By Dan Kirk I don’t know much about the process of wine making, but based on observation, it seems as though it’s the season to harvest grapes and begin the process. My observations include: seeing lots of grapes at the farmers market, walking under a grapevine at an entryway and picking grapes and eating them, and having a conversation with a friend who recently harvested grapes to make wine. Okay the last one isn’t really an observation, but our conversation did inspire me to think about grapes native to California. As it turns out, Vitis californica, or California wild grape, is …
Ebb & Flow
The Newsletter of The Watershed Project
October Tree Care
By Charlotte Pitt October is a time for celebrating many things; the coming of fall, Indigenous Peoples’ Day, Halloween, and the City of Richmond Arbor Day! Every year the City of Richmond recognizes the third Wednesday of October as the city’s Arbor Day, and in honor of this day they raise awareness for the importance of trees and host a celebration and planting event in collaboration with Groundwork Richmond. Trees are very valuable, especially in urban areas, as they not only provide food and habitat for local pollinators and other animals, but also provide shade, ground stabilization, …
Preparing Teachers Who Take Action
By Carrie Strohl At the beginning of October, ten preservice teachers and I participated in a creek cleanup to learn more about plastic pollution in the Bay Area. The students are enrolled in a one-year professional program to earn their California teaching credentials. As their science methods instructor, my role is to prepare candidates to implement science instruction at the elementary (K-5) level. Taking students outside and engaging them in environmental education has been an important part of my practice since I began teaching the course in 2015–just as the California Blueprint for …
What’s In Your Watershed: California Mussels
By Charlotte Pitt Sprawled across the San Francisco Bay in habitats known as shellfish beds reside a multitude of species sensitive to the quality of water, such as oysters, mussels, and clams. These shellfish were once a popular food source for the residents of the San Francisco Bay area, however in modern times pollution runoff from industry and agriculture is too high to consume any shellfish from the bay. The most abundant of these species, the native Olympia oyster (Ostrea lurida), has been a primary focus of restoration efforts, as pollution and loss of habitat have caused the …
Coastal Cleanup Day: Taking the Temperature of the Planet
By Paula White Last Saturday was the 37th year of International Coastal Cleanup Day. In California over 20,000 people came out to clean up at beaches, creeks, parks, and neighborhoods. This act of love for the planet is hopeful and celebratory, but it also reveals a troubling and persistent truth: the earth is suffering from a plastic pollution crisis. Discarded plastic bags, bottle caps, straws, and hundreds of unidentifiable microplastics wind up in the digestive tracts of hundreds of marine species. Plastic microfibers from clothing have been found in wastewater across the globe, in the …
Passion and Dedication: Over a Decade of Greening Schoolyards Here in the San Francisco Bay Area
By Kat Sawyer Making room for nature in public schools has been a part of my professional work for more than a decade. I remember managing my first significant school greening project in 2008, to demolish two large sections of concrete on the playground of Daniel Webster Elementary in San Francisco and construct raised planting beds out of the broken pieces. When I look back, I realize how complex that endeavor was, and I have gratitude for the key partners who helped me achieve that vision. Stormwater management and water reclamation became the focus of my work, and I …
Sea Level Rise Adaptation for the Incoming Tide
By Juliana Gonzalez Looking at the San Francisco Bay during the last 19 months of the pandemic has been a source of inspiration. We are privileged to be surrounded by water and a green belt around the Bay, at the heart of our community. We are grateful for all the Bay has given us in terms of open space and cool air, and that is why we need to get busy protecting our home from sea level rise. In the back of my mind, I am always thinking about what the future holds for the Bay, my community and this place we call home. As I read the report of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on …
Coastal Cleanup Day surges back!
By Paula White Last year when I was writing The Watershed Project’s annual Coastal Cleanup Day invitation, I thought for sure we’d be “back to normal” by now. Then the delta variant came, and well, you know the rest. Luckily, we have better tools and more information about how to protect ourselves from COVID-19 than we did last year. First and most importantly, we know that outdoor events are relatively safe, especially for vaccinated people. And that’s what has always been so great about Coastal Cleanup Day--it’s a chance to be outside, doing something good for the planet and ourselves …
