Tuesday, May 31
Adam and I pruned around the native plant garden and picked out invasive plants. We also mulched some more, and made a day of weeding around the native plant area. Here are some photos of a very small part of our progress:
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Native Plant Area
4 hours
Tuesday, May 31
Adam and I pruned around the native plant garden and picked out invasive plants. We also mulched some more, and made a day of weeding around the native plant area. Here are some photos of a very small part of our progress:
Tuesday, May 31
Adam and I pruned around the native plant garden and picked out invasive plants. We also mulched some more, and made a day of weeding around the native plant area. Here are some photos of a very small part of our progress:
Beach
1.5 hours
Sunday, May 29
Adam and I went down to the beach to sweep for trash, and found a lot of it. I usually think of Garbage Beach as a pretty clean beach, but we found a surprising amount of debris. It's a little cleaner now, though.
Sunday, May 29
Adam and I went down to the beach to sweep for trash, and found a lot of it. I usually think of Garbage Beach as a pretty clean beach, but we found a surprising amount of debris. It's a little cleaner now, though.
Cleaning up
2 hours
Friday, May 27
Adam and I first weeded the native plant area, and then decided to pick up trash all around the park. We picked up more than I had expected to pick up, probably preventing trash from washing over the cliffs into the ocean.
Friday, May 27
Adam and I first weeded the native plant area, and then decided to pick up trash all around the park. We picked up more than I had expected to pick up, probably preventing trash from washing over the cliffs into the ocean.
Mulch!
1.5 hours
Thursday, May 26
Adam and I spread a lot of mulch on the ground, planted a barrel cactus, and gave the new plants some much-needed water. We also attacked the non-native daisies growing at the edge of the native plant area (the good-old fashioned way--pulling them up by hand).
Thursday, May 26
Adam and I spread a lot of mulch on the ground, planted a barrel cactus, and gave the new plants some much-needed water. We also attacked the non-native daisies growing at the edge of the native plant area (the good-old fashioned way--pulling them up by hand).
Monday, May 16, 2011
More pruning
4 hours
Saturday, May 14
Adam and I spent some time clearing invasive plants outside of the native plant area and planting native ones. We also mulched the ground. Then we headed down to the beach and picked up trash before returning to the top of the cliffs and clearing more invasive vegetation.
Saturday, May 14
Adam and I spent some time clearing invasive plants outside of the native plant area and planting native ones. We also mulched the ground. Then we headed down to the beach and picked up trash before returning to the top of the cliffs and clearing more invasive vegetation.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Sunset Cliffs
1 hour
May 4, 2011
I spent a jolly hour removing invasive ice plant at the cliffs in Sunset Cliffs Natural Park.
May 4, 2011
I spent a jolly hour removing invasive ice plant at the cliffs in Sunset Cliffs Natural Park.
Monday, April 25, 2011
More daisy-picking
2.5 hours
Sunday, April 24
Yesterday, Adam and I decided to spend the time weeding out the invasive daisies in the native plant area. It took far longer than I expected, but it was good to know we had finally rid the large native plant area of invasive plants.
Sunday, April 24
Yesterday, Adam and I decided to spend the time weeding out the invasive daisies in the native plant area. It took far longer than I expected, but it was good to know we had finally rid the large native plant area of invasive plants.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
More clearing
3.5 hours
Wednesday, March 30
Today we did the same work we had done for the past two sessions, but we moved on from a cleared strip of invasive plants to a large block. The past two times we came, we had increased our efficiency by more than I could have imagined, so today in order to maximize our time there, I set an extremely unrealistic goal for us. I said, "Let's aim to clear the area until that line." I knew we could never do it, but I figured we could get a lot more done than we thought if we worked diligently toward such a goal.
Turns out, we ended up clearing it all. I was amazed. We were too exhausted to plant new plants and mulch the area, but we'll do that next time. When we were done, as we were heading back into the middle of the native plant area to put our tools back, I was surprised to spot some invasive daisies sticking out near native plants. I pulled these out, only to find more. Adam and I ended up spending ten minutes weeding these daisies before realizing we couldn't do it all today.
Wednesday, March 30
Today we did the same work we had done for the past two sessions, but we moved on from a cleared strip of invasive plants to a large block. The past two times we came, we had increased our efficiency by more than I could have imagined, so today in order to maximize our time there, I set an extremely unrealistic goal for us. I said, "Let's aim to clear the area until that line." I knew we could never do it, but I figured we could get a lot more done than we thought if we worked diligently toward such a goal.
Turns out, we ended up clearing it all. I was amazed. We were too exhausted to plant new plants and mulch the area, but we'll do that next time. When we were done, as we were heading back into the middle of the native plant area to put our tools back, I was surprised to spot some invasive daisies sticking out near native plants. I pulled these out, only to find more. Adam and I ended up spending ten minutes weeding these daisies before realizing we couldn't do it all today.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Garden!
2 hours
Sunday, March 13
Today was an awesome day. We met a new guy, David, who volunteers for PaR. He showed su a shed full of old garden tools and we brought them all over to a closed-off native plant rehabilitation area. The native plant area was begun five years ago and it slowly expanded from there. Now it's a large, roped-off section in the middle of a large area. When we go into it, I can finally see what the park might have looked like with all native species. It smells amazing, and there are beautiful desert and plains plants all over. It looks so wild.
