Thanksgiving Trees Year Two

With the wind chill near freezing, Native Plants and Animals students planted it forward. They added three trees to our Small Forest. Between the six environmental science classes I teach, we are planting 18 trees on our campus. Last Friday's inch of rain made our task much easier.

Last year Small students planted a dozen trees at Westcave Preserve and thus initiated Thanksgiving Trees, a tradition we hope will adopted by others. The idea is simple. Plant a tree or few around the end of November, reflect on gratitude, and do something positive for the environment.

By 5th period it had warmed up, and we had more trees to plant. This time we added three retamas to the southern end of the Small Forest.

One prominent characteristic of retamas is the long thorns along the trunk and branches. These spikes are perfect for a sated bird to stash a tasty dragonfly for a later meal.