Since 2021, Amah Mutsun Land Trust has worked in partnership with Pie Ranch and State Parks to propagate native plants at Cascade Ranch on Año Nuevo Point. Working with a team of dedicated volunteers, we have planted over 140,000 plants in long-term beds for seed production to support local coastal prairie stewardship work at Quiroste Valley Cultural Preserve in Año Nuevo State Park.

Unfortunately, due to the agricultural history of the area, our native plant beds are infested with a particularly vigorous exotic invasive plant called Bermuda buttercup or sourgrass (Oxalis pes-caprae), which originally came from South Africa. Of all the agricultural weeds that occur in this region, Oxalis is one the most difficult to manage without the use of herbicide, which AMLT does not use in its plant propagation work. Every winter, hundreds of thousands of Oxalis corms sprout in the native plant beds, threatening to overwhelm the native plants we are growing for seed production.

We are seeking help from a large group of volunteers to remove as much Oxalis as possible from our native plant beds at this event. The goal will not be to remove every individual tiny plant by hand (which we have discovered is untenable), but to remove as many large plants as possible, opening up space for the native plants in the beds to grow large enough to compete against the Oxalis plants that remain.

Please join us to help rescue the native plants from the annual Oxalis invasion!

This event will involve bending over / kneeling / sitting beside plant beds to pull out the weeds. They come out easily at this time of year when the ground is wet. Conditions may be wet and muddy. We will plan to hold the event rain or shine, unless there is severe stormy weather.

Volunteers are not expected to participate for the entire workday (10 AM – 4 PM), but may if desired. Volunteers can arrive and depart when needed, but we ask everyone who participates to please plan to work for at least three hours.

There are portable toilets on site, and we will also have water available on site.

Around 12:30 PM, we will stop for lunch / break and have a 30-45 minute interpretive program for anyone who is interested to share information about the work of Amah Mutsun Land Trust, talk about Indigenous land stewardship, and answer questions.

Please bring the following:

• snacks/lunch
• water
• clean gloves if you have them (we will also have extras)
• a clean weeding tool if you have one you like (we will have extras, no weeding tools with sharp edges such as hori-horis please – they damage our irrigation lines)
• protective clothing that can get dirty
• closed-toed shoes are required

Click here for more information and to register.