 - February 22nd, 12:00pm - 2:00pm

What is Kombucha? 

/kômˈbo͞oCHə/  noun

sweetened green or black tea fermented with a symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast, otherwise known as a SCOBY.

During the fermentation process, the yeast in the SCOBY breaks down the sugar in the tea and releases probiotic bacteria.

There are a range of potential health benefits of kombucha, including: gut health, the reduction of cancer risk , and mental health.

Join Pete and Lindsay, the founders of Harvest Roots Ferments, as they lead a fermentation workshop at Ruffner Mountain. This class is perfect for beginners, as well as the more advanced. Kombucha has a lot of myths and walls to access. How do folks wade through what matters and what is just made-up, online information?

In Kombucha 101, students will receive the knowledge to break down walls and begin to explore more advanced techniques. Learn how to implement innovative ingredients, learn to source and use quality tea, learn to produce the flavor profile you desire by understanding microbiology. This includes a (45)min history and background, (30)min microbiology, (1)hr hands on demo with the ferment wizards at Harvest Roots! 

*This workshop requires pre-registration and payment of $65.00.

Pre-registration and payment are required for these workshops through Harvest Roots.

Be a part of our story.

It’s a brisk November morning. The first real cold day of the season. Wind cuts through just enough to add an extra pep in your step. The sugar maple in the parking lot is showing off all her glorious gold. The innocent chatter of forty 3rd graders from nearby Barrett Elementary School are at Ruffner Mountain on a field trip, eager to learn more about the natural world and its wonders. Spirits are high despite the low temperatures. A student commented that she wished she could visit Ruffner Mountain every day. Once terrified of snakes, Jessica, one of the new teaching naturalists, introduces students to Zea, the corn snake, with confidence and ease.

Flashback to summer…

It’s June in Alabama. You know the drill. A hot-humid-clothes-stick-to-your-body-kind of summer day. Beads of sweat collect along your forehead and upper lip. Why bother showering? What you may not expect is raw sewage running down 81st Street from a broken sewer line. The road leading to Ruffner Mountain is closed for two days. Visitors must be re-routed. No working restrooms, no running water at the Nature Center. A group of 25 professionals, here for training, must be informed that in order to use the restroom or wash their hands, they must trek outside in the oppressive Alabama heat to the pavilion. An executive director and staff scramble to keep it moving. Always moving. Over $8,000 and a sympathetic plumbing company later, the smell has subsided and the line is repaired.

Ruffner Mountain is made up of stories. Some heartwarming, some just real life stuff. In order for us to continue creating new stories, we need your help.

Sometimes it’s to help pay for the sewer bill and sometimes it’s to help pay for that sparkle in a child’s eye when they see a snake or a salamander up close for the first time - you are part of Ruffner’s story.

From all of us at Ruffner Mountain, thank you!

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How can you help?

If you love Ruffner Mountain and want to support our mission of advancing the understanding of ecology in a rapidly changing world, consider making a donation. Donations help with almost every aspect of maintaining a public nature preserve, especially in lieu of any federal or state funding. From our conservation initiatives, such as restoration plots on the mountain or research projects with other organizations, to our ability to provide environmental education programs to the general public and local schools, every donation counts. Help make a difference by clicking the button below:

If you use our trails and facilities, whether you hike here regularly, walk your dogs on the mountain, use the restrooms, have get-togethers at the pavilion, stop by the Nature Center to say hello to our animal ambassadors, or participate in programming: help us maintain them by becoming a member or renewing your membership. Know someone who loves Ruffner? Give the gift of membership this holiday season. Just as every step has an impact on our trails, every membership has an impact on our ability to maintain them. Help support the mountain you use and love by clicking the button below: 

Have a question about a donation or membership?
Contact Carmen at carmen@ruffnermountain.org or 205.833.8264.

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What impact can your support have?
Let’s take a look at some numbers.

July 2018 through June 2019

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Need a last minute gift idea?
How about a Ruffner merch gift bundle?
Check them out here!

Why stop there? What better gift than a membership to the place they love most? Give the gift of membership this holiday season by clicking the icon on the left, or see our other membership options here. 

Holiday Hours

The Nature Center will be closed on Christmas Eve, Tuesday, December 24th; Christmas Day, Wednesday, December 25th; and New Years Day, Tuesday, January 1st.
As always, our trails are open from dawn to dusk.

From all of us at Ruffner - Happy Holidays!

Ruffner Mountain Gift Ideas

Looking for the perfect gift this holiday season? Whether it’s a t-shirt, a hat, a book, or a combination of all three (members get a discount on combo orders!) - we’ve got you, ahem, covered. Literally. Check out our shop page for gift options

Know someone that loves Ruffner Mountain? Gift the gift of membership by signing them up here.

There are many ways to give and give back this season.

Thanksgiving Holiday Hours

The Nature Center will be closed on Thursday, November 28th and Friday, November 29th for the Thanksgiving holiday.
We will reopen the Nature Center on Saturday, November 30th at 9:00 am. As always, our trails are open from dawn until dusk.
From all of us at Ruffner Mountain, have a safe and happy holiday!

East Lake Park Restoration

Help plant trees in East Lake Park!

This is Phase III of the restoration project at East Lake Park with the Nature Conservancy of Alabama. Other project partners include: City of Birmingham Parks and Recreation, Cawaco RC&D Council, Jefferson County Urban Forestry Group, Alabama Soil & Water Conservation, and Alabama Forestry Commission.

80% to 90% of trees in East Lake Park are green ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica). Because of the Emerald Ash Borer Blight, all of these trees will likely be dead in five to ten years’ time.

But how?

The emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis) is an Asian beetle that has become the single most destructive forest insect to ever invade the United States. These tiny, bright green creatures use ash trees to reproduce, and as a result, pose a grave threat to green ash populations. Females lay their eggs beneath flaps of bark or in crevices. When the larvae hatch, they burrow or “bore” their way inward and feed for weeks. There, they create “galleries” which disrupt the tree’s ability to transport moisture and nutrients up and down the trunk causing the entire tree to fall prey to this invasive species.

Join us on Saturday, November 16 as we plant 75 native trees at East Lake Park. Not only does planting native trees help maintain biodiversity, it also aides in fighting climate change. Through the natural process of photosynthesis, trees absorb carbon dioxide and other pollutant particulates, then store the carbon and emit pure oxygen.

New Teaching Naturalists & Field Trips

We are excited to introduce our new Teaching Naturalists - Jessica, Stella, and Stephanie, who will be working alongside Ruffner’s longtime Naturalist, Carl.

With school back in session, new staff have been reviewing lesson plans ranging from forest ecosystems to mining history as well as participating in our animal ambassador program training. All field trips include a guided, interactive hike, a visit to the Nature Center, and a meet and greet with one of our native animals.

Staff review the native snakes on exhibit, including the copperhead. The public can stop by our Nature Center during office hours to learn the differences between our venomous and non-venomous snakes on exhibit by observing their patterns. Say ‘hello’ to the corn snake, who is often mistaken for the copperhead.

On September 26th and 27th, third graders visited Trillium Trail on a fall field trip. If you are interested in booking a field trip, please complete our form here to start the scheduling process. Those schools that qualify can also request an application for a field trip scholarship for funding assistance.