Edgewood Weed Warriors (1-3)

Sara Brockman
March 15, 2015 5:30-7:30
Edgewood Weed Warriors
Drew Shell
nature@dshell.oddotter.org

Before arriving at Edgewood, I believed that I was going to be doing something like Save The Bay where you work in a greenhouse to grow native California plants and then go plant in the same general area.  But, through Edgewood's Weed Warrior program I have learned so much about botany and the impact that the world has on the organisms that live in Edgewood.  I did not realize that I was going to be immersed in such a complicated and beautiful ecosystem that I have grown to admire and deeply respect.  I have been working at Edgewood along with my mother, as minor are not allowed unaccompanied, and I have been surprised by her attitude about the laborious and mentally tedious work.  We have both found the experiences at Edgewood to be interesting and somewhat meditative. We have been learning about the formation of Edgewood and how the county was going to turn it into a golf course but then endangered species were found.  We have also learned that Edgewood is covered in the rare serpentine rock that allows for a lot of native species to thrive.  Unfortunately, with my three visits, I have not made much of an impact.  The only way to fully eliminate non-native species is to uproot every plant and make it so they will not disperse next season.  The only thing that the weed warriors do is manage the problem and try to minimize the number of non-natives every year and allow for the native species to grow.