Blackberry Bushes and Irrigation

It's my second week here in San Francisco working with the Presidio Trust. I feel as though I have already been here for a month! We have been so busy working and "getting things done," (which is AmeriCorps "motto." I'm sure you will be hearing that a lot from me) that I feel as though the time has been flying by. I am loving the work that we are doing and it's really cool to see all the work that has been done after finishing a project.

The type of work that we are doing here in the Presidio is environmental conservation and restoration. We are working to beautify the parks all around the Presidio. Our projects can vary from day to day, but it's usually a lot of labor intensive work. Some project that we have completed so far are: Removing sod, planting plants, installing an irrigation system, and then filling the site with mulch. This project took us a few days to complete. It was really cool to see the day to day changes as well as the end result. It felt very rewarding to know that we all completed this project and it looked awesome! Here are some pictures of the work that we did. The pictures progress from start to finish!

 Before we started the project.

 Removing the sod so we can plant. I got to work that blue machine...it was fun

The planting begins. We got to plant two redwood trees...hopefully they will grow to be humongous!

 Putting in the irrigation system to give the plants a drink!

All DONE! I know the plants don't look like much at the moment, but give them a few years and they will have taken over this spot!

Like I said before, it's really neat to see all the progress you have made at the end of the project. It gives you a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction that you got the job done! A lot of our projects have been like this so far. Another project that we had was to remove Blackberry bushes. We got rid of it all in a day! 

Before we started. My teammates being goofy! Behind them is all Blackberry bushes with thorns! 

 Working hard in the California sun!

We found so many bottles in the Blackberry. One in particular with a birth certificate in it. It's hard to see on here, but it's from 1969 and he is from Rochester, MN of all places. I had offered to take it back to MN with me to return it to him. My team got a good laugh out of that one :)

 Lunch break! Almost done!

Removing Blackberry is tough, but would you complain with this view? I wouldn't!

Done! There was a wall behind all that Blackberry!!

So far it has been great weather here to work in. Sunny days with just enough cool breeze from the Ocean. This is not at all what I expected from what people had told me. I guess this type of weather has been rare these past two weeks. I'm sure it was all because we are here :)) Today we started seeing the more typical San Francisco. Lots of fog and drizzly rain! More to come I hear! I guess it's better than all that snow. I have been thinking about everyone back in Minnesota...I even made a sand angel at the beach that made me feel more at home :) I can't wait to come home for Christmas break and make a real one in the snow! Miss you all.

♥ Kristen

Below is a link to the blog that my team, Bluno, is making as well. It will be written by different members of the team from time to time. You should check it out!!!!!

http://chroniclesofbluno.blogspot.com/