The Adventures of the Brave Little Tomato Sauce Bottle

What would life be without a bit of adventure?

Sunrise and full moon over the Southern Alps.

With some luck, and the intensive root-washing efforts of K and F, I was able to finish my experimental harvest in time to have a weekend free to explore! Together with my new favorite travel companion -- a genuine tomato-shaped NZ tomato sauce bottle, a gift from Jamie - I took off South and West to explore parts of the South Island both new and familiar.

A Field Teaser

This week, we finally pinned down a sampling design for my field survey!

You can spend all the time you want having academic discussions in offices, but when it comes to field work, you've really got to go have a meeting in the field.

For those of you who don't know, I'm in New Zealand studying an invasive tree, Pseudotsuga menziesii, better known to most of you as Douglas-fir.  Doug-fir's also known as "Oregon" around here in New Zealand because it's found all across that state back home.  It's actually one of my favorite trees -- I adore the Pacific Northwest, and though Doug-fir wasn't part of my Juneau experience, I've subsequently seen it in British Columbia, been surrounded by it on the Olympic Peninsula, and spotted it all over Oregon and California.

Douglas-fir growing happily in the rainforests of Olympic National Park.