On Saturday, September 17, from 10:00 am-2:00 pm, the Roslyn Branch of AYLUS volunteered in the fields of LINPI.
We harvested switchgrass with a couple of the other volunteers at LINPI. Switchgrass is tall, some as high as four feet, and has a similar appearance to wheat. We grabbed them in bundles and twisted them slightly to separate the individual stalks from other switchgrass while an adult came and used a machine similar to a chainsaw to cut them. The leftover stems would regrow in a year, but as of now they were prickly and hard to navigate around, but we managed to finish without complaint or holes in our legwear. After that, we used snippers to harvest a kind of white flower that had seeds similar to a dandelion. Moving slowly and cautiously was crucial due to the fact that seeds drifted off in the winds easily. After stacking them on the mower and making two trips to the greenhouse, we unloaded everything and spread them out on tarps.
Members who participated include:
Yang Amy Wu (4 hours) and Zihan Wang (4 hours).
Reporter: Yang Amy Wu
