A two-mile native-oak planting along the Queen Creek wash — in partnership with the town parks department, three local schools, and the Pascua Yaqui restoration team. Started October 2025; 1,000 trees and counting.
The Queen Creek wash used to hold a cottonwood-and-oak corridor that fell to drought, channelization, and groundwater drawdown over four decades. We’re putting back what the land remembers, with input from the Pascua Yaqui ecological-restoration team.
The work is unglamorous — soil amendment, wire baskets to keep the saplings safe from javelina, twice-weekly drip-line checks for the first three years. But it goes in the ground, it survives the summer, and it grows back into shade.
Each card is one weekend on the wash — what we planted, who showed up, what the soil told us, and what we’re doing differently the next time.
Heavier-than-normal clay along the southern edge of marker 3 needed compost-and-grit dig-in before any planting. Here’s what we did and why we don’t skip it.
Two fourth-grade classes joined for the morning. We learned that 9-year-olds plant 30% faster than adults; they also ask much better questions about why we’re doing this.
First 90F day. We changed call time to 6:30am and finished by 10. Here’s the new summer protocol and the four pieces of cooling kit we now consider mandatory.
First non-oak species on the corridor. Cottonwood needs more water but stabilizes the wash’s edge against the monsoon flow. Pascua Yaqui team led the placement.
Javelina hit two saplings the previous week. We added 18-inch wire baskets to every new plant and back-installed on 80 prior. Here’s the cost & time analysis.
Twenty-two months from first hole to thousand-tree mark. We tallied, photographed, then put another 132 in by lunch. The corridor is starting to look like a corridor.
The work isn’t the photo. The work is what happens when no one’s watching — year three, year six, year ten.
1,240
91% Y1 survival; tracked by tag & quarterly site visit.
2,180
Avg 4.5 hours per volunteer per planting day, weighted.
$8.40
All-in: sapling, wire, drip line, water, soil amendment.
10.3
Of a total 16.0-acre target by 2027 · 64% complete.
Native-species selection, planting protocols, and ecological monitoring. The reason we’re planting the right trees in the right places.
Land access, water rights coordination, maintenance plan past year three. Crew shows up the Tuesdays after we plant.
One-to-three classes joining each Saturday during the school year. Curriculum tied to AZ standards on water cycle & native ecology.
72% of project funding through 2027 in matched-grant tranches tied to Y1 + Y3 survival benchmarks.
Sapling supply at 40% below retail; sources from East-Valley collected seed only. They donate any remainder at the end of each season.
312 unique volunteers across 22 planting Saturdays. Coffee, breakfast, transportation help, and hands.
Mile-marker 3, October through April. We provide tools, water, and breakfast. You bring boots, a hat, and ideally a friend.