Portola Valley Update February 6, 2025

This week's update:

• Community Hall Closed to the Public March 3 – 5 for San Mateo County upcoming Special Election
• Save the Date Annual Portola Valley Town Broom Pull March 2
• A Tip from the Wildfire Preparedness Committee – Start Reducing your Risk from Fire Safe Marin
• Music Trivia Night – Love Music and Trivia? Get Social!
• Conservation Committee February Tip-of-the Month
• How to Access Animal Rescue & Control Services in San Mateo County
• Upcoming Events

Community Hall Closed to the Public March 3 – 5 for San Mateo County upcoming Special Election

All meetings, classes , and no events to be scheduled March 3- March 5. The Community Hall and both the Buckeye and Alder room will be closed to the public during this time for the San Mateo County Special Election being held on March 4,2025. The Community Hall will reopen March 6th.

Save the Date Annual Portola Valley Town Broom Pull March 2 

SAVE THE DATE

March 2, 2025

9:00 - 12:00

Annual Portola Valley Town Broom Pull

Sponsored by the Portola Valley Conservation Committee

Please join the Portola Valley Conservation Committee and community volunteers removing this invasive and flammable weed from public right-of-ways and lands.

Meet at 9:00 AM at the Historic Schoolhouse

Bring friends, neighbors and kids – it’s a fun way to contribute a little muscle power and tackle this problem as a team; Community service hours are provided for this activity.

Broom does not only grow in the right-of-way. Check your yard and get rid of it now, while the soil is wet and removal is easy. Once the soil is hard, root removal is next to impossible.

Please bring water and gloves and wear long sleeves and close-toed shoes

We will provide tools and refreshments

Did you know that Broom is:

• Highly invasive and flammable
• One mature plant can produce 10,000 seeds per season
• The seeds can germinate even after 60+ years
• Seed pods can burst with enough force to fling seeds many feet away
• Outcompetes and chokes out native vegetation
• Poisonous to large domestic animals and makes pastures impenetrable
• It re-sprouts from the roots (pull it out by the roots, when the soil is wet; a weed wrench might be needed for mature plants.)

When in bloom, the yellow flowers may look and smell pretty, but French Broom is one of our nastiest invasive local shrubs. It spreads quickly, choking out both natives and other desirable plants and it is very flammable. It is especially a problem in our Open Space Preserves as the wind can carry seed pods a long way. For questions email conservation@portolavalley.net

A Tip from the Wildfire Preparedness Committee – Start Reducing your Risk from Fire Safe Marin

Years ago, a common joke was “Everyone complains about the weather, but no one does anything about it.” Unfortunately, thanks to climate change, the weather is not much to joke about while it contributes to mega wildfires.

Today’s stark reality is that wildfire mitigation is the only way to reduce wildfire risk. And reducing risk is the only way insurers will continue to do business in California.

Individual homeowners must make their properties safer from wildfires. Fire Safe Marin has a great website, so check out their brochures to get you started:

• Retrofitting Guide – the most common features that put homes at risk of ignition
• Fire Smart Yard – general principles for lower risk landscaping
• Fire Smart Yard Checklist – one simple page to tackle your defensible space

For more in-person help, contact WFPD for a home assessment or talk to your local Firewise community leaders.

Music Trivia Night – Love Music and Trivia? Get Social!

Join your neighbors of 94028 and enjoy a fun-filled evening of banter and musical information...

Saturday, March 8th from 6:45pm to 9pm ( Trivia Starts PROMPTLY at 7pm) at the Portola Valley Community Hall.

Snacks and Beverages will not be available, please bring your favorite treats to share.

To Register Click Here

We can have up to 16 teams with 8 players each. Individual registrants will be assigned to a team, teams with less than eight may be assigned additional teammates. Additional teammates can be added later by filling out a new registration indicating the team name. This event is brought to you by the Parks and Recreation Committee.

Conservation Committee Tip-of-the Month

February Tip-of-the Month

Sour grass or Bermuda Buttercup

Oxalis pes-capre

Oxalis per caprae is a native of South Africa that escaped the garden and is now a common weed in home gardens, pastures and public lands throughout California. including Portola Valley.

It has yellow flowers and clover-like leaves. It spreads by seed and through the formation of little bulb-lets deep in the soil, which will break off even when you try to get all the roots. Its dense foliage effectively crowds out any native seedlings that try to emerge and once it is established it can be very hard to remove.

Small scale infestations should be taken care of by hand or through “hula-hoeing”, although it will take a few years to get them all.

Hula Hoe Weeding

Remove as much of the plant as possible as the flower stalks are beginning to emerge, the bulb-lets that are left behind become depleted of energy and are unable to regrow as robustly the following year. Over time this starves the bulbs of energy and they will die.

Large-scale infestations are very difficult to manage. The oxalates in Oxalis can be poisonous to livestock so grazing isn’t an option. Soil solarization or sheet-mulching may provide some control but in practice, chemical control may be required.

For more information, see the following:

https://wric.ucdavis.edu/information/natural%20areas/wr_O/Oxalis.pdf

http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7444.html

How to Access Animal Rescue & Control Services in San Mateo County

Did you know Peninsula Humane Society & SPCA’s Animal Rescue & Control department operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to help animals and residents of San Mateo County?

Professional and dedicated rescue staff provide the following services:

• Pick up of stray domestic animals
• Responding to animal bites and attacks
• Rescuing sick and injured animals
• Assisting public safety agencies when requested
• Enforcement of laws that protect animals and people

For matters that need a response from Animal Rescue & Control, please call 650-340-8200. Calls are prioritized based on the animal services agreement with San Mateo County.

Dead animal reporting: please call 650-340-7022 ext. 603 to leave a message.

Barking dog complaints: please contact your local police.

For additional information please visit www.phs-spca.org.