Today, May 3, 2025, was a super stewardship day for Free the Fern, as we did double duty – hosting our monthly Invasive Pull and also attending the Seeding Stewardship Fair at Clark Park!
After a night of heavy rain, the day started with a bit of a light breeze, but, gradually, it warmed up to become a beautiful, sunny day. A small but mighty crew of 9 stewards gathered at the Douglas Fir Teaching Garden for our monthly Invasive Pull. We divided and conquered on the trail, with Grace leading a crew removing ivy, while Barbara led a crew removing wild chervil. After a welcome circle and stretch, we grabbed our gloves and headed down the trail.
Grace guided her group of 5 down to the very eastern edge of the Red Alder Trail, adjacent to Matheson Crescent. The ivy was a thick, wrapping around and choking out the native oceanspray and vine maple shrubs. The determined stewards got right in there with their clippers in hand, and a few other handy tools (a long handled “claw” was particularily useful). After beating back a bit of the ivy it was discovered that there was also Himalayan blackberry rooting and growing long arching canes over the native shrubs. So, we got right in there, digging and cutting out the Himalayan blackberry. Together, we succeeded in making two large piles of invasive plants.
Meanwhile, Barbara and her crew battled the wild chervil, just beside the trail playground. The wild chervil has been resprouting under the invasive black locust trees. Small trowels were the tools of choice for the crew. Their work was less about pulling and more about careful digging, so that they could remove the “carrot-like” root of the wild chervil.
Barbara had a friend with her, Anne, who was visiting from Brooklyn, New York (Ann definetly broke the record for the farthest a steward has traveled for one of our events!). It was Ann’s first invasive pull as well, and, by the end of it, she shared that she had learned a lot about the local ecology of Vancouver.
Our small but mighty crew worked hard over two hours and managed to clear 720L of invasive plants from the trail! Thank you to our amazing volunteers: Aakritee, Ann, Barbara, Cloe, Gary, Grace, Haley, Janet, & Jeannine. You did great!
At the same time as we were clearing invasives, our board director, Erin, and treasurer, Joshua, were also out at Clark Park, hosting a Free the Fern table at the Seeding Stewardship Fair. The fair was organized by the City of Vancouver and was an opportunity for local stewards to gather & learn together.
At our Free the Fern table, Erin & Joshua shared about our Free the Fern stewardship effort, recruited new volunteers, and welcomed people to create a crayon rubbing with local tree leaves. An estimated 89 participants visited our table.
Thank you to our volunteers, Joshua, Erin, and Connor, for helping at the Seeding Stewardship Fair!
So happy to have such wonderful, dedicated stewards involved with Free the Fern!