On Saturday, January 7, 2023, Free the Fern led the first monthly Invasive Pull of the year. 12 volunteers came out to help removing invasive English ivy and Himalayan blackberry from the “Lower Triangle” area along the Red Alder Trail, in the Champlain Heights Trail System. This “Lower Triangle” area will be the future site of our Free the Fern Native Food Forest (with funding support from the City of Vancouver).
The day started as cloudy, but gradually shifted to rain showers. Despite the weather, the volunteers kept in good spirits. They worked at trimming down Himalayan blackberry canes and digging out the roots. Half way through the morning, they took a break for tea, hot chocolate and cookies. Everyone enjoyed chatting and getting to know each other a bit better.
After the break, the volunteers were eager to get back to work with removing invasives. By the end of the morning, they had succeeded in removing a total of 8 green bins (1,920 L) worth of invasive plants and one 180 L bin worth of garbage!
We wish to thank all the volunteers who made today a success: Annette, Barbara, Carla, Damian, Erin, Grace, Jeannine, Karen, Liam, Martin, Stephen, and Tom.
