Open House! Come one, come all!

 

How to Pull Weeds in our Schoolyard Habitat

Plant competition, be mindful of seeds, and be aware of wildlife. 

7 VERY SHORT VIDEOS, 0:09 to 1:11

How to pull up weeds. Use a shovel and container. Be mindful of seeds. 

We want to slow the spread and deplete the seed bank of nonnatives. It is bad for the habitat if we wait until weeds have gone to flower and seed. When pulling weeds that have already gone to seed, have a container to catch seeds. 

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Reclaim the paths. 

We want students and community to feel comfortable, so if it's growing on the path it should be pulled out. You can transplant anything from the path to your house. I've transplanted Elderberry and Catalina Island Cherry to my own yard.  

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A weed is a subjective and descriptive term.

Our habitat contains native plants, so all nonnative are weeds. Also, if a native plant is growing abundantly and is competing with other natives, it might be refereed to as a weed. Mugwort grows like a weed in our habitat. It is thriving and will out-compete other natives. We want plant diversity which attracts diverse wildlife, so we maintain the spread of Mugwort. We also maintain the spread of CA Sunflower. CA Sunflower has out-competed CA Daises, and we no longer have CA Daises.

                                           1:08

Be aware of wildlife! 

One goal of our habitat is to attract wildlife. When weeding, you can get carried away and pull up Narrow-leaved Milkweed that has monarch caterpillars or eggs on it. That's okay if it happens. We just need to know what milkweed looks like, so we avoid pulling it up. You can also look for eggs or caterpillars before pulling milkweed.

Flowering milkweed 

Also, we have a variety of nesting birds. If you hear a bird calling loudly, they are sending a warning call because their nest is nearby. When that happens, walk away from the area or watch the bird carefully tracking to find out where he flies back. You might also be able to hear the chicks and know where the nest is. You will find out what area to avoid. There is always plenty of weeding to do somewhere else. We do not want to scare parents, or they might abandon their nests.

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Listen to CA Towhee warning call

US Airforce, USFWS and PTA volunteers trimming and getting inspired by nature

It takes a team to maintain the schoolyard habitat, and Curren is fortunate to have generous volunteers that give their time and muscle making our outdoor classroom ready for teachers, students and the new school year! Some volunteers even got inspired by the beauty of nature while working! Thank you volunteers! Curren is a beautiful and happy place because of you!

Enjoying Beautiful Flowering Native Plants

After meeting with the awesome John Cooper to discuss future plans for benches, tables, path and retaining wall. The flowers looked too beautiful to go unnoticed!

CA sunflower 

Ceanothus

White flowering currant

White Sage

CA Fuscia

Toyon

Milkweed

Elderberry 

Did you know that we have three plants native to the Channel Islands in our Curren SYH?

Go see if you can find all three plants native to Channel Islands in our front Schoolyard Habitat! Good luck!

Channel Island Coral Bells

Catalina Island Cherry

Santa Cruz Island Ironwood

Welcome to Curren Schoolyard Habitat Science Journal!

Welcome to our thriving Schoolyard Habit filled with native plants, animals, students, teachers and families. This is a place of science and discovery where investigation of natural phenomena happen. A place of wonder and exploration. A place to connect with and appreciate. A place where you belong. 

It is a gift to this generation and the next, a tribute to the native habitat which we share with the animals and plants in our community.  As we have traveled on this journey with these plants during the past four years, we have marveled in nature's beauty, yet have kept most of these cherished scientific moments to ourselves. From now on, we will share our joy of science and nature with you. We hope you also connect with this humble yet astonishing place.