This week's group run was a return to the very long task of removing invasive goldenrod plants from the riverside meadow.

A few years ago when we started tackling this task the plant covered the whole meadow and was shoulder high all over. The big thick clumps took all our might to pull out.

After several seasons of pulling by us and other volunteer groups the meadow is showing massively improved biodiversity and the goldenrod that remains was just knee high little seedlings and shoots from fragments of root left behind last year. The pulling was also much easier as they didn't have as firm a grip of the ground.

With six of us picking our way between plants and pulling up piles of plants we made a huge impact toward finally getting this patch cleared. Plus we got it all done before it went to seed! We'll see what returns next year but it won't be much and we'll be back to finish it off once and for all.