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July 31, 2006

This Past Week

Friday July 28, 2006
Today we went to Calvary and finished up the burn pile. Then we went to the North Riverfront Trail and had hot dogs and hamburgers, where we met people from AmeriCorps and they talked about what restortation they were doing down by the riverfront. Then at the end we saw a nice marionette show.
-Eboni
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Thursday July 27, 2006
Today the ERC arrived at Calvary Cemetery to clear a path for the native prairie plants to grow. The trees, that have outgrown the plants through the years, blocked out the sunlight; thus, they must be removed if we want to have any chance of saving this dying praire. Good luck ERC!
-Johann
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Wednesday July 26, 2006

After ERC packed up [from Shaw], we headed to the wetlands. After that we went back to LREC and we worked on the stream table where we learned about erosion, runoff and infiltration. Next we went on a scavenger hunt where we had to find 6 flags (not the park). After that we ended our day reading in the glasshouse.
-Brittney
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Tuesday July 25, 2006

In the morning we went to the Earthways home and learned about electricity, compact fluorescent bulbs, and conserving water. We also went to Alberici to learn about environmental building. We also learned about their prairies and what [native] flowers they grow. We ate lunch at a park and then we went to the cabins [at Shaw Nature Reserve].
-Whittney
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Monday July 23,2006

Today ERC went to Calvary and cut down trees. We cut them down because they were in the prairie and we needed to get them out of the way. We will continue throughout the week.
-Colleen

Posted by erc1 at 08:47 AM | Comments (0)

July 24, 2006

We're Back (We think)

It has been about 5 days since ERC has posted anything about their daily activities due to the recent storms. So we are posting last week's blogs today.
-Jessie
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July 21,2006
We were all pleased to have helped/participated in the effort [at Calvary Cemetery] to restore the little we have of St. Louis prairie. Soon after we started working it started raining, we all headed for the van. Very happy to be soaking wet, we countinued our day at LREC.
-Johann

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July 20, 2006
Thursday July 20,2006

The ERC was at Shaw Nature Reserve. When we were there we met up with James Trager and we collected seeds. We collected Bee Balm, Ohio Hosremint and Woodland Brome in the morning.
-Colleen

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July 19,2006

Today we went to the Missouri Botanical Gardens and took a tour of the Herbarium and the Center for Plant Conservation. At the CPC we looked at some of the rare plant species that they have living there [in the Garden]. After all that we took a long van ride to Shaw Nature Reserve. At the reserve we cooked dinner and then the lights went out and we went on a walk in the dark with no flashights and we couldn't see anything but it ws fun.
-Eboni

Posted by erc1 at 04:50 PM | Comments (0)

July 23, 2006

Living Legacy

Tuesday (7/18), ERC went to Calvary Cemetery to help restore one of the last prairies [in the city of St. Louis] that was never turned into fields.

We then headed over to Bissel water treatment plant and had a tour. We all learned a lot about the cleaning of our waste water.
-Colleen

Posted by erc1 at 10:32 PM | Comments (0)

July 18, 2006

Get em' out

Today [Monday] we were out in the prairie taking out Japanese hops, curly dock, blackberry, and grapevine. We learned more about watersheds. We're all looking forward to tomorrow.
-Eboni

Posted by Heather Wells-Sweeney at 05:02 AM | Comments (1)

July 16, 2006

Highlights from Week 1 of ERC

Students said their highlights from the week were:
learning what a certain word is in Malagasy
playing "A Day in the Life of the Prairie"
pulling invasive species from the prairie
learning about bees from Malinda

Posted by Heather Wells-Sweeney at 03:01 PM | Comments (0)

Prairies

Pulling Rumex crispus (curly dock)

Today (Friday) ERC removed invasive species from the prairie. We read Schroeder's [account of early St. Louis prairies]. We played a game called "A Day in the Life of a Prairie." We looked up plants we found today and Wednesday.
-Brittany

Posted by Heather Wells-Sweeney at 02:33 PM | Comments (0)

July 13, 2006

Madagascar

This morning was filled with a bit of curiosity. We had the privilege to hear of Madagascar restoration plans from native Malagasy (pronounced "mal-gazh")people. We all enjoyed sharing pieces of our culture.
-Johann

Today I learned about Malagasy (pronounced "mal-gazh"). They showed us slides and talked about their restoration practices. I learned about where they come from and what they were doing in Madagascar. What we did today was tell them about the program and then we took them on a tour to show them our prairie and creek restoration. After that we all ate lunch. I enjoyed today.
-Whittney

Posted by erc1 at 04:46 PM | Comments (0)

July 12, 2006

Sherman, Herman, Twerly, Lumpy and Wide Seed

Today, everyone in ERC went out into the North Prairie and collected the seeds of sedges. We found 5 different types and named them Sherman, Herman, Twerly, Lumpy and Wide Seed. It was fun, and a learning experience.
-Eboni

Posted by erc1 at 04:00 PM | Comments (0)

July 11, 2006

Herbarium

The ERC group went to the prairie to collect plants for the Herbarium. The we went back to press them. We collected many different flowers, plants, and trees.
-Colleen

Posted by erc1 at 03:45 PM | Comments (0)

Welcome 2006 Ecological Restoration Corps Students!

Welcome to the 2006 ERC students:Johann, Eboni, Colleen, Whittney & Brittaney

Posted by erc1 at 08:34 AM | Comments (0)

July 10, 2006

Curriculum Workshop Begins!

On the first day of our workshop, we found a sphinx caterpillar on a goldenrod plant in the prairie.

Posted by ejones at 02:35 PM | Comments (0)