It was pouring rain (I am talking buckets of heavy rain falling) last Friday, but I was determined to get out on the Red Alder Trail and complete a mini planting.
Thanks to our Art for Plant Fundraiser this past Spring, Free the Fern was able to fund the purchase of 12 plants for this plot. Over the last few months, the area had been cleared of Himalayan blackberry by a very eager local volunteer and artist, Ann. In the morning, Martin, a dedicated Free the Fern volunteer, had driven all the way to Langley to pick up the native plants for us (despite the car breaking down twice!) So, the least I could do was get out there and plant those plants!
Well, I got soaked, but had an amazing experience planting. What I realized is that it was my first time planting a tree, in my life – and it was a beautiful Douglas Fir sapling. I also succeeded in planting 3 salal shrubs (one with clusters of blue berries still clinging to it), 1 red flowering currant, 3 mock orange plants, and 4 oceanspray (a beautiful native plant whose white flowers resemble the ocean’s spray).
In the process of digging for planting, I also discovered a very old (milk?) bottle. It was wedged deep under a very large tree root, and had smaller roots growing within the bottle itself – so, it appeared to have been buried for quite some time. The area beside the trail, which is now a children’s playground, used to be an old farmhouse. So, likely, the trail was used for disposing refuse in the past. I decided to keep the bottle, as we may wish to develop an archive in the future.
