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| Stephan receiving some help collecting acorns from a friendly passer-by! |
Another week spent battling the invasive plants of Saint Paul and working to restore a balance to the open spaces! We returned to Pickerel Lake early in the week to finish clipping purple loosestrife, many plants started flowering since we had been there the previous week, and we were reminded of how dogged and observant you need to be in order to time an attack on an invasive plant and be effective.
During the hottest part of the week we spent some time collecting acorns and seeds from walnut and basswood trees to plant in the floodplain forest of Crosby Farms Regional Park this fall. Many people stopped by to ask what we were up to crawling around on our hands and knees, and we even had some little helpers!
There were a couple of exciting highlights from the week. One was that we uncovered a painted turtle nest along the lake shore at Como Lake. There were more than a half dozen little turtles in the nest and we watched excitedly as they made a beeline for the waters edge. We also started an exciting project in the Como Woodland Outdoor Classroom clearing vegetation from sections of the woods that are being turned into trails in the near future. We whipped out our chainsaws and brush-saws and got to work making room for the heavy machinery that will be used to install the trails. We are excited to see the results!
