aster, lizard, seeds

California aster (Aster chilensis), western fence lizard, fiesta flower seeds (Pholistoma sp.)

germination

When seeds become seedlings, it's a very hopeful thing. Spring from Winter. Life from death.

cape ivy at the old Jazwin property

The cape ivy burrito rolls are decomposing nicely. They weigh about 1/8 of what they used to weigh. One or two green stems grow out of them. I pulled those green stems and rolled the burritos a turn or two. Eight months after first pulling and rolling and I think this will do it.

Work on the second patch continues. I roll the edges inward and take out any ivy beyond the borders. For only a few hours a month, the progress is tremendous.

As I was working I scared up an alligator lizard, uncovered a sleeping bumblebee, and pulled up multiple abandoned small mammal nests.

roadside hazards for the oak woodlands

Today I spent many hours pulling veldtgrass (Ehrharta erecta) from one of our oak woodlands. This grass is originally from South Africa and makes thick mats that prevent other species from growing. It reproduces both from seed and vegetatively.

Surprise! the veldtgrass is growing right below Elkhorn Rd. where a large population of E. erecta is happily thriving. In the woodland, it is spreading in areas where animals pass through.

At this stage, the grass is dropping or has already dropped seed. I've been pulling here for months. Why am I pulling since it disturbs the soil and brings up more seed? The land manager before me kept copious and detailed notes about her activities with all the weeds on the Reserve, including this patch of veldtgrass. Her recommendation after years of spraying is to pull - if the patch is small enough to manage. Being the optimist that I am, I assume this patch is small enough to manage. I give myself five years.

Other items that come down the hill from the road into the oak woodland . . .

Sowing seeds for grassland restoration

All our seed is collected within the watershed for our restoration projects. This year, in addition to growing for our regular restoration projects, we will grow approximately 3200 grass plugs for increase plots on a neighboring property owned by the Elkhorn Slough Foundation. Once planted and growing, we can harvest the seed in a way that resembles farming.

First we mix vermiculite and a peat/coir mix.



I mix 3 parts vermiculite to 1 part peat/coir. This mix is moistened until it feels like a moist sponge and holds together when squeezed in your hand but shouldn't drip water. We fill seed trays with the mix and press down on top with an empty seed tray to create small dimples to lay the seeds in.

The seeds shown above are blue wild rye (Elymus glaucus). One of four species we are growing for the increase plots. The other species are California oat grass (Danthonia californica), hairgrass (Deschampsia cespitosa), and nodding needlegrass (Nassella cernua).


Shown above is the "toothpick method" of covering up the seeds. Rule of thumb is most seeds are covered approximately 2x the diameter of the seed. The equation can be difficult to judge. This is where the toothpick comes in. Slide the toothpick around the edges of the cell to dislodge and move the mix to the center and over the seed. Gently press for good seed to soil contact. If you can see the seed, place a bit more mix on top.

These amazing and wonderful Elkhorn Slough volunteers and staff demonstrate the joy of propagation. It's a party in the greenhouse.

Grow seeds grow!

Thank you Santa Cruz work crew!

10 youth from Santa Cruz helped out at the Slough this week. They removed invasive weeds around one of our freshwater ponds and worked a roadside fuel reduction project for fire safety. They were such a great crew to work with and we accomplished so much.

For me, working with people who are a bit apprehensive about this kind of work is a welcome challenge. The quick conversations, questions and answers, small freakouts over bugs. . .I love it. It's a bit more work usually, to motivate or explain, but I have to believe that the rewards will come later in ways I'll never know.

Thank you Megan, Donna, Evan, Chemo, Gabriel, Juan, Jose, Jovan, Terrance, Shane and supervisors Gerry and Gabrielle.