Alpha Phi Omega

Thanks to Alpha Phi Omega, we got a ton of work done today in the nursery and garden!

Danthonia californica seeds.

Soap plant seeds.

Sowing seeds.

Preparing a flat.

Flattening the path.

Putting on some finishing touches.

L.W.D. (Large Woody Debris)

In the past month, two members of Berkeley's beloved tree community have started to move on toward the ends their long, woody lives. The two trees, one bigleaf maple (Acer macrophyllum) and one coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens), will be missed.

The bigleaf maple, much beloved by the campus creek restoration community, met its downfall during the last big storm over spring break. This individual took root near the ruins of one of Berkeley's oldest bridges, and now itself spans the waters.

The coast redwood, amongst its grove, likely lost its footing during the same storm, and now precariously leans towards Stephens Hall.

As tragic as these events may seem, fallen trees are an integral part of creek ecosystems, providing fish habitat, stream modification, and new nutrients.

The listing coast redwood (S. sempervirens)
in the vicinity of Stephens Hall.

The downed bigleaf maple (A. macrophyllum) in
question, located near the West Entrance.

Saturday in the Nursery and on the Creek

Thanks to all the wonderful participants from GETH (Global Environmental Theme House) making the world a little bit greener!

One seedling at a time.

Chris is in the zone.

Rose giving a demonstration.

The cavemen (left to right): Chris, Prashant, and Addien

The GETH crew.

Planting in the West Cresent

We've finally begun planting in the long-awaited West Crescent area. I wish I had a before photo, but this area was formerly chocked in with a wall of Chilean red currant. It'll be exciting to see things fill in again once the native plants start taking off.

Urban Archaeology

Today's haul from the creek:

Some interesting finds: A (whiskey?) bottle, shell casings,
a workglove, and a stylish brown v-neck.

Planting Plants

Thanks to everybody who came to the open event today! It was a bit chilly (still no snow), but we got so much done! In addition to clearing out invasive vinca and ehrharta, we also planted tons of cow parsnip and soap plant.

Wilson and Vincent get down to business.

Mauna and Thy and their new friends.

Hard at work.

For Ashley, broken bones are no excuse!

A flurry of restoration activity.

Ranger Dave letting some ehrharta know who's boss.

Gina and Ramey run on renewable smile-power!

Thank you, eco-warriors!

Looking at the pictures, it's hard to realize that we're on campus, but VLSB is probably only 100ft away! I hope that everyone who came out today can look at the creek and campus in a new way.

Summer/Fall Photodump Part V

Summer/Fall Photodump Part IV

Summer/Fall Photodump Part III