Stewards of Kleinstuck

Ten people worked in Section 13, pulling out the inavsives.  It is encouraging to see many natives from our plantings and others coming into the area now that it is cleared.It was especially nice to have Nate join us, teaching us about the native plants so we could also focus on the beauty emerging.  Nate took us on a 20 minute field trip to a hidden marsh meadow filled with rushes, sedges, button bush, surrounded by some dogwoods, willows and few buckthorn that we are going to attack soon.  This is another special spot in Kleinstuck that is worth protecting. 

On Sunday, November 14, 2010, a small group of volunteers took to the high

ground to cut out invasives near the "overlook bench".

5 volunteers worked in the south end of 5B clearing Norway maples and a

variety of exotic shrubs and small trees. I did the herbicide work dribbling

glyphosate on the cut stumps while Jacquelyn T., Jack S., Heather R., and

Mike (enthusiastic new guy - an optometrist who lives on Duchess) did most

of the cutting and hauling.  Mike plans to be back next workday with his

wife.

The men-folk enjoyed playing lumberjack dropping several 3-6" diameter

maples.  We added to existing piles rather than starting new ones.  The pile

next to the concrete pad has grown to a substantial 10-15' high and is

equally wide.  Jacquelyn did a nice job "cleaning up" some of the previously

cleared portions of 5B, gathering coarse woody debris and making the place

look cared for.

There are still some maples and exotic shrubs to clear on the down-slope

from 5B towards 6A.  We also found the western portion of 5A could use some

attention, from the crest of the hill down toward the junction of the main

trail and YMCA entrance trail.  There were some sizeable common buckthorns

and winged wahoos that seemed to have survived in the margins between SoK

and Eagle Scout management.

Paul's privet treatment from long ago (on top of the hill by the bench in

5B) looks like a great success.  The treated knee-high thicket of privets

was quite dead and I stomped some of the dead twigs down to encourage

decomposition.  The untreated area still had some foliage and the line

between treated and untreated is striking.

Pretty much the only leaves remaining on the trees these days are Norway

maples and exotic shrubs.  The bench overlook offers nice views of the marsh

and the ducks dabbling below.

Respectfully submitted,

Nate Fuller

We had a nice turnout for the frog walk on Friday night withabout a dozen adults and 8-10 kids (they kept moving and were hard to count). Thanks Cari for helping me out with the laminated frog cards – they werea big hit.  The dry weather made the frogs a bit quiet and the peepers andchorus frogs didn’t start singing until dusk was underway at 9:00.  Nextyear let’s remember to do this a bit earlier to take advantage of it notbeing light so late.  Oh, and make it rain in the afternoon beforehand.

The flower walk was soggy and not well attended.  Just fourof us poking around looking at the plants.

After acknowledging our insanity, Paul joined Jeff and I inleading another fellow and a dad with three boys out to do some garlic mustardmop up in sections 5A & 5C.  Aside from a few spots of privet, those areasare looking pretty good.  Lots of bloodroot, trout lily, may apples, cutleaf toothwort,and a handful of spring beauties.  The transplants looked happy to have therain and the trillium have survived their first week in the Deer Salad Bowl(a.k.a. Kleinstuck Preserve).

-Nate

In section 6 B and 5 C , seven lumberjacks downed numerous Norway maples, while one wood nymph flitted about daubing. No pictures taken, no warm liquids to replenish us, Nate entertained us with about Paw Paw tree identification and natural history.

Special thanks to Nate's father, visiting from Illinois, who slaved along-side his son.

Liga

We were 9 volunteers, worked in Section 6 cutting trees and bushes. Two new volunteers: Dan Steffler and son Brendon!

Nate marked good trees with green paint andalso sprayed large trees to mark boundary at which we stop clearing soas not to aggravate neighbors who wish the have a buffer of woodsbehind their backyards.

Most everything that was cut was also daubed with herbicide.

We also had hot cider, thanks to Jack and Jacquelyn.

Liga

We were 13 - working Sokers this Sunday July 26th, 2009, that cleaned

out Section 5A with primary focus on Norway maples, Bittersweet,

Honeysuckle and Winged wahoo. The area was dramatically changed

from clearing out the thick understory. Nate marked all the native

trees with green paint (dogwoods, hawthorns) to protect them from our

aggresive onslaught. He hopes that next spring we will see them

flowering from the path. We also had a visitation from our youngest

SoK member Theo Fuller, as well as young worker from Latvia, Zane

Ramane.

After the work event, Paul held a short seminar about methods used to

control invasives, instructed us on herbicide use and toxicity

principles, and demonstrated how to make dabbers for herbicide

application. We made 2 dabbers from parts donated by DNR and Paul.

These have designated for SoK.

Liga

July 12th, 6 people worked to clear section 13 A,B of Bittersweetroots and new shoots.  13 A still a a large section of large roots wecould not penetrate. 

There were 8 of us today at SoK event. Gorgeous day, sunny and relatively warm. Even though we were a small group we were industrious and cleared most of the lower half of 2B. The last 2 piles of cut invasivess were placed next to the path for future pick up. See photo gallery for pictures from this work day and others during this winter.

SoK work event Sunday Jan 25.

15 adults worked for 1 1/2 hrs, East of Kazoo school path, section 2B cutting privet, honeysuckle, buckthorn (ad nauseum) trudging in the deep snow wishing for a fire to burn away these ugly invasives.

It was great to have some yongsters amongst us, Ava and Will Keller, who helped with bush dragging and hot chocolate drinking. Too much was left over, so we did not have enough drinkers. 

Special note:  Chris Bartley mentioned an article she is writing for the ""Seedlings"" about the importance of small strips of land such as yards and right of ways, connecting the numerous preserves and the benefit derived from each native plant connection.  In other word, every small strip or plot matters.

Soggy, melting snow and humid 40 degree weather was the scene for our Sunday workday.  The slopes were slippery and the privet stems were likewise, but fresh air, honest work, bright faces and a short lesson on Lativan History kept the afternoon more pleasure than work for the 5 of us who greeted the early winter day in Kleinstuck Preserve.