Nature Blog

We began the day at the 14th and Holly site removing Himalayan blackberry along the trail. We were able to remove 1,000 sq.ft. of Himalayan blackberry by the end of the day. Local clarinetist Amy Denio came out to perform while we worked. She is pictured here sitting on one of the rocks that will…

Today we were at our newly established Allstar fitness site. If you recall a few weeks ago we started our project with a group from University Prep. They cleared a lot of area for us to go in today and start… just guess… PLANTING!!! We had a group of teens from the city with John…

Today Amanda came out and planted for four hours. This planting season we have what seems to be a never ending source of plants and they keep coming and coming. Just this last week we received over 3,000 plants/trees!! So we need all the extra help, no matter how miniscule, we can get. Amanda, Alyssa,…

We have started hosting mass work parties which have us working practically seven days a week! Today we focused on spreading new mulch rings as well as thickening up existing mulch rings. This process will help to protect the plants’ resources from invasives and also will hold moisture in for the plant. We also worked…

Today was a good sized group and the weather turned out for the better. The picture to the right shows one of our volunteers engaging in removing Scotch broom with weed wrenches. We use these wrenches quite a bit when dealing with Scotch broom, because they are best for tough jobs. The wrench has a…

Today we met with Joy Burke’s 4th and 5th grade class from John Hay. We began the day with a review of what invasive species are and by discussing what a plant needs to survive. We then moved on to replant the seeds that didn’t survive over winter break. We planted Oregon Grape and Dogwood.…