High Ground Organics’ home farm is protected by two easements, an agricultural easement and a conservation easement. This summer we are lucky to have Brown University student Clare Peabody working as an intern to help our restoration efforts on the half of the property under the conservation easement.
This part of the property is a thriving (if weedy) coastal prairie grassland adjacent to one of the few remaining fresh water wetlands in central California. Clare contributes this week’s article, giving you a glimpse of the grassland habitat through her eyes.
By Restoration Intern Clare Peabody
On my first day at High Ground this summer, Jeanne led me into the 20-acre conservation easement on the side of the farm that borders Harkins Slough. Past the shade houses, past expansive rows of strawberries and oregano, past the hedgerows abuzz with birds and insects, we marched into what seemed like an endless sea of Italian thistle– Carduus pycnocephalus. Armed with a hoe, a plant identification pamphlet and a bag of peanut butter-filled pretzels, I spent that first day trying to whack down a portion of the 5-foot tall thistle that bordered an area of the easement that had been planted with native species. I viewed the world with tunnel vision, whacking down each spiky, purple-flowered enemy that entered my narrow line of sight, in the hopes that we could prevent the already-viable thistle seeds from entering the adjacent planting area parallel to the wetland.
Since that first day, my vision of the grassland at High Ground has expanded. Laura Kummerer has led the restoration project at the site since 2006, joined in 2011 by son Robin (shown below with some of the other restoration “helpers” – a herd of pesty goats). On my second day, 
Laura walked with me through the grassland to introduce me to the native plant community. It seemed like every few steps she would pause, bend down closer to the earth and point out something alive—here, a Santa Cruz Tarplant, a federally threatened species that was once reported to have flourished on this particular hillside; there, a long, delicate stalk of native Blue Wild Rye. Across the water, we watch a family of osprey nesting atop an abandoned power line, and as we weed radish from the native planting area we hear the high-pitched cry of the glossy-black grackle. Drip by drip, I am gaining a new understanding of the wonder that lies within the Watsonville Slough System: of its rich native plant and animal diversity, of its power to take up excess nutrients and pollutants that run off from farms, and especially of its pure and delicate nature that is unfortunately vulnerable to invasions by nonnative “weedy” species.
The earlier stages of this summer were spent trying to eradicate many of these species from the conservation easement before their seeds became viable and spread elsewhere. Besides the ever-pervasive Italian thistle, some other 
players I became well acquainted with were Black Mustard, Wild Radish and Poison Hemlock. It was tiring work, but also incredibly rewarding to see the end result of our efforts. As the limp corpses of slain weeds accumulated into massive piles, we revealed dense areas of lively native sedges, grasses, and even wildflowers.
We are all but done with weeding for the summer, but there is no shortage of tasks to be completed on the restoration project. We have collected California Sun Cup seeds, which reside in intricate seed-pods buried underground that were once transported by native ants; monitored and recorded a population of the aforementioned Santa Cruz Tarplant, with its tiny yellow blossoms; and mowed and removed thatch (excess dead plant material) to promote the abundance of the tentative California Oatgrass. Over the next few weeks, Laura and I will collect and compare data so that we can assess how the property has responded to the management strategies implemented over the past nine years.
In nature, change operates on many different timescales; in my five weeks of working at High Ground, I have witnessed a vanishing of many weedy species, if only temporary. In the long term, I can only hope that our continued efforts to restore this sensitive habitat will promote some degree of ecological stability.
If you are interested in helping us with the restoration project, and want to experience the wetlands for yourself, an opportunity is coming up to do just that! On Saturday, July 25th we will be hosting a volunteer “mulching party” in one of the native planting areas that borders the wetland. By spreading mulch in the areas of bare ground, we can prevent weeds from coming up in future years and protect the existing populations of native grasses, sedges, and wildflowers. More information to come!
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