Fern planting with the WA Trails Association at Evans Creek Preserve.

These kids worked hard on an 80 degree day in May!  They hiked in a half mile through a meadow and hauled great big sword ferns to transplant alongside a new trail.  It was very satisfying to return to the first location that Stewardship Squad ever worked on with our old pal Krista Dooley at the WA Trails Association.  At just 2yo, Evans Creek Preserve is a unique new public park hosting a charming network of trails criss-crossing a large historic property of wetlands, forest and meadow, gifted to the City of Sammamish.

We reviewed what stinging nettles / Urtica dioica look like and wondered about all the fluff floating by.  I knew it was too early for cottonwood and at the end I found the source- a willow species.  My Salix ID isn't stellar, indeed a tricky genus with 50 sp in the PNW.....my best guess is Pacific willow / Salix lucida ssp. lasiandra.

Sun! Music. Teaming with teens. Wetlands. Planting. And of course tree climbing, with the Nature Consortium

I will be hard-pressed to keep this post from running on and on….. we just had such a wonderful time with the Nature Consortium and the other volunteers that joined us at their public work party at Pigeon Point Park in the West Duwamish Greenbelt.  It was a delight to meet participants from the Service Board, a local non-profit that "mentors teens to conquer personal and cultural challenges through public service and outdoor adventure." (read: civics and snowboarding)  I overheard engrossing conversations between 7yo's and 17yo's, heads industriusly downward like the nodding onions being planted; they covered everything from their favorite authors to "What is the scientific name of plant this plant again?" (Allium cernuum).  Also planted in the meadow and forested wetland was thimbleberry / Rubus parviflorus to the cheery tunes of the Mighty Tiny Band.  Always a pleasure.

Duwamish River Restoration at T-105 with EarthCorps- Bucket Brigade II

The kids cheered loudly when they heard they were going to form a bucket brigade again at T-105 Park.  We reviewed the importance of the river for salmon, and discussed challenges the restoration faces, including noxious weeds.  Noxious Populus alba / white poplar re-sprouts in full force all over the site, including from downed and decaying trunks!  (photo below)  The kids leapt into place and the buckets started flying as we continued sheet mulching the native plantings with cardboard and wood chips.  They derived a good deal of satisfaction from executing an important role in a fast operation; though I'm sure the spilled buckets, giggles and ridiculous traffic-jams had something to do with it.   Enjoyable as well, was meeting a slough (pun intended) of new EarthCorps leaders.

noxious Populus alba

Hiking & Hauling in the Cheasty Greenspace, Beacon Hill

The Cheasty Greenspace is a terrific place for the Homeschool Stewardship Squad- the central location is ideal, fun, and the coordinated community efforts to restore their forest are a pleasure to participate in.

The dedicated group of neighborhood volunteers has not only worked hard, but thought strategically about how to harness municipal and volunteer resources in support of their forest.  They are excited to announce that the City of Seattle has adopted the northern acreage on which to create a pilot-project mountain bike park.  They are taking notes on the popular Duthie Hill Park, Issaquah.  Much planning is underway to discuss a wide diversity of issues such as trail standards to prevent erosion and how to separate pedestrians from bikers.

We sheet-mulched native plantings and hauled many a bucket of wood chips.  It will be a treat to keep working at this site and watch it fulfill its potential as a healthy urban forest accessible for recreation.

Trillium ovatum / wake-robin.  Almost spring!

The Green Seattle Partnership is a supporter of the Cheasty Greenspace.

Potting-Up Cedars at Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust's Native Plant Nursery

A climb-in pile of potting soil is pretty irrestible.  We were happy to help pot-up western red cedars/Thuja plicata  at the Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust's native plant nursery at Lake Sammamish State Park.  The rain came down, but the kids made more than the best of it with song and smiles.  (Except for those who had itchy soil down their clothes!)