On Saturday, June 23 a Food Forest Volunteer Workday was held on the grounds behind Springhill Lake Recreation Center, co-sponsored by local nonprofit CHEARS (Chesapeake Education, Arts and Research Society) and Greenbelt’s Department of Public Works. Chesapeake Conservation Corps intern Maryam El-Amin, who has been working at the Department of Public Works, is conducting a comparative study to determine how best to manage invasive plant species in the Food Forest, using only manual, organic methods.
The Food Forest was separated into four square sections, each measuring 10×10 feet. In three sections, unique methods of controlling the invasive plants were used: mulching the ground with layers of wood chips and cardboard, cutting all vegetation with hedge trimmers and weed-whackers, and pulling the invasives’ roots from the ground. The fourth area was the control, to be left alone for comparison. The main targeted weeds were porcelain-berry vines and mile-a-minute vines.
Read more of this story in the July 5 News Review.