The Great Antenna Planting Expedition
Fresh from the Cleantech forum held in San Francisco from Feb 24-26, Antennans Caroline Venza and Wei-En Tan trooped down early one Saturday morning to the Wetlands Preserve in Palo Alto to learn about estuaries, methods of preservation, flood control, and more importantly, to plant some seedlings with the non-profit organization, Save the Bay.
Hundreds of wildlife species and billions of small organisms depend on the Wetlands to survive, and the purpose of this particular project was to remove invasive plants, as well as to reintroduce native plants to the Bay. These plants serve a multi-function of trapping harmful chemicals (methane/mercury) in their roots, filtration (ensuring cleaner water) as well as flood control through strengthening of soil and prevention of erosion.
After a group introduction and short history of the bay, all the volunteers were split up into two groups to begin our planting endeavors.
Initially, we faced an uphill task hacking through hard earth and rocks, but eventually hit our stride and successfully planted at least 40 seedlings.
Caroline was excited about the opportunity to use a pick-axe, whereas Wei-En was similarly obsessed by creating perfect circular seedling beds and covering them with mulch.
Proud of our handiwork
After all that hard work, being so close to the local municipal airport, we decided to fly ourselves to Half Moon Bay.
