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Welcome to the Test Plot log. Please check back for seasonal updates from our volunteers and stewards. You can also search by location in the footer.

2025

5/23 GETTING AHEAD OF BRUSH CLEARANCE
by Jen Toy

5/01 GARDENING IN THE GERMAN SPEAKING WORLD
by Max Kanter

3/31 “HEAVY HITTERS” UNDER THE EUCALYPTUS 
by Jen Toy

3/30 PHASE 2 AT STARR KING
by Théa Ryan

2/28 FERRY BOATS, VANS, & A BIT OF MAINTENANCE
by Scott Applebaum and Berit Cummings

2/27 BURN SCAR SEEDLINGS
by Hannah Pae 



2024

11/21 STARR KING TEST PLOT PHASE 2 BEGINS
by Elena Fox

10/24 RAINBOW CANYON KICKOFF 
by Tatianna Velicer 

10/22 GREEN RAVINE  @ CATALINA ISLAND TURNS 1!
by Alex Robinson

7/14 JULY AT THE BURN SCAR
by Hannah Pae

7/08 DISTURBANCE, ELYSIAN
by Jenny Jones

6/20 SUMMER SOLSTICE CHECK-IN
by Anthony Martin

6/08 BALDWIN HILLS TURNS 3!
by Jen Toy

6/07 DEBS FIRST FRIDAYS
by Cody Porter

5/25  EUCALYPTUS UNDERSTORY 
1 YEAR EVALUATION
by Jen Toy

5/17 MAY AT THE BURN SCAR
by Hannah Pae

1/15 EUCALYPTUS 2nd PLANTING
by Jen Toy



2023

11/13 UNDER THE EUCALYPTUS
by Victoria Bevington

11/06 STARR KING INTRO
by Terremoto SF

10/16 WATCHING WEATHER
Q&A with Joey Farewell

9/18 CATALINA SOIL TEST #1
Q&A with Alia Harris and Emersyn Klick

7/10 DEBS FIELD SKETCHES
by Hannah Pae

6/08 IT’S RAINING OAKS 
by Joey Farewell

5/25 SECRET SUPERBLOOM
by Jenny Jones

3/29 RAINBOW RIVER
by Dani Vonlehe, Jenny Jones, Dante Inguinez

3/23 VERTICAL MULCH
by Nina Weithorn

3/10 SPRING AT DEBS
by Adrian Tenney

3/07 WHAT’S IN BLOOM AT BALDWIN
by Arely Media Perez

2/15 USC NEW PLANTS
by Nina Weithorn

VALENTINE’S DAY AT RIO
by Daniela Velazco

1/30 ELEPHANT HILL RAINS
by Joey Farewell


2022

FIELD DRAWINGS FROM SAN BRUNO MOUNTAIN
by Lian Mae Tualla, Tera Johnson

10/22 RIO FIELD NOTES
by Daniela Velazco

STARTING THE USC CAMPUS PLOTS
by Alex Robinson

10/13 ELYSIAN AFTER 3 YEARS
Q&A with Jenny Jones

10/06 RIO AFTER 2 YEARS
Q&A with Jen Toy


2021

STARTING BALDWIN HILLS
by Daniela Velazco



MEET THE SUPER STEWARDS
All interviews by Daniela Velazco + Hannah Flynn

TANIA ROMERO

DANTE INIGUEZ + ANTHONY MARTIN

LUIS RINCON




PORTAL * INTERNAL USE
POST-JANUARY LA FIRES CHECK IN
Burn Scar Test Plot 
By Hannah Pae
Terremoto

 DATE:  February 27, 2025

It’s been about two months since the wildfires started in Los Angeles at the start of the year, and life before the fires seems like a distant past that we will never be able to go back to. Amidst the immediate fear, destabilization, and heart-wrenching grief over our city and our collective unknown future, I’ve experienced glimmers of hope while observing the resilience of the native flora and fauna during the times I’ve come back to Burn Scar post- LA fires to check in on how everything has been holding up after the extreme, drying Santa Ana winds, the LA fires, and late winter rain storms the past couple of weeks.

Soon after the brush fire in Elysian Park in fall 2023 that burned through the Burn Scar Test Plot, we noticed toyon sprouting back from charred stumps. A year and four months later today, the toyon sprouting back from the base of a charred branching arch has grown to be almost 5’ tall, with toyon seedlings coming up nearby – a true testament to the resilient nature of our fire adapted ecology.

