On Saturday, Oct 24, 10am-12pm, we held our Free the Fern Fall Planting.
We had spent the past 10 months removing invasive plants along the Western Edge of the Red Alder Trail, Champlain Heights Trails. Then, at the beginning of October, we had a received a 12 yard truck of composted soil, from GreenStreets (City of Vancouver) which volunteers helped spread out beneath the trees. Since then, the leaves had fallen to create a natural mulch over the soil. Everything was ready for the 613 native species that would be planted along the trails.
Oct 24 began cloudy and wet. But, the weather was not going to dampen our spirits. 10 volunteers gathered early at 9am at the Douglas Fir Teaching Garden to set-up tents, tables, and plants along the trail. Despite some challenges with getting one of the tents up, we managed to have everything ready for the start of our planting at 10am.
46 volunteers gathered to help us plant. Nova Wolf, of the Musqueam nation, began the event in a good way with a welcome song.
Following which, Free the Fern Executive Director, Grace Nombrado, introduced John Zaplatynsky who said a few words on behalf of Green Cities Foundation, one of our event sponsors.
Then, after taking a couple group photos, all the volunteers headed down the trail to Plots A, B, C, and D for some planting.
Together, we planted a variety of species, including: Western swordfern, Oregon grape, redwood sorrel, woodland strawberry, thimbleberry, and more. While planting, we had the chance to connect and chat with each other.
After about an hour, we were completed most of the planting and headed back up the trail to the Douglas Fir Teaching Garden. Everyone enjoyed some delicious bannock & jam made by Elder Marge Wylie and her friend Corrine Stadel. We also enjoyed hot tea, coffee, snacks, and cake, baked by one of our volunteers, Kyle.
Each volunteer was presented with a gift of gratitude – a native plant, a jar of jam, or a bag of Bangin’ Bannock mix.
At the close of the event many volunteers stayed behind to help with clean-up – folding up tables & chairs, packing up gloves into bins, and loading tools back into a wagon.
What an incredible community event!
Thank you to our volunteers: Abigail, Alec, Alan, Andrea, Angie, Annabell, Annette, Barbara, Cole, Connie G., David, Ellie, Erin Kampf, Erin Knock, Genevieve, Gloria, Grace, Greg, Heidi, Imogen, Jaime, Janet, Jasper, Jenny, Jiyoung, Jo-Ann, John, Juniper, Katie, Ka Ki, Kate, Kevin, Kiki, Kiran, Kurt, Kyle, Liam, Lucia, Michelle G., Michelle M., Nicholas, Robynn, Simin, Teri, Veronika, Westley, and Yohann.
This event was made possible thanks to financial support from:
🌿Park People 🌿Habitat Conservation Trust🌿Green Cities Foundation🌿Green Communities Canada 🌿and donated soil from GreenStreets (City of Vancouver)
Photos by Maja Giannoccaro