Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Other greenery on the site


Today I found Soapwort (Saponaria officinalis), otherwise known as Bouncing Bet; there is also what looks like Wisteria, and it will be interesting to figure out whether it is the American or Chinese or Japanese version.

Later this week, perhaps tomorrow, I am planning an after-work excursion to the site with the kids (or at least with Moira, our eight-year-old). The poison ivy's running rampant, so I may do it alone.

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Back to school ~ JK wind-up next month

I start this weekend, back to school. I'm finishing up my Bachelor's Degree (yes, and working full-time) at Vermont College/Union Institute & University. This semester, I am taking advantage of their online option called Virtual Vermont. I've passed my Natural Sciences CLEP test, so that leaves me with three more semesters to go, plus one "leftover" or "dangling" credit.

http://www.tui.edu

I heartily recommend this program for adult learners wishing a flexible but challenging way to earn their degree -- flexible in terms of schedule in many ways, but challenging in that you need to determine your own course of study and discipline yourself to do the work. It's a full 15 credits per semester, so there's no slacking off allowed.

I expect the Japanese knotweed site to slow down in mid-September, when all the nearby JK is experiencing leaf-fall (or senescence). Over the winter, I will be planning some brain-storming sessions for anyone interested to offer suggestions and ideas for managing the site (planting, volunteer scheduling, potential partners, etc.). Please e-mail me if you are interested in any part of this: blackrivercleanup@yahoo.com

Ruminations and cogitations

I recently posted about pursuing my own passion in lieu of sleep...then I happened upon The Bamboo Project's blog which gave me even more clarity: Michele Martin promotes being passionate about one's work and not so much about the organization one is working for. Much as I LOVE being a BRAT, this is the crux of the thing -- my love of the BRAT comes from my love of the river. It means that I'm committed to certain principles and ideals, regardless of the organization. I really take pride in cleaning up the river, organizing events to celebrate the river, and learning about it. I hope it is that passion that is contagious, drawing volunteers together for a common cause.


The Bamboo Project: http://michelemartin.typepad.com/thebambooprojectblog/ (That looks suspiciously like a stalk of -- *gasp!* -- Japanese knotweed!!!!! Just kidding.)


Third wave ~ July 15, 2007

The heat & humidity were oppressive today -- Moira helped me by trampling down the growth happening under the tarped area. We didn't see anything tall enough to warrant cutting, but we did pick a crown to expose and begin some bud-snapping. Big black stormclouds were roiling in the distance, so we really put a burn on. The crown was exposed by gloved hands, buds and new root material was snipped off with fingers and put into a yogurt cup for removal from the site. We noted earthworms, crickets, mites, and beetles in and around the soil of the crown. We also found a good number of land-snails, with their iridescent shells shining delicately in the hazy sunlight.

Knotweed stalks were sparse and less than 1/2" in diameter, approximately 12 stalks per 3-square-foot plot, on average. There were three new sprouts along the western edge of the tarp, which I did cut.

Other vegetation at the site includes sumac, wild carrot (Queen Anne's Lace), and sweet clover -- and of course the ubiquitous poison ivy.

We had to cut our time shorter than previous visits, thanks to the encroaching thunderstorm; the flip side is that an hour-and-a-half seems to be an adequate length of time to spend doing future visits.

Goals for next time: begin sampling and cataloging other vegetation, bring jewelweed seeds and milkweed seeds for sowing, trample the tarp again, clip JK along the edges, estimate stalk size and density, do a little nature journaling.

I'd also like to get a sign created and erected to stick into the middle of the site, so people can tell what we're doing and why.