Week 1

We brought the cloudy, rainy weather from Washington State to Sandy Hook, NJ. So we did a lot of prep work. We used the tool sharpening and chainsaw maintenance skills we learned at CM training to prepare our chainsaws, loppers, and other tools for work. We also flagged invasive plants—tree of heaven, autumn olive, and curly grass—at Plum Island, Horseshoe Cove, and the beach. In the middle of the week, we went to the Cape May Plant Materials Center to get acquainted with native plants and learn about different research projects, such as carbon sequestration benefits of native plants, bee pollination research, native grasses for biofuel, seed cleaning technologies, etc. Overall, it was a week of preparation and education.