08/23/2025 Cohort 7- Watering Day

Today August 23, Cohort 7 went to the test plot for our weekly watering and weeding. We had a layout of the test plot and started to verify where each plant was located and updated their health status. We then continued to pull out any weeds that we found. Since we are in the high heats of summer the soil of our test plot is rock hard, which makes it difficult to pull weeds. We used the iNaturalist app to identify plants and any other wildlife we encountered. While using this app, we made an observation of a Grey Buckeye on an Island Bush Snapdragon.

As we were walking around the test plot making observations, I noticed that it’s active area for species like lizards, caterpillars, Genus Lygaues, Praying mantises , Showy Penstemon, Fragrant Pitcher Sage, and Milkweed. I enjoyed spotting out interesting insects from afar. Overall, being surrounded by nature expanded our views on the importance of wildlife.