Below are photos of our freshly groomed EarthLab, the groups that helped clean it, and the wildlife that will benefit from it! Enjoy.
What a hot few days we have had here at EarthLab! Been sweating a bit, actually a lot, more than usual!
So what has happened since the last blog I posted? A LOT!!!
We had a lot of good changes at EarthLab and one sad change, well, for me it was sad.
Let’s get the sad one out of the way: we removed almost the entire farm that many of us had worked so hard to put together and harvest. No more Patty Pan Squash, cucumbers or okra. Was really hoping that it would not come to this.
However, there is a very good reason we removed the farm!
The reason being that we had to make room for the 44 tree orchard that we now have in place!! Yup, you read that right!! 44 trees!!!!! So what kind of trees did we get, you may ask???? We have persimmon, loquat, mulberry, guava, fig, pomegranate, macadamia nut and some grapes! Hmmmm….I might be forgetting a couple of other trees we might have gotten. Too many to keep track of.
The orchard was made possible by La Mesa Sunshine Rotary Club who donated all 44 trees! Apart from trees, we also received a donation from Toro who donated AND installed the irrigation for the orchard!! We also received a lot of help from NASSCO volunteers who helped get the holes ready and from 80 or so Navy volunteers during Fleet Week who helped plant the trees!
The good news doesn’t stop there! Not only did NASSCO and the Navy volunteers help with the orchard, they also helped with removing most of the weeds throughout the 4 acres that make up EarthLab. We are talking about weeds that had grown as tall as 6 feet! And by the way, we also had 120 students from Millennial Tech Middle School help out too!! So much help and very well appreciated! They all made a great difference! I don’t have before pics but here are some after pics:
We also had our seasonal creek cleaned out!!!! What a dream come true!!
On a completely different topic, let’s take a look at some nature findings at EarthLab.
First runner up we have the “white grub”. This is my first time seeing one. Ever wonder what a june bug beetle looks like before it becomes a beetle? Well now you know! An interesting fact about the white grub is that they crawl on their backs with their feet in the air. No wonder it kept trying to flip over when I was trying to take a picture of it. All this time I though it was trying to show me its best photogenic side! This reminds me, I gotta get my “grub” on………
2nd runner up we have the speedy rabbit. We have quite a few rabbits at EarhLab. I see them through out the day but specially in the mornings when I’m driving in with my truck. The noise scares them and all you can see at first glance is their white fluffy tail as they dart through the landscape.
3rd but, not least, we have the majestic hawk. Now, I’m not sure what kind of hawk it is but we have 3 or so at EarthLab. They have a nest up on one of the Eucalyptus trees and there will be times when I get to see them on a daily basis. It’s quite exciting seeing them fight with the crows, whom by the way have a nest not too far from the hawks nest. I was pretty lucky and was able to get within 15 or so yards from one of the hawks and managed to take a few pics. Enjoy!!!
To end this blog I will share with you this beautifully nature engineered squash from one of the last harvests. Did I mention it was beautiful?!
