The plants, soil, bugs and birds (and we) were overjoyed to be rained on at our March 7 work party. Despite the forecast, seven committed volunteers showed up and worked for about 20 minutes until the temperature dropped, the rain continued, and we were all soaked to the skin.
The weeds along the trail and on the Adopt-a-Spot are thriving but so are the California native plants. The hairy leaved sunflowers (Helianthus annuus) are beginning to bloom and the young black cottonwood (Populus trichocarpa) has leafed out. All the additional trail plants grown for us by The Watershed Nursery in Richmond, including lemonade berry (Rhus integrifolia) and black sage (Salvia mellifera) are settling in and the narrow-leaf milkweed (Asclepias fascicularis) is waking up. On the Adopt-a-Spot, the beautiful brittleleaf manzanitas (Arctostaphylos crustacea) and California wild roses (Rosa californica) are flourishing as are all the other plants grown for us by Native Here Nursery in Tilden. The Adopt-a-Spot poppy population is blooming and the carpet of tansy leafed phacelia (Phacelia tanacetifolia) is covered in buds.
We continue to remove a notable amount of radish and a ton of oat grass. Our Algerian lavender (Limonium ramosissimum aka LIRA) removal project continued in March with 1,200 seedlings removed from East Stege Marsh, 8,200 seedlings removed from Marina Bay, and 7,500 seedlings removed from Hoffman Marsh along the I-580 freeway. We also continue to pick up trash each time we are out.
This may be our last report for a while as we have concluded our last official work party for the time being. We’ll see if the measures taken in California will help to hasten the demise of the COVID-19 virus and allow a return to something approaching normalcy.
We wish you a safe and healthy Spring and look forward to seeing you again soon!
— Jane + Tom Kelly
March 2020
