[APWG] Mark Vande Pol classes on Deep Weeding in 2012

[Craig Dremann - Redwood City Seed Company]

Dear Ty and All,

Mark Vande Pol is going to have classes on Deep Weeding, later this spring
at his pristine native 14 acre property in the Santa Cruz Mtns.,  about
getting your land back to 99.5% native plant cover in the shortest amount
of time, using techniques that a single person can get the job done on the
scale of 14 acres.

Mark has an email form that I think you can use to get an announcement
when the class will be, what the cost will be, etc., by filling in the
form at http://www.wildergarten.com/customer_files/contact.html and check
the box for announcements and put into the comments field, that you want
information about the Deep Weeding classes in 2012, to achieve 99.5%
native plant cover.

Regarding the annual exotics, the cheatgrass and cereal rye you are
working with, I would do a lot of exsitu test plots in 4 inch plastic
pots, using the top 2 inches of soil taken from areas infested with either
of those weeds.

That is exactly what I set up for the 42,000 acre Krat soil exsitu test
plots that I have doing since November, and so far they  are 100%
exotic-free and the seedlings that are growing in the pots are 100%
native.  I am now looking for any native seeds that were already in the
soil samples, that could still be dormant and could sprout up between now
and March.

For either the cheatgrass or the cereal rye, set up the exsitu 4 inch pots
so you can do at least 100 different treatments for each weed, and of
course have at least four controls that you do nothing with, where the
cheatgrass and cereal rye can grow as it desires and uncontrolled.

Also use some gimmie seeds, like radishes from the hardware store and
wheat berries from the health food store, seeds that are guaranteed to
sprout within a week, to check for lingering allelochemicals that might
still be active in the soil, put there by either the cereal rye or the
cheatgrass.  At the same time, sow those radishes and wheat berries in
regular potting soil, as the control for the allelochemical-check.

And of course, sow at least four different local native species of
grasses,  and at least 3-4 species of forbs at a wide range of sowing
rates.  Use the weediest forbs you can find, like wild sunflowers for
example.  You are not out there trying to paint a beautiful landscape the
first time, just find species that can fight it out with the exotics and
win.  Also sow pots with individual species of natives, and also as mixes,
just to see out how mixes will actually perform.

Also look around the edges of your infestations to see what native species
are lurking in the vicinity, and also test those in your exsitu test pots
also.

I hope that is useful, and look forward to you finding your successful
natives that can win against the cheatgrass and cereal rye in your area.

The picture at http://www.ecoseeds.com/greatbasin.html shows Bluebunch
wheatgrass winning against the cheatgrass, such a solid win, that you do
not see a single plant of cheatgrass in the three pictures of the finished
project.

It should only take a year or two of exsitu test plots, to find the
species that will give you those same kinds of wins against the weeds.

Sincerely,  Craig Dremann (650) 325-7333