š Good Morning, Earthlings! š
Here we are with gorgeous foliage and mild summer weather. Indian summer? Sweet.
A couple weeks ago when we had to cancel the Biodynamic Gardening presentation, LEAG founder Jessie Haas stepped right in with a book discussion on Paul Hawkenās brand-new book REGENERATION, a follow-up to Drawdown. In it, Hawken goes much further than in Drawdown, and with a perspective that highly values Natural Systems. Life. Community. Equity. We liked it so much (what Jessie shared) that LEAG will probably expand upon a number of topics in the near future. Meanwhile, get the book!
We have an exciting program on Zoom for you this Friday, October 22 at 5pm. My friend Jane Collister (you may know her bodywork practice) who lives just up the road in West West, has been concerned for some years about the decrease in pollinators that is happening across the globe. Here in Vermont we have definitely noticed many fewer bees and butterflies. While the major cause, in my opinion, is the spraying by farmers and homeowners of Round Up (glyphosate) herbicide, the most commonly used chemical in the world, part of the problem that we can address is lack of proper native flowers! So before her heart breaks any further, Jane decided to DO SOMETHING and this is what she came up with.
Perennials for Pollinators Project An introduction and call to action, presented by Jane Collister Over the past 14 years Iāve cultivated good sized flower gardens here where I live in Westminster West, VT, planting mostly native perennials such as Milkweed, Bee Balm, Echinacea, Lavender Hyssop, phlox, and others. I have become deeply concerned as pollinators populations have continued to decline more each year and have since learned of the seriousness of this crisis. My research also revealed that there is a movement growing in this country to respond to this crisis by creating Pollinator Gardens, which involves adopting some simple gardening skills that will greatly increases the number of native perennial wildflowers that can be grown, allowing communities to repopulate their landscapes and gardens with homegrown natives. The goal of the Perennials for Pollinators Project is to create an ongoing collaborative effort of individuals, organizations, businesses, and community groups to become a part of this vital movement.
And actually, this is the perfect time of year to begin collecting and planting seeds of our native perennial plants, which Jane will explain. You do NOT have to be an experienced gardener to do this project, as there are lots of us here to help! To join this program, email Guy Payne gpaynevt@gmail.com right now, and Guy will send you the Zoom link on Friday morning, God willing.
For those of us interested in large-scale soil improvements, here is something from Vermont author and Earth-crusader Judith Schwartz:
"A friend in Norway sent me this document, saying that Europe is starting to grapple with soil health in a concerted way. I thought it worth sharingāperhaps there are insights and strategies that can be applied here. https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/default/files/research_and_innovation/funding/documents/soil_mission_implementation_plan_final_for_publication.pdf?fbclid=IwAR27APVRrBIMSkVb9eY2Kbhdyj68BI57CKbROQBtGsgDxOfzDwDCliP5Lf8 Best to allā
Judyā
And a terrific article including his latest documentary film, by John Liu, as it appeared in Kosmos Journal a couple years ago (But I just recently read):
The Holy Grail of Restoration: Mending the Sinai Peninsula
By John D. Liu And back to a more local note, Mary Hayward send me this on October 2: Thank you, Mary!
Good Morning Caitlin, I hope you and Peter are keeping well. Did you see Henry Homeyer's article on the Asian jumping worms in yesterday's Reformer? He gives a comprehensive account of them and their destructive effect on the garden and the natural world, especially woodlands and forest. We have them. This June we noticed that some young hellibores we had planted last fall had stopped growing. So on digging them up we found about 10 worms in and around the roots of each one. At first we thought the cocoons ( egg sacs) had come with the hellibores and so were restricted to that bed but then we found them elsewhere. On checking each bed where we had spread compost which we bought last October we found them. To date we have removed and destroyed over 8,000. We want to determine the areas and rate of the infestation. Much research is being done at present but there is no deterrent available other than handpicking. There is a lot of information on the Internet from UVM, Cornell, Univ. of Wisconsin, etc. They are easy to find. Firstly, the surface of the soil looks like coffee grounds. Then if the soil is disturbed they will come out to the surface as they live in the top 2 inches of the soil. The adults are killed by frost but the cocoons overwinter to hatch in the spring. They are self-fertile so each worm can, when mature in the summer, produce many cocoons. The cocoons are very small, look like soil and so are pretty impossible to find. The worms consume all the organic matter in those 2 inches thus depriving young plants and seedlings of food. I thought the members of LEAG should know about them. Best wishes to you both, Mary
Living Earth Action Group Programs for November on Zoom: EXPLORING ABENAKI WAYS/PERSPECTIVES Friday, Nov 5, 2021- 7-9pm by Zoom NOTE: THE TIME IS NOT OUR USUAL 5PM! With Rich Holschuh and Melody Walker, Elnu Abenaki A coalition of several organizations in the area are exploring ways that the contemporary Indigenous Community continue to relate to their homeland of 12,000 years. We are so deeply moved by our learning that we offer the public an event with Rich Holschuh and Melody Walker, who are members of the Elnu band of this southern Vermont area. The program will help participants learn about the Abenaki perspective on relationship with the land, community and the individual; and being a good ancestor. Questions and answers to follow the presentation. The coalition organizations are: Atowi Putney Mountain Association Windmill Hill Pinnacle Association Earth Bridge Land Trust Living Earth Action Group For the Zoom link to this and every LEAG program, email gpaynevt@gmail.com and Guy Payne will set you up on the morning of the event. THANKSGIVINGāS INDIGENOUS ROOTS Friday, November 12, 5-6:30pm, with Damian Costello "Thanksgiving has always been an Indigenous holiday, from its Wampanoag roots to its recognition as the National Day of Mourning. We will explore how recovering Thanksgiving as a ceremonial feast is an opportunity to deepen our spiritual connection with the natural world and work on right relationship with Native peoples." "Damian Costello is the author of Black Elk: Colonialism and Lakota Catholicism (Orbis Books). He is director of post-graduate studies at NAIITS: An Indigenous Learning Community and the American co-chair of the Indigenous Catholic Research Fellowship (ICRF)."Damian came to us in 2019 with the Vermont Humanities program. He gave a fabulous talk called āBlack Elk Speaksā. We had hoped to have him in person, but not yet. Not yet. We are so happy he can join us and share some of his knowledge and research! For the Zoom link to this and every LEAG program, email gpaynevt@gmail.com and Guy Payne will set you up on the morning of the event.
with love and hope for our planet and our people and our plants and our water and our animals, Caitlin Adair
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