Rancho Sierra Satwiwa

Rancho Sierra Satwiwa is a National Recreation Area; Sycamore Canyon cuts through it, passing by a waterfall (apparently), leading to the Pacific. It's beautiful with some dramatic scenery and amazingly accessible. I usually catch myself thinking, "LA?..."
which I guess it isn't. Anyway, Tiger Scouts were planting native trees and being Jr Rangers for a day.

Jack just roamed around for the most part, gathering mulch at the right moments. That furrowed brow look is signature.

Michael enjoyed the project and I the throwback to when I helped plant many, many trees and bushes along the narrow sides of our LA house. Japanese, because of generally cramped conditions, tend to favor container gardening; watering took forever. We'd go to the 5 or 6 extensive nurseries in Gardena - 1st generation Issei established strawberry farms decades prior - getting rides on those little golf-cart vehicles hauling our plant-picks, as a regular weekend activity.

I remember concocting my secret recipe for successful planting - generous heaps of blood meal, cushioning the roots and the earth. When my mother moved to her Torrance house, she'd drive back and forth, transporting as many pots as she could load into her Chrysler. When she died, I brought one of her sago palms as a momento, to our Agoura Hills rental, where we left it when we moved to Lausanne.

Horseriders criss-crossed our morning activity.

Then, we went on a quick hike, before circling back and heading home; identifying the morning's starter plants with their full-grown version.

Living in rentals for several years now, it was very satisfying to finally dig and plant something somewhere. Truth be told, it was also nice to be able to just drive away afterwards, too.