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| Wendy Ryan, a weed's worst foe C. Davis photo |
On Thursday, November 10 the Matthew Halton Eco-Hawks joined Castle Crown Wilderness Coalition Stewardship Co-ordinator Wendy Ryan creekside. Ryan, who spends her winters as Lift Supervisor at Castle Mountain, also devotes a lot of time to her other passion, ecological conservation.
On this day, students both reticent and eager were caught in her wake, removing burdock and other noxious weeds from path along Pincher Creek's namesake waterway. They also removed a variety of garbage, including commercial waste blown from inadequately contained receptacles and the detritus of various other activities.
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| Burdock, Wendy Ryan's worst foe C. Davis photo |
Andrea Robinson served as Substitute Teacher for the students, and expressed the wish that every day could be as much fun as this one.
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| Eco-Hawks find Burdock hidden in plain sight C. Davis photo |
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| Eco-Hawks walking the walk |
Along the way, Ryan showed the Eco-Hawks how to properly strip the seeds from the burdock plant before uprooting it. She cautioned that the burrs could easily cling to one's clothing, which was adequately demonstrated during the outing. Trivia tidbits: Burdock was the inspiration for Velcro. In Asia, the burdock root is considered a delicacy. Apparently it goes well with pork. In traditional Chinese medicine it is used as a diuretic, among other things. In Pincher Creek it is an invasive weed that chokes out native foliage.
Ryan also said that close to 700 pounds of metal were removed from the area of the creek during the Eco-Cleanup event earlier this year.
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