Charred logs that we’d sawed and laid on the ground have inadvertently taken on the critical role of nurse logs for wildflower seedlings from last year’s seed bank – baby lupine, clarkia, and lacy phacelia – that are taking advantage of the sheltered microclimate created by the logs. A few months before the LA fires, we’d also spread native seeds we’d collected from nearby intact chaparral ecosystems in Elysian Park, and I expect we’ll finally see these seedlings pop up in the next few weeks, now that we’ve finally had a couple long-awaited, bittersweet, winter storm events in LA post-fire.

We’ve had to postpone our volunteer work day in January because of the LA fires, but we are looking forward to having our first volunteer work day of the year in a few weeks – Fri, March 14th – and working in community to care for this land together.



JULY AT THE BURN SCAR
Burn Scar Test Plot 
By Hannah Pae
Terremoto

TIME: 8:00-11:30am
DATE:  July 14, 2024
TEMP: 70-76 deg
WEATHER: partly cloudy
WIND (SPEED/DIRECTION): 3 mph / north
SOIL MOISTURE: dry
PLANTS SIGHTINGS:
-Some CA poppy
-A few late blooming clarkia! 
-American Bird’s Foot Trefoil (Acmispon americanus) + Clustered Tarweed (Deinandra fasciculata) are blooming through the dried out clarkia stalks
WEED SIGHTINGS: Pokeweed and a few small black mustard



MAY AT THE BURN SCAR
Community Workday
By Hannah Pae
Terremoto

TIME: 8:00-11:30am
DATE:  May 17, 2024
TEMP: n/a
WEATHER: overcast
WIND (SPEED/DIRECTION): n/a
SOIL MOISTURE: dry
PLANTS SIGHTINGS: 
-Clarkia superbloom 
-California Poppy (Eschscholzia californica) 
-California Brittlebush (Encelia californica)
WEED SIGHTINGS:
-Black mustard (Brassica nigra)
WILDLIFE SIGHTINGS:
-Eucalyptus leaf beetle larvae (Chrysophtharta m-fuscum)

Brought out the scythes and cut back a lot of the flowering black mustard surrounding the test plot before they went to seed, mulched, and hand-weeded.

Bringing mulch up the hill from the parking lot to the site in wheelbarrows has continued to be a physically strenuous and time consuming affair, so we’ve prioritized mulching around new plants before spreading elsewhere on the test plot.







BURN SCAR COMMUNITY WORKDAY
Burn Scar Test Plot 
By Hannah Pae
Burn Scar volunteer, Terremoto designer

DATE: April 19 2024
TIME: 8:00-11:30am
 ︎ WEATHER: Overcast
SOIL MOISTURE: dry
︎PLANT SIGHTINGS: First wave of CA native wildflowers are coming up in full force (see pics below)
WEED SIGHTINGS: Black Mustard (Brassica nigra), Pokeweed (Phytolacca americana),  Brome (Bromus diandrus?)
︎WILDLIFE SIGHTINGS: Western fence lizard (Sceloporus occidentalis) and Spider (species unknown)
︎HUMAN ACTIVITY:  Good number of trail users


SPECIES ADDED (new species*)
  • Big Berry Manzanita (Arctostaphylos glauca)*
  • Black Sage (Salvia mellifera)
  • California Brittlebush (Encelia californica)
  • Climbing Penstemon (Keckiella cordifolia)*
  • Lemonade Berry (Rhus integrifolia)*
  • Purple Sage (Salvia leucophylla)
  • White Sage (Salvia apiana)





MARCH BURN SCAR , TERREMOTO PLANTING DAY  
Burn Scar Test Plot 
By Hannah Pae
Burn Scar volunteer, Terremoto designer

DATE: March 29 2024
TIME: 8:00-11:30am
︎ WEATHER: Sunny, blue skies, some clouds
SOIL MOISTURE: dry
︎PLANT SIGHTINGS: See pics below
WEED SIGHTINGS: Black Mustard (Brassica nigra), Pokeweed (Phytolacca americana)
︎WILDLIFE SIGHTINGS: Western fence lizard (Sceloporus occidentalis)
︎HUMAN ACTIVITY: Fair amount of folks walking by on the trail, many w/ pups


SPECIES ADDED (new species*)
  • Black Sage (Salvia mellifera)*
  • California Buckwheat (Eriogonum fasciculatum)*
  • California Fuschia (Zauschneria californica)*
  • California Sagebrush (Artemisia californica)*
  • Coastal Bush Sunflower (Encelia californica)*
  • Deer Weed (Acmispon glaber)*
  • Sacapellote (Acourtia microcephala)*; local source – San Rafael Hills
  • Southern Black Walnut (Juglans californica)*
  • White Sage (Salvia apiana)*
  • Wild Rye (Leymus condensatus)*