Notes From Junior Naturalists Event On Aug 10th

Thanks to those of you who made it out to the Todmorden Mills Planting event. It was a perfect sunny August day! Thanks also to Paula and Steve, who hosted us and made it such a special time. We are so grateful that you have made Todmorden Mills an amazing place where nature is  restored and protected!! 

We carried mulch, water and 10 Gray-stemmed Dogwood plants into a challenging planting site with a lot of Dog Strangling vine. We could peek through the fence towards the parkway, and see solid DSV on the steep banks going down to the highway. Paula explained that Gray-stemmed Dogwood out-competes DSV and is good for challenging it. She also demonstrated how to dig a hole, and how deep to make it. Steve showed us how to cut the roots so they wouldn’t keep growing in a circle and strangle the plant. While we were digging holes, we found mature cicada nymphs. We could see the little bumps of exoskeleton containing their wings. They were moving their front legs, as if they were ready to climb a tree trunk and shed their exoskeleton!

Keep on learning with the following:

Toronto Field Naturalists wishes to acknowledge this Land through which we walk. For thousands of years, the Land has been shared by the Wendat, the Haudenosaunee, and the Anishinaabe. Toronto is situated on the Land within the Toronto Purchase, Treaty 13, the traditional and treaty Lands of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation. This territory is also part of the Dish with One Spoon Wampum, a covenant agreement between Anishinaabeg, Haudenosaunee, Wendat peoples and allied nations to peaceably share the land and all its resources. Today, the Land is home to peoples of numerous nations. We are all grateful to have the opportunity to continue to care for and share the beauty of this Land.