Our job today was to expand the area outward a couple feet. We cleared an area about 10 feet long by two feet wide of invasive plants (which was hard work), planted some native plants, and mulched the rest of the cleared area. Then David moved the rope fence outward to close the area we had started restoring. I was really proud of our work for the day.
Sunday, March 13
Today was an awesome day. We met a new guy, David, who volunteers for PaR. He showed su a shed full of old garden tools and we brought them all over to a closed-off native plant rehabilitation area. The native plant area was begun five years ago and it slowly expanded from there. Now it's a large, roped-off section in the middle of a large area. When we go into it, I can finally see what the park might have looked like with all native species. It smells amazing, and there are beautiful desert and plains plants all over. It looks so wild.
Our job today was to expand the area outward a couple feet. We cleared an area about 10 feet long by two feet wide of invasive plants (which was hard work), planted some native plants, and mulched the rest of the cleared area. Then David moved the rope fence outward to close the area we had started restoring. I was really proud of our work for the day.
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Acacia
2.5 hours
Saturday, March 5
Today Adam and I went back to Sunset Cliffs Natural Park and continued trimming back the acacias. We piled huge branches on top of each other near a canyon and, when we decided there was nothing else we could do with just shears, we hauled all the branches into a large canyon below where they could decompose. When we got back to the path, our two sets of shears were gone! We looked all over and finally concluded that someone had taken them. Too bad. They were brand new and everything.
Saturday, March 5
Today Adam and I went back to Sunset Cliffs Natural Park and continued trimming back the acacias. We piled huge branches on top of each other near a canyon and, when we decided there was nothing else we could do with just shears, we hauled all the branches into a large canyon below where they could decompose. When we got back to the path, our two sets of shears were gone! We looked all over and finally concluded that someone had taken them. Too bad. They were brand new and everything.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Tree-cutting!
2.5 hours
Friday, Feb. 25
Adam and I met with Michael Ruiz again to do some new work: trail maintenance. Invasive Australian acacia trees were overgrowing a trail by the baseball field, so we had two intersecting goals: make the trail more open and cut back the invasive species. Michael showed us how to identify the invasive daisies and how to differentiate them from the native sunflowers. He also showed us the lemonadeberry bush and the wild cucumber, both native.
We spent a few minutes pulling out invasive daisies, and the rest of the time cutting thick acacia branches with shears. It was weird at first to be cutting a tree, but I kept in mind that these invasive species kept a lot of beautiful native species from inhabiting the area. We got a lot done, clearing areas of the trail of overhanging branches and seriously cutting back on some of the trees to make it easier for someone to perhaps one day cut down the whole trees.
Friday, Feb. 25
Adam and I met with Michael Ruiz again to do some new work: trail maintenance. Invasive Australian acacia trees were overgrowing a trail by the baseball field, so we had two intersecting goals: make the trail more open and cut back the invasive species. Michael showed us how to identify the invasive daisies and how to differentiate them from the native sunflowers. He also showed us the lemonadeberry bush and the wild cucumber, both native.
We spent a few minutes pulling out invasive daisies, and the rest of the time cutting thick acacia branches with shears. It was weird at first to be cutting a tree, but I kept in mind that these invasive species kept a lot of beautiful native species from inhabiting the area. We got a lot done, clearing areas of the trail of overhanging branches and seriously cutting back on some of the trees to make it easier for someone to perhaps one day cut down the whole trees.
Friday, February 18, 2011
Restoring plants
4 hours
Thursday, April 17
Yesterday, Connor, Adam and I went back to the native plant area and cleared the invasive species from the rest of the strip we had been working on, much more quickly than before because we had three people and an awesome hoe-like tool called a McLeod that Connor brought. Again, we widened the native plant area by a few feet and mulched the non-planted areas. It was incredibly hard work and I was starving at the end.
Thursday, April 17
Yesterday, Connor, Adam and I went back to the native plant area and cleared the invasive species from the rest of the strip we had been working on, much more quickly than before because we had three people and an awesome hoe-like tool called a McLeod that Connor brought. Again, we widened the native plant area by a few feet and mulched the non-planted areas. It was incredibly hard work and I was starving at the end.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
First time
5 hours
Friday, Feb. 10
Today Connor, Adam and I went to Sunset Cliffs Natural Park, near Point Loma Nazarene University, to talk to Michael Ruiz, who will oversee our volunteership with Parks and Rec (PaC). Michael showed us around the natural park and pointed out some spots were we might fill in dirt to eroded areas or move signs so they can be more visible. Then he left and we picked up trash in various parts of the park. There was so much more trash than I expected: we cleaned up a popular hangout spot, a large canyon, and trails throughout the park. It was hot and I was tired after 5 hours.
Friday, Feb. 10
Today Connor, Adam and I went to Sunset Cliffs Natural Park, near Point Loma Nazarene University, to talk to Michael Ruiz, who will oversee our volunteership with Parks and Rec (PaC). Michael showed us around the natural park and pointed out some spots were we might fill in dirt to eroded areas or move signs so they can be more visible. Then he left and we picked up trash in various parts of the park. There was so much more trash than I expected: we cleaned up a popular hangout spot, a large canyon, and trails throughout the park. It was hot and I was tired after 5 hours.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Parks & Rec
I've decided to volunteer with San Diego Parks and Recreation after all. We're going to work at Sunset Cliffs Natural Park improving trails and grading and signage at the park.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Progress
I have emailed all of the Indian Reservations in San Diego County to see about volunteering or interning with the tribal government, and one of them has responded asking for more information.
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