Thanks for tuning-in to Coastal Zone CA! Our
site endeavors to log the character of coastal California’s natural
and human history, as well as to highlight the contributions of locals of
the land doing great work and having fun. Please check for regular updates.
In the Zone Interview
we visit salt of the earth and hear their stories, in the Real
World we examine pieces of the natural history of coastal
California, and in Coastal
Roots we share a bit of California’s maritime history.
A BIG THANK YOU to the ultimate Zone Local - Zephyr Forest
- for constructing the Coastal Zone CA website!!
Yay for hi-tech teenagers!!
Enjoy
Now that I live one ridge over from the uncomfortable reality of the coastal Spring weather I grew up in, I’ve begun to appreciate and miss the vibrancy of this time of year. I visit with pleasure the dynamism of northwest winds, and the choppy and cold ocean, and then retreat back to the pleasant weather of our creek valley sheltered deep in the north recesses of Mt Tam. But once up and out into the wilds this time of year I love to feel the wind, see the blooming and especially to watch the grasses popping. I used to mildly tease my husband for his life as a bird nerd – but nothing is as nerdy as taking extreme pleasure in the site and examination of grass.. But I can’t help myself. For this edition of the Zone Interview I have a conversation with Ashley Ratcliffe, California coastal grass expert. She always says something that cracks me up, but somehow hits the nail on the head. She recently told me that this time of year due to grass she is just beside herself all the time. I can relate.
I have a little grassland at our property on the coast that has been through several transformations over the years. The soil is pretty wet, but it is fully exposed to the sun and coastal elements. It used to be dominated by Holcus lanatus, but has shifted to Bromus carinatus, Hordeum brachyantherum, Juncus, and a few others. This year to my horror, Festuca arundinacea has popped up for the first time. Its huge, deeply rooted bunches are not easy to extract, but we’re working on it – on Mt. Tamalpais they had to bring in backhoes to get it out of the meadows.
Down the street from our land there is a remnant stand of Festuca californica which appears to be the only naturally occurring patch in town. We check it out a couple of times a year, picking out garbage and sprouting Scotch broom. Festuca californica, Nassella pulchra, and Danthonia californica do well in my planter at home “over the hill”. I realized the other day that when we move from here they are going with us. If taken care of, these bunch grasses will outlive us – at least the Festuca – which I recently read may live over 70 years old in the wild if significantly undisturbed. It’s like being the responsible owner of a pet parrot.
We finally found the Tiburon Mariposa Lilly on Ring Mountain. At the beginning of the season I said that I should be on the Fail Blog, because I have tried for five different Springs to see this extremely rare plant – to no avail. Everyone and their mother knew where to see this flower in abundance in its tiny remnant prairie home, but not me. Well, now I saw it - and it was humbling to be amongst the only stand in the world. I’m so glad it’s still here.
On a different note – it is also the time of year for the roadside “Fresh Cherries” people. My sister and I hate the “Fresh Cherry” people. We never met any of them personally, but they started invading rural highway waysides of Marin and Sonoma recently – sitting there looking like yuppies under their patio umbrellas with boxes of pesticide cherries grown many miles and counties away, posing like they are local gentleman farmers just out of the field peddling their fresh crop. What a racket. Cherries can’t even grow in these quantities in the coastal environment of CA. We’ve decided it’s a large organized ring, with huge profits to be made from unsuspecting tourists. I’d much rather see local growers taking advantage of this market and free wayside advertising, than this junk being trucked in. That’s all the griping I’ll do for now.
This summer I’ll be taking some California road trips, and keeping
a journal – at least in my head – for future Coastal Zone material.
Can’t wait to get out there and take a break from the grind. It’s
a partial celebration of my recently lost/quit job that I held with the government
for seven plus years. In those years I learned that it doesn’t matter
what the organization, business, or group - office politics are the same everywhere.
I also finally learned that I am completely mal-adapted to that type of political
and social environment, and will never work in one again! Goodbye to that
office world of insecure, gossipy, and controlling personalities – I’m
back in the field, and I’m my own boss! Being poor never felt so good!
GO GIANTS,
-Rowena, and the Coastal Zone CA crew
Photos P. Pyle
Ferndale with CA Indian Basket, 2005
