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Cap Sauers Moraines May 21, 2016

5/25/2016

Another Saturday, another stage in our ongoing campaign to rid (really?) the Palos preserves of garlic mustard. We had four new volunteers: Patrick and Emma, Laurel, and Jackie. Thanks to them, thanks to everyone who came out!

We moved west along the trail, fanning out and seeing some cool plants along the way. It was a pretty morning, with clear skies and the fragrances of the forest enveloping you as you walked.

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Paddock Woods May 14, Black Partridge May 15 2016

5/19/2016

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Paddock Woods Saturday May 14, 2016

The morning was cool, still overcast, blessedly free of rain. We worked in a lush green stretch north of the parking lot, Lush in places with garlic mustard, to be sure, but also with the good stuff, like trillium, wild geraniums, and mayapples, all in bloom.

Thanks to everyone who came, with special thanks to Mary from FPCC, Douglas from FOTFP, new volunteers Lindsay and Jim, and almost-new volunteer Sheri. We removed many bags of GM from the premises in the course of the day.

Black Partridge Woods, Sunday May 15, 2016

Students from Chicago Bulls College Prep and Hinsdale South High School came to Partridge to obliterate as much garlic mustard as we/they could find. Not certain who brought the sunshine but it was surely welcome.

The high schoolers became instant experts at GM identification and the help they provided was most welcome.

Black Partridge has a diverse mix of spring wildflowers and many were on display. Beautiful place!

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McClaughrey Springs Woods May 7, 2016

5/11/2016

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Garlic mustard season is in full swing; some plants are up to three feet tall. The better to grab them by their little necks and yank them from the ground.

Which is exactly what we did last Saturday. The good news, for the second week in a row, is that the garlic mustard was not all that pervasive. Is it a "bad" year for garlic mustard, or are past years of hard work paying off in a diminution of the population? Time will tell...

Meanwhile we enjoy the good things seen as we cross the site chasing the bad.

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Paddock Woods April 30, Cap Sauers May 1

5/4/2016

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We had a good turnout on Saturday morning at Paddock, especially given the intermittent drizzle that marked much of the day (and week.) Special thanks to first-time volunteers Carl, Natasha, and Jordan.

We split up, some of us cutting and burning honeysuckle, others pulling garlic mustard in an adjacent area cleared of brush on past days. That latter area looked great, with a variety of wildflowers popping up. The spring beauties and toothwort, though, were quite bashful about showing their blooms in the chill and damp.

Jean's poncho tells the story of this morning

Sunday at Cap Sauers, the focus was again garlic mustard, and we covered a good stretch in the course of the afternoon. Pull a few, walk a bit, pull a couple more. That's encouraging, much better than working in an area so infested you pull a full armload before moving your feet again.

The lush green beyond the trees in the foreground is wetland.

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Cap Sauers Moraines May 21, 2016

Paddock Woods May 14, Black Partridge May 15 2016

McClaughrey Springs Woods May 7, 2016

Paddock Woods April 30, Cap Sauers May 1

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