After several days of rain, today the sun broke through the clouds to shine down on the Red Alder Trail in South Vancouver. 16 volunteers gathered together for our invasive pull, mulching, and planting event! Thanks to a donation from The City of Vancouver Green Streets program of a 6 cubic yard truck of mulch and 271 native plants, our volunteers had a lot to do!
Our volunteers divided into two teams: team mulch and team ivy. Team mulch, led by Free the Fern Executive Director, Grace Nombrado, focused on moving the mulch from a pile to around the native plants in our food forest. Meanwhile, team Ivy, lead by Free the Fern Vice President, Martin Collins, worked at removing English ivy from a fence line adjacent to Matheson Heights Housing Co-op, along the Red Alder Trail.
Then we stopped for a break to enjoy hot tea, juice, and snacks. It was also a great time to connect and get to know our diverse group of volunteers (from High School age to 65 years+).
Following the break, we were back at removing ivy and spreading mulch. An additional 4 volunteers helped with planting native plants. By the end of our event, we had pulled 1560 L of invasive ivy, moved approximately 50 wheelbarrows/3 cubic yards of mulch, and planted 33 native plants (15 redwood sorrel, 13 salmonberry, and 5 thimbleberry)! Amazing!
Thank you to our incredible volunteers: Anne, Annette, Antone, Barbara, Carla, Chloe, Ellie, Erin, Genevieve, Grace, Jeannine, Martin, Peter, Rebecca, Tom, and Yasmine.
Thank you to Park People Cornerstone for providing funding for this event.