Happy Tuesday,

Around the Mad River Valley and in many places worldwide there are invasive species that threaten native flora and fauna. With all the cold rain and snow over the past few weeks, one of those invasive species, Japanese knotweed, was mercilessly beat down and forced to start its growing season anew.

Japanese knotweed looks a lot like asparagus when it first emerges from the ground, but once it grows a few leaves to collect sunlight, it starts growing ferociously. It seems some days the stuff is growing an inch every hour. It normally grows well over six feet tall, but its soft and fragile stalks are mostly water. When we had a couple frosts, the stalks froze through and the knotweed was done for.

Tony and I often talk of bringing machetes to work to beat down a path to the dogs’ favorite swimming place, but this year I’m hoping we won’t have to. Something tells me the knotweed is only a few weeks behind schedule, though, and we’ll be taking care of the patches on Small Dog grounds before too long.

As always, thanks of reading, and keep in touch.

Matt
matt@smalldog.com