Summer school students identify plants in the MLK Native Garden.

With cooler weather and shorter days just around the corner, horticulture students whisk through their final summer to-do lists, taking to the city, garden and trails while the sun is still shining and the temperature is still climbing.
 
City crews continue to work on the Amazon project by weed-eating the fence lines of the dog park and meridians along Amazon Parkway. Crews also work to remove exotic, invasive plants from Coyote Prairie, near Fern Ridge.
 
In the garden, crews continue to harvest mounds of garlic, lettuce and strawberries. For the next several weeks, crews will tend to the avalanche of summer favorites: tomatoes, peppers, watermelon and corn.
 
Aside from harvesting fresh, tasty produce, garden crews landscaped the native garden and MLK greenhouse and made preparations for the new hedgerow, (a hedge of native plants that attracts insects and encourages crop pollination) which will be put behind existing DYS crops.
 

MLK student forest crew at work among old growth timber.

Having just wrapped up a cycle with the Willamette Ranger District, the forest crew started work on a United States Forest Service (USFS) rotation, where crews will work on several road-brushing projects, in addition to trimming trees and shrubs and cutting logs. The crews' work with the USFS will lessen the risk of forest fires and promote the growth of trees.

For the next couple weeks, forest crews will also work on the Lowder Trail, located up the McKenzie River Ranger District. Crews will use loppers and scythes to cut brush from the trail.

Looking forward, Horticulture Program and Culinary Program students will continue to participate in the Lane County Farmers Market by selling produce and preparing food with farm-fresh ingredients.