A Hossler did what?
As many of the readers of this blog know, my family are not gardeners. We are not weed pullers nor have knowledge of what most plants look like. A Hossler didn't do yard work, but a step farther - forest work!
When I signed up to help clean up Luther Burbank park on Mercer Island, I expected branch trimming, light yard-work because I have spent a lot of time in the various areas of the park and knew it's landscape was well managed.
Saturday me and my fellow Bean volunteers set out to help clean up part of the park, but only to discover we were helping clean up an undeveloped area. The coordinator said its part of the park but I know its not...at least not yet. They may intend for it to eventually be part of the park but at the current moment, its an undeveloped area. The neighborhood is fighting for this area to not get bull-dozed for new housing. I agree, they shouldn't bull-doze the landscape. However, they need a professional crew to get in there and spend a week conquering the forest before sending in the volunteers.
From 9-1 Bean, members pulled Blackberry from the area. Blackberry harm other plants. We had to get pretty deep in to get the roots. Whatever roots we couldn't reach, we trimmed. It was tough getting deep into the woods and fighting the nettles and thorny branches. (at least for me)
No one knew exactly what the day would hold so a lot of us were not properly dressed for getting into the tangled woods. A lot of us were scratched up big time and attacked by the nettles. (spelling???) I never knew what nettles were but its a plant with brown little fuzzy flower-buds. If you come in contact with one, it irritates your skin, makes it itch and burn for several hours. Not fun! Especially for "atopic dermatitis girl", ME! Good thing I took my allergy medicine that morning or I would have looked like a leathery balloon by the next morning.
The good news is that when the work was done, we headed to the "Rowie" for some lunch. Its been a few months since I have been to my old stomping ground, but the food was just as good and it was a gorgeous day to sit and have a beer with good company. I also used flexcar for the day since I had extra credit and rented a Mini Cooper. What a great car to cruise in. A car is more like a toy now then a necessity. It was fun to ride around in the little sports car.
As far as the next volunteer park event, I'll stick to the non-forest ground work! I know every bit helps but its not worth having a complainer, wimp like me around. Much props to my fellow volunteers who seem to enjoy the task much more then me and did not complain as much. They are good sports! I'm a wimp!
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