Today the work party focused on erosion, fabricating, and live staking. Erosion is the removal of solids from a natural environment via weather. For example, when it rains on a slope, the water turns the dirt into mud. Then, as a result of gravity, everything on the slope gets pulled down the hill. This is where fabricating comes in. By laying down our 900 gram jute fabric, using eco-stakes to keep it in place, we can control erosion and keep all the organic solids on the hill.
Along with that, we did some live staking on the slope. Staking in Pacific Nine Bark will help with erosion as well. Over time, as the stakes take to the soil and start growing, the roots will hold the soil in place. After completing that phase, we hiked up the trail to a space by a wetland. Here we conducted an experiment with some more live stakes. The soil in the area by the wetland was very soft with cement underneath. When doing live staking, you should have 80% of the branch in the ground. We stuck them in sideways sticking out almost parallel with the ground.
In keeping with the idea of reusing materials, we used the scraps from trimming our live stakes and instead of putting them in the ground, we mimicked live staking and covered them with decomposed mulch from the trail. Then, of course, we replaced that with fresh mulch. We also re-established barricades made 1.5 years ago to a trail that goes off into a marshy wetland. We want to keep people out because that area has high ecological value.
