August 9, 2022

After

We discovered more golden rods and native wood avens, which thanks to our efforts will have more space to grow in. Mario also made the observation that most of the DSV that was pulled at the beginning of the season has still not gone to seed! This is great as we have really slowed the spread of DSV in the south end where we've removed much of the DSV along with other invasive species (that we are allowed to remove), making way for more natives to become established and spread. Gary found a large DSV patch by the Don River close to the plot, which he single handedly removed. Unlike the other DSV we pulled, this patch was full of seeds that could have spread.

Looking Ahead

There are no scheduled events for this Sunday. Please check the calendar on our website here for the most updated schedule of events. The next planned event will be on Sunday, August 21 from 10-12pm. Thank you to those that consistently respond to let us know if you are joining us for events.

The plan for the rest of the summer is to continue to monitor and remove any new invasive plants that grow in the 10x10 m plot and the areas surrounding it. If we have a larger group, we will tackle the hedge parsley on the east side of the path, where an even larger patch can be found. It's a great patch to tackle as hidden amongst the hedge parsley, I saw more goldenrods, native wood avens, and possibly some raspberry plants as well. Special thanks to Gary who volunteered to give us a good point of reference for the picture below of the large patch!

Gary surrounded by the huge hedge parsley patch (all of the white flowers)

It will be a difficult job, one where we will really need to watch and remove all seeds carefully off of our clothes. Marlene captured this quite well in the photo below! While we should always be cleaning our shoes and clothes of seeds as well as doing tick checks after stewardship activities, this is also a great reminder that also applies outside of our volunteer work, such as when hiking. Another important safety reminder is that while we have not identified any poison ivy at our site thus far, there is a strong possibility we have it, due to an adverse reaction of one of our stewards. We will continue looking out for this plant in our future events.