Week 7: Cynthia leads the team to victory

5/10/10 - 5/13/10
Monday: Attack! I designed a watering plan for the day. At our corps meeting, I laid out the battle plan because this is WAR. We will conquer the GCVC watering! We have 14ish project sites to water. Each represents a different battleground within the bounds of GCVC, and each battleground must be conquered to win the war.
We were lucky to have two volunteers with us and three buffies for the day. We were able to accomplish much more with their help.
Christine checked soil moistures for us at P5 and P9, watered P9, and spent the rest of the day at Orange Grove fertilizing our large trees with the help and guidance of NPS staff Christie Sorrell and Jan Busco. The rest of us attacked P5 and P6 on both the eastern and western fronts with two buffies and 5 infantrymen. These units were conquered by lunch when the team split in two, Jess and a volunteer going to conquer the 8 large trees in P8 while I and two volunteers waged war on P10 and P11 with 2 buffies.
We met with Christie and Jan in the afternoon to discuss general site maintenance.

Tuesday: The battle continues, but the opposition begins to fight back. Molly teamed up with Emmy, another SCA intern, to tackle a section of P5 that had escaped our grasp the day before. Depending on time and resources, Molly was to assault some of our smaller units: P4, A5-E, A-5W, and RS2. I took one of our volunteers to one of our largest units, P1, with hopes of being able to keep 1 buffy running continuously at the site and move on to our final unit, P2, which looks deceptively small. Meanwhile, Jess lodged a sneak attack on P3, the unit behind the bathrooms, while Christine continued fertilizing trees at Orange Grove.
Molly met with success at P5 and P7, and they were within our grasp by lunch, but Emmy was unfortunately a casualty of war. We lost her at lunch.
The dry ground joined forces with an onslaught of snow to slow our progression at P1, and we had to call in reinforcements. Molly rushed to our aid, but Jess was kidnapped and led into the depths of the Orange Grove in a race against time. With Molly’s help, P1 was quickly conquered, and we moved on to the smaller units, but left P2 for another day.

Wednesday: P2 falls, and the Orange Grove surrenders. The troops were reduced to the corps and one water buffalo. Jess and Christine continued their battle at Orange Grove, armed with goggles, gloves, and Superthrive in the morning. By afternoon the Superthrive battle was over and, Christine was inspecting the trees with the gentle care of Doctor Mom.
Molly and I launched our attack on P2 with the help of Bruce and Buffy #1. P2 was defeated just after lunch. Molly spent the afternoon mapping our project sites and working on datasheets. Jess and I began mulching our planting basins in P10 and P11, as Jan and Christie had suggested the day before. We were able to mulch the ¾ of the area in the shade before clean-up time.
Thursday: Office Day for all!