Photos and text by SOLVE Jesuit Volunteer Northwest AmeriCorps member Lauren McKenna
On Forest Grove High School’s last SOLVE Green Team day, they:
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- Removing blackberry roots
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- Trimming back reed canarygrass
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- Trimming back reed canarygrass
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- Laying coffee bags around native plants
But back in September 2012, Ben Crabtree’s sophomore bio students probably did not think they would:
– plant on the day of the first frost
– spend hours in drizzling rain
– find mating newts
– become experienced bioengineers
– be able to tell the difference between Armenian, Trailing and Evergreen blackberry
– haul shredded Douglas-fir mulch through the mud
… for the sake of Gales Creek!
This special group of young people spent seven Saturday mornings stewarding Gales Creek. In addition to receiving dual credit at Portland Community College, they also removed invasive reed canarygrass and blackberry, planted native trees and shrubs, mulched them, made and installed Pacific Willow live cuttings, looked at the bug life in the creek, laid down burlap coffee bags to shad out invasives, wrote poems and articles and drew pictures about the creek. Let’s just say it was a full — and successful — year! About 18 hours worth! Check out their year on Green Team below!
THANK YOU Forest Grove High School and Mr. Crabtree for your dedication to Gales Creek, the laughs and conversations and new discoveries. It has been a wonderful year with each of you!
