Today, on Saturday, May 7, 10am-12pm, Paola Coloma hosted an invasive pull event on the Red Alder Trail, just east of the Cartier Place townhouses in South Vancouver. 12 volunteers were on hand (ranging in age from 8 to 70+ years old) to help with removing invasive weeds. The focus was on removing English ivy, Himalayan blackberry, and lamium (yellow archangel) from below the Douglas Fir trees along the trail edge. These invasives have created a dense ground cover, smothering native plants and threatening to climb the Douglas Fir trees.
We succeeded in removing 5 green bins (1,680 L) worth of invasives, 1 bin (120 L) worth of garbage, and large bag of glass beer bottles! Volunteers also helped gather and prep a pile of ivy to use for basket weaving (note: we will be selling ivy baskets to raise money for native plants at our South Van Strawberry Social on June 5, 1-4pm).
At our event today, volunteers also discovered several old items (a yoke metal horse harness and a glass ashtray) to add to our historic artifacts . One hundred years ago, there was a farm house and barn, adjacent to this portion of the Red Alder trail. During previous removal efforts, we have found other items that date from that time period, including: a very old rusted pitchfork (likely used in the barn for moving hay), a milk bottle, and a 1920’s metal sink colander. Remnants of the original house could still be found up until the early 80’s, when the Parks Board installed a forest playground on the site.
Thank you Paola for hosting the event and providing drinks and snacks for our volunteers. It was a great chance to make a difference in the trail and connect with community.
Volunteers: Ann, Catherine, Erin, Grace, Jeanne, Joe, Liam, Olga, Paola, Robin, Victor, and Vladimir.
