June 12: Volunteer Work Day

Yesterday we had about 40 volunteers descend on the site to do the first round of installation of the garden. It was a fantastic day, not as hot as the previous week and good spirits all around. Many of our volunteers came from the Capitol Riverfront neighborhood--they were curious about what we were up to and excited to be a part of this new project.

Early in the morning, we were honored to have Gloria Almeyda, David Stemper's wife, join us briefly. Unfortunately she could not stay to greet the volunteers, but she wanted to do some work anyway. She helped shape one of the outer berms, and said it was meaningful because David had done anthropological work on the cultural significance of mounds in Ecuador. It's all connected, isn't it?

Barbara Ball, Outreach Specialist for REI's College Park store, and Gloria Almeyda

We were also thankful to have REI on hand. Barbara Ball, the outreach specialist for the College Park store and the woman who nominated our chapter for the grant to fund this whole thing, provided shade tents, chairs, snacks, and fluids for our hard-working volunteers. She also tended to our youngest activist, Owen!

Barbara and Owen

The volunteers started the day by shaping the berms and adding a layer of topsoil. 

Surfrider's Mike Childs and ANC 6D07 Commissioner David Garber load wheelbarrows with topsoil.

The trees were delivered shortly thereafter (thanks, Frager's!). We have 16 trees, heritage birch and red maple.

Before planting the trees, volunteers spread a wildflower seed mix over the topsoil, and then followed with a layer of erosion control matting to keep everything in place.

Matting in place, we dug out holes for the trees, and dropped them in, maples on the outer ring and birch on the interior.

It's not the easiest surface to work on--there is a lot of construction debris, so some folks spent a while looking for concrete chunks to pull out, and sometimes we enlisted a pickaxe to dig.

But once the trees were in, the garden really started to take shape!

After our work was done, many volunteers adjourned to Justin's Cafe for drinks and snacks to celebrate.

We didn't get it all done, though. Join us again on Saturday, June 25 for our second work day. We'll be planting the swales that day, and putting the finishing touches on the walkways between the rings. Stay tuned for more details.