Monday morning June 25th, the team arrived at Indiana Dunes National Park ready to go at our usual time of 6:30AM. Upon arriving we loaded backpack sprayers onto the truck, five in total, and we mixed the AquaNeat Herbicide for the sprayer we mixed twenty of the jugs in total for that. Each jug contained Fifteen oz of AquaNeat, two oz of surfactant, and a whole bunch of water. After lunch we mixed four more as well. By the end of the day we had sprayed out eighteen jugs worth of AquaNeat, totaling two hundred and seventy ounces of the undiluted Herbicide, over an area of 6.8 acres.
The morning of Tuesday June 26th went essentially the same as the previous day. We brought with us two thousand one hundred twenty six plants to the Bog. At the end of the day we had planted them all. It consisted of six hundred forty six plants of Scirpus validus, one thousand one hundred of Carex stricta, and three hundred eighty of Carex pellita over an area of a half acre.
For the Wednesday we decided that we should have a person spraying herbicide due to the fact that there were many invasive cat tails in the area. Despite having prior sprayed within the area there were many sprouts that had been missed/overlooked. Two jugs were sprayed to finish the section (thirty ounces). The rest of the team planted Two Thousand One Hundred and Sixty Five plants that day. There were the usual plants; Three Hundred Ten of the Scirpus validus, Seven Hundred Sixty of the Carex stricta, and Three Hundred Thirteen of the Carex pellita. The team was able to plant some new plants in that area as well. They were for the sides of the bog, towards the road, where it is drier. The team planted A Hundred Fourteen of Mimulus ringens, A Hundred Twelve of the Zizia aurea, A Hundred Eighty Four of the Chelone glabra, A Hundred Nine of the Carex scoparia, A Hundred Forty Five of the Liatris spicata, and Thirty Eight of Coreopsis tripteris. It was a long day, but fortunately we were able to sleep in the next day.
Thursday June 28, 2012 we decided to have an office day. It was a nice break from the extreme heat that was forecasted for the day, as well our lack of sleep during the week. It was time to prepare the slide show for the new interns that were to arrive Sunday of that weekend. Also to organize our data and everything else involving paperwork that the SCA and AmeriCorps requires.
