Paddock Woods Saturday April 24
We had a big group at Paddock, including three chainsaws and two brush-cutters, removing honeysuckle along the eastern edge of the Yellow Trail. That meant lots to do for the haulers, who were up to the task. Thanks to first-time Palos volunteer Connie for joining us, and to all our new friends and old friends who participated.
Swallow Cliff South Sunday April 25
We hosted 10 Scouts and leaders from BSA Troop 14, La Grange, IL. They were great, some going after the biggest honeysuckles in sight with bowsaw and tenacity! And our regular volunteers had already cut and dragged a mess o' brush in the brief time it took to do an orientation with the Scouts.We cleared brush farther up the hill from our site of a month ago.
Swallow Cliff is a stream of walkers and runners on a weekend morning, giving us numerous, positive interactions with passes-by as we worked. It's great to have that visibility and to share our message that restoration matters.
Where Has All the GM Gone?
Maybe I'm speaking too soon. Maybe I'll regret these words, but I'm certainly not alone in noticing the relative scarcity of garlic mustard this spring. We planned to pull it at Swallow Cliff last week, switched to brush-cutting because we couldn't find enough plants. Diana is doing the same at McClaughrey this weekend, possibly next Saturday as well.
This is an extremely tough, resilient plant. It grows in sunlight and in shade, can self-pollinate, and is a prolific seed producer. It requires continued attention to keep it under control. One steward speculated that the drought we're presently in may inhibit its growth. We like to think that our labor of past years plays a part, but nobody I know is ready to drop their guard. We'll see what happens in the next few weeks.
We had a big group at Paddock, including three chainsaws and two brush-cutters, removing honeysuckle along the eastern edge of the Yellow Trail. That meant lots to do for the haulers, who were up to the task. Thanks to first-time Palos volunteer Connie for joining us, and to all our new friends and old friends who participated.
Swallow Cliff South Sunday April 25
We hosted 10 Scouts and leaders from BSA Troop 14, La Grange, IL. They were great, some going after the biggest honeysuckles in sight with bowsaw and tenacity! And our regular volunteers had already cut and dragged a mess o' brush in the brief time it took to do an orientation with the Scouts.We cleared brush farther up the hill from our site of a month ago.
Swallow Cliff is a stream of walkers and runners on a weekend morning, giving us numerous, positive interactions with passes-by as we worked. It's great to have that visibility and to share our message that restoration matters.
Where Has All the GM Gone?
Maybe I'm speaking too soon. Maybe I'll regret these words, but I'm certainly not alone in noticing the relative scarcity of garlic mustard this spring. We planned to pull it at Swallow Cliff last week, switched to brush-cutting because we couldn't find enough plants. Diana is doing the same at McClaughrey this weekend, possibly next Saturday as well.
This is an extremely tough, resilient plant. It grows in sunlight and in shade, can self-pollinate, and is a prolific seed producer. It requires continued attention to keep it under control. One steward speculated that the drought we're presently in may inhibit its growth. We like to think that our labor of past years plays a part, but nobody I know is ready to drop their guard. We'll see what happens in the next few weeks.
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