Good Morning, Gaians!
I have all kinds of things to share with you today. So take a look:
Takeaways from the talk on Biodiversity with author Curt Lindberg. Curt came to our part of Vermont. We had a good turn-out, about 25 folks, sitting in our circle in the sanctuary of the Westminster West Church. It was a comforting scene, familiar from many meetings of LEAG since we began in 2017, but a scene we have not been able to recreate since Covid began. May there be many more.
Some take-aways from Curt Lindberg on fostering biodiversity:
1. Remove invasive plants. E.g. Buckthorn (has shallow roots; can be removed with a crowbar or by pulling them out when they’re small; or if you must, cut them close to the ground and dab the stumps with (gulp) glyphosate. Don’t spray, just use a tiny paint brush. I’ve not tried it…but i may. Garlic Mustard is a perennial. Tasty greens in early spring, can make pesto with it. By now, it is flowering 2-3 feet tall, airy white flowers. Easy to pull up by the roots, but then you must separate the flowering parts from the roots or they will make seeds anyways! I strip them off by hand, easy. Pull up as many as you can before they go to seed.Japanese Knotweed got zapped by the freeze, the one good thing! Mow it or cut it down at least once a month. The tops will make new plants (!!!) so leave them where they fall or cover with black plastic. This plant makes good medicine against Lyme disease, but really, we don’t need so very much of it! Some people don’t like Wild Lettuce, but personally, I love its little yellow stars! I wish I had more. It has left my garden, so how much of an invasive can it be???
2. Plant native species of plants in your garden. No, you don’t have to pull out all of those wonderful exotics (peonies, Japanese maples) but if one dies, try replacing it with some native plants that feed native pollinators. Several of us in LEAG are growing wildflowers provided by Jane Collister of The Pollinator Project, echinacea, lavender hyssop, black-eyed susan and one I can’t remember…. You may have seen the article in last week’s Commons about Jane. Take a look at the garden off the patio at the Putney Coop. That’s Jane’s work, and she could really use help with the pollinator gardening AND with finding funding. If you would like to contact her, email janecollister3@gmail.com.
Now that No-Mow May is over and we have all mowed or been mowed, remember that the higher your grass, the better for the planet. Roots of grass are equal in depth to the height of the grass. That’s why in the prairie, the roots go down 6-8 feet or more. And that is why the beautiful topsoil under the prairie built up. So when you mow, mow high. Three to four inches is good. If you have a mowing service, find out if they will mow to at least 3”. Most of those big mowers shave the grass to ONE INCH. That means the roots are only ONE INCH long, sequestering only one inch of carbon, retaining a tiny amount of rainwater and life beneath the surface. If the service you hire will not mow high, find another provider, and tell them why. Their practices are harmful to soil life. They could be doing good for the Earth, it would be so easy to help instead of harm! Let them know, and tell your neighbors too.
“Beyond Plastics", a talk with Deborah Burns
on Zoom, Friday, June 30, 5 to 6:30pm
A river of plastic that flows through our lives and has a vastly bigger negative impact than we may realize. Deb Burns will discuss the history, the industry, the issues, the consequences, and the future of plastic, and trace an actual river that starts in northwest Massachusetts and winds its way to the sea. But the plastics crisis doesn’t involve just one river: it’s every river.
We’ll discuss petrochemicals, hydrofracking, greenhouse gases, nanoparticles, recycling, wish-cycling, EPRs, and more; we’ll zoom in on the microscopic and out to the global. We’ll be underwater, underground, and inside plants. We’ll talk about corporate interests, river keepers, problem s
olvers, and our fellow creatures.
Deb will answer questions and offer suggestions on how to get involved.
Bio: Deb, a member of the Hoosic River Watershed Association, recently retired after a 30-year career as a book editor, where her particular focus was on animals, farming, nature, ecology, and the environment. She is a mother and a grandmother, a writer, historian, musician, and painter and has lived and traveled all over the world. She lives in the northwest corner of Massachusetts, where she grew up.
To join this ZOOM, email Guy Payne. gpaynevt@gmail.com . He will send you the link on the day of the program. Or check out our EVENTS page and rsvp thru that function.
That’s all for now, Gaians! Happy Summer Solstice next week. Enjoy your peonies and roses and foxgloves!
With love for our One Living Mother Earth, Caitlin Adair
The Living Earth Action Group is neighbors, friends, and guests who explore ways of knowing and acting that will bring us into healthy harmony with ourselves, our fellow human beings, all other living beings, and with planet Earth Herself. We have met Fridays since February 2017 in a small planning circle or to conduct special topic community-wide circles, over 200 to date.
Comments