Meeting Notes and upcoming volunteer opportunities to look forward to

[Lauren Merrill]

Hi team members,

We had a great meeting yesterday.The theme of the meeting was, to use an underquoted lyric by Hilary Duff, "let the rain fall down." Once the rains start in the fall, we'll be organizing several planting parties!

Our pollinator projects at Crystal Lake Parking Lot and Mill Race are vastly different...The planting sites at Crystal Lake are confined islands of mulch and more mulch with restrictions on plant height. Mill Race is an open area of what can be described not as dirt, but rubble. Yet our strategy for both of these areas will be the same -- just seed it. We'll be using a pollinator seed mix and bolstering it with some starts/plugs like native strawberry and self-heal.

"When the rains start" is a vague timeframe for planting, but with our native plants, it's the best way to ensure that they're happy and getting ideal, natural conditions.

Our other project, Neighborhood Roots, is moving along and we'll be selecting a neighborhood and starting planting there hopefully in the fall!

Keep checking the volunteer calendar for more volunteer opportunities (though I must admit to not updating it this month during a busy move and family wedding), and hope to see you with rain jackets sooner rather than later!

Notes from the meeting are attached.

Lauren Merrill, Co-leader

Natural Areas Action Team

Corvallis Sustainability Coalition