Spring 2013

After the second round of blackberry removal, which included digging each plant’s crown (root ball) out of the ground, the native species exploded.

In the background you can see where we stopped removing blackberry plants. The foreground looks quite different.

We have rescued and re-planted native plants from many different sites in the Puget Sound.

We regularly see wildlife on the property now, including raccoon and deer, even though the property is in the middle of a large single-family neighborhood.

Day of Caring 2013

Volunteers begin removing English ivy and Himalayan blackberries along the street next to the upper parking lot.

It didn’t take the crew long to work its way down the steep hill below the upper parking lot.

Crews used tarps to collect the blackberry vines and then transported them to the waste container.

The main driveway will get a lot more sunlight with the tall blackberry vines cleared away.

Volunteers carefully laid burlap sacks on the hillside to protect it from erosion during the coming rains.

The three crews completely filled at 35 cubic yard waste container. That’s a lot of blackberry canes and ivy vines!

A third crew did a great job of clearing blackberries and ivy from the rear parking area, along the back driveway.

The spring-fed stream, on the left in this photo, is now open to daylight for several yards, for the first time in decades.