Sister projectHogversity

Field training

The Catchment Committee’s field exercises prepare volunteers for conditions met in the field. Each reproduces one lesson of hogweed control in a format familiar from an earlier period of computing, and each is scored the way the field scores a work party: by how long it holds.

Exercises are not a substitute for supervised work parties. No hogweed is harmed in them, and no volunteer is exposed to sap.
  1. Exercise 1 · First-person, rules of 1993 ROOT Knee-Deep in the Weed Five maps, from the village gardens to the source. Volunteers start with a spray bottle, learn why the hoe is not enough, and meet a horde that answers every cut with more heads. The Last Stand stays open for anyone who wants to know how long one person lasts. Begin the exercise →
  2. Exercise 2 · Incremental, rules of 2013 S → P → S′ The accumulation drill One seed. Then a plant. Then automation: wind, rivers, lorries, trade. A drill in how a stand grows when nothing stands in its way. Begin the exercise →
  3. Exercise 3 · Grid survey, rules of 1990 Seedsweeper Soil survey Survey a plot square by square. The numbers tell you how many seeds lie in the soil around you. Dig in the wrong place and the bank sprouts. Begin the exercise →
  4. Exercise 4 · Fixed shooter, rules of 1978 Umbel Invaders Airborne seed Row upon row of umbels descends on the allotments. Hold the line from the path with a spray bottle of soapy water. Begin the exercise →
  5. Exercise 5 · Quiz show, rules of 1998 Who Wants to Pull a Hogweed? Identification, first aid, control Ten questions between you and the top prize, a pair of gloves. Three lifelines, one of them the talk page, which is not always helpful. Begin the exercise →