Our Green Team continues working with the congregation so that we may all become better stewards of the resources with which God has entrusted us, promoting ecologically sustainable practices, and preserving and enhancing local biodiversity and habitats through education and fellowship opportunities for us and our communities.
Some of our accomplishments this spring:
April brought awareness and improvements to recycling and sustainability efforts, workshops on Black-Eyed Susans and herb gardens, and an Earth Day celebration that included planting and blessing a young Stewartia tree on the front lawn. This tree blooms with white camellia-like flowers in warm months, offers brightly colored fall foliage and shows multicolored bark that peels in strips of gray, orange and reddish-brown. Many parishioners joined our tours highlighting current and potential plantings, and viewing our centuries-old Penn Oak to begin thinking how we might rejuvenate its vanishing surrounding vegetation. The Green Team presented survey results of the congregation’s top ecological priorities: limiting disposable products and purchasing more recycled/recyclable products; planting primarily pollinator-friendly and perennial plants; and adding trees and bird houses that benefit wildlife and insects.
In May we held a vegetable workshop and on Mother’s Day raised funds with a pop-up plant sale. We sponsored a Sip and Stroll fundraiser where parishioners and friends enjoyed an evening of food and fellowship while marveling at the incredible number of gorgeous colorful peonies surrounding the home of our gracious hosts, Debbie and Bernie Miller. We thank everyone who helped us raise over $350 this month for future needs and programs.
June included a visit to the Penn Oak with a Newlin Grist Mill representative who suggested native trees to plant, and the Pearlmans offered to plant several Penn Oak seedlings. The month also included preliminary discussions on St. John’s potential pavilion, and other uses for our “Field of Dreams”.
Upcoming events and future considerations:
Inviting parishioners to a planting party that will add a sea of bulbs creating a stream of spring-colored “wow” from Concord Road to the church door; developing a planting plan for sustainable stewardship, primarily focusing on trees; holding fