The Season of the Child Soldiers

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Filed under Trail Maintenance, Yellow Star Thistle

IMG-2860When I started this effort to remove invasive thistle from the Sonoma Overlook Trail, and then also the Montini Preserve, I thought, in my ignorance, that it was a battle. Over time I realized it was a war. And not only a war, but a war of attrition. That is, who could last longer? Us or them? In the end I know it’s them, but I will take a bite out of them. A serious bite.

Where I’m taking the most serious bite is on the Yellow starthistle, which has been battled down to a few meadows on the roughly 200 acres of the contiguous Montini Preserve and Sonoma Overlook Trail.

For example, today I went out and removed all of the Yellow starthistle from one of the remaining Overlook Trail meadows where it appears. And I’m here to tell you that they are sending in their child soldiers (see picture). These are the plants that are the equivalent of the invasive species “hail mary,” which pop up at the end of the season and only have a single flower/seed pod to try to propagate.

Frankly, when you are mostly pulling these “child soldiers” you know you have it on the run. That’s when you double-down and seriously eff them up. Count on me for that.

Yesterday’s Monthly Trail Workday

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Filed under Invasive Species, Italian Thistle, Plant Life, Stewardship, Yellow Star Thistle
ThistleWorkday

Priscilla, Tom, Roy, Elizabeth, and Kurt. Jamie took the picture.

Yesterday a crew of six stewards, including me, headed out to clear the upper Sonoma Overlook Trail meadow of invasive Italian thistle. We made one complete sweep of the upper meadow and emerged with ten contractor debris bags full of the nasty weed, as well as some remaining invasive Yellow starthistle, which unfortunately was a surprise.

Elizabeth Garsonnin, Priscilla Miles, Jamie Nelson, Tom Sours, and Kurt Teuber came out to help with this important battle. If we hit Italian thistle hard now on the upper meadow, before it completely drops its seed, we have a chance of eventually eradicating it instead of allowing it take over completely.

Although we’ve been largely successful in pushing it away from the trail, we are still challenged in large areas where Italian thistle is gaining the upper hand. On the Montini Preserve, my focus has been simply to get it off the trail, as that is the only reasonable goal for that property at the moment. But on the Sonoma Overlook Trail property, we have an opportunity to eradicate it further back from the trail. Eventually, some years from now, my goal will to be to not even see it from the trail, but that is clearly some years out still, and may never be achieved on the Montini Preserve, where it’s fairly rampant.

An Update on the War

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Filed under Invasive Species, Italian Thistle, Stewardship, Yellow Star Thistle

ThistlePirates2Today I went out to assess the invasive Yellow starthistle infestation this year. I’m happy to say that it’s less than last year, but it’s still there. We may still be several years away from complete eradication.

But the really depressing thing to see is that Italian thistle is simply taking its place.

This has me thinking that my strategy needs to be this:

  • Eradicate Yellow starthistle (essentially steady the course on what I’ve already been working on).
  • Control Italian thistle in specific areas (trailside and on the Upper Meadow of the Sonoma Overlook Trail).
  • Clone myself. I’ve already signed up Dan Noreen to join “Thistle Pirates” (see graphic) and I hope to sign up others as well. If you wish to join, let me know. You get a free t-shirt, but be careful, as it can come with an obsession.

If you wish to join us, let me know! People along the trail are very appreciative of this work.

Celebrate 20 years of Sonoma Overlook Trail • Save the Date: April 16, 2023

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Filed under Events, History

Please join us for our 20th Anniversary Celebration
Sunday, April 16, 2023 • 11 am to 1 pm.


Meet us at the main trailhead to celebrate and…

  • Learn how what once was a city dump was transformed into the beautiful Overlook Trail that now receives over 55,000 visitors a year from all over the world!
  • Hear from trail stewards as well as city and state dignitaries including Senator Bill Dodd, Supervisor Susan Gorin, Sonoma Mayor Sandra Lowe and other honored guests.
  • Enjoy refreshments and meet new hiking friends.
  • Peruse our new book, “The View from Above”, compiled from 20 years of excerpts from our Hiker’s Notebooks.
  • Come along with us on a wildflower hike. The flora and fauna should be spectacular in April!

The Third Wave

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Filed under Invasive Species, Italian Thistle, Winter

IMG-2727I’ve been pulling Italian thistle (an invasive monster) since mid-November. It’s now mid-March and we still have very young plants coming in (see pic, gloved finger for scale). Today, I decided to call it the “third wave” but I have no idea if it comes in waves at all, or just constantly. Or if it comes in waves, how many can we expect? Five? Ten?

All I know is that it will continue to come in for quite some time, and I need to keep an eye out for these little guys probably well into May. Part of the reason may be the very wet winter we are having, as none of the thistle is bolting yet but the plants, in some cases, are becoming very large. This presages a massive stalk, which will mean more bulk to deal with when we need to begin bagging the thistle and carrying it out.

Also, the rain is preventing me from using 30 percent vinegar to battle big patches, since I need sun to follow spraying, not rain that will wash it off. So far we haven’t many stretches of dry weather.

Sorry to be a Debby Downer, but these are just some of the challenges we face when attempting to control invasive thistle on these lands.