Day 4: Flags Galore, Even More!

For me, this morning began with an adventure to P2, where we continued the task of flagging the plot at regular intervals, marking every five (and sometimes one) meters. It got a bit tricky because our measurements didn’t always match up with where the echinacea were growing (they should have been right at the flags), but as one Dr. Jennifer L. Ison said, “you can’t argue with the plants.” We eventually got in a groove and formed an infallible(ish) tape measure square, moving from spot to spot in formation, installing blue or orange flags at the points of the square. Although we didn’t quite finish before lunch, hopefully finishing up should be quick process next time we get out there.

Lunch consisted of a chickpea salad sandwich, an apple, some pretzels, a couple presentations and a team discussion about norms and expectations for the working together for the season. We individually answered four questions about how we think teams work well together, shared our ideas all together, and will work on forming all of our thoughts into a few succinct statements in the next couple days. Plenty to digest!

After lunch, I headed out with a group to Loeffler’s Corner to find and flag flowering echinacea. How many did we find, you ask? I have no idea, it was literally too many to count (seems like a problem for the demo crew, which may include me anyway, so I’ll keep ya posted.) Estimates ranged between 100-200, my guess was 172. Just know it was a LOT. One plant we saw even had nine flowering heads.

Of course, no flog post of mine would be complete without at least one photo of some sort of lepidopteran. Today, enjoy two!

Almost at the end week one! Fingers crossed that whoever is in charge of tomorrow’s post does some killer alliteration with “day five” and “flagging” and “Friday.” Until next time!