Today, we had our first pull since our summer break and it was a great event! 18 volunteers gathered at the Douglas Fir Teaching Garden. After a land acknowledgment, safety talk, and some ice-breaker stretching, we got to work! Today’s stewardship task was to remove Himalayan blackberry and ivy from the east side of the Red Alder Trail.
Our volunteers divided into two groups. With, Executive Director, Grace, leading one “Small But Mighty” group, who worked on removing smaller ivy and small blackberry regrowth. While, volunteer co-leader, Ellie, led another group, “Big and Buff”, who tackled a large thicket of Himalayan blackberry surrounded by a bed of ivy.
All together, we succeeded in removing 2,160 L (7 city green bins) worth of invasive plants! This included some particularily large Himalayan blackberry root balls (see photos below). We also filled a paper bag full of broken glass and half a city bin worth of garbage.
Thanks to all our amazing volunteers who came out to help today: Alyha, Angela, Barbara, Catherine, Chinonso, Claudia, Cole, Ellie, Erin, Genevieve, Grace, Jeannine, Laura, Liam, Max, Tom, Yasmine, and Yohan!
