Many thanks to the 40 or so who came out on our first cold windy day to lop off the heads and dig up the rhizomes of the persistent phragmites. They are beautiful, but they take over. In 2019 a seed mix of 20 wildflowers was planted in the two swales (stormwater filtration basins) at Magazine Beach. Today the eastern swale is mostly phragmites–which came on their own.
Troop 56’s Gwei Strong-Allen did a fabulous job leading her Venture Scout Project. This is a culminating conservation project, similar to an Eagle Scout Project. She recruited most of the volunteers, oriented them, borrowed tools and applied for permits.
If you’d like to contribute to this battle–man vs. phragmites–you still can. Tomorrow, Saturday, Nov. 11, from 9am-12noon, the Charles River Conservancy will hold another invasive removal event and plant bulbs, too.
If you haven’t registered, please bring a shovel, wear boots, and dress in layers. We’ll have everything else you need. It will be cold, but you’re tough and I’m bringing hot brownies…
11/11/17 Update: On Friday we broke through the “Northwest Passage” of phragmites, opening up the North and South sections of the swale. Today, with the help of 50 MORE FABULOUS volunteers we cleared an even broader area. Students from MIT, BU, Northeastern, CRLS and volunteers from the New England Aquarium, all helped out. See our progress below.
The swales as they look now after the attention of 90 volunteers these last two days. Welcome wildflowers!
Update: 11.18.19: Thank you Riverside, CRLS, CRWA and Cport volunteers for all your digging today. Almost 35 were on site and we cleared more area. We’re getting there! Tomorrow we’ll be there once more, from 8:30-noon, at least. The rain should end around 8:30-9am and we should have clear skies and 55 degree weather for the rest of the day… Wear boots and be prepared to get messy! No need to register. Just come. We’ll have tools, work gloves, and hot brownies…
Magazine Beach 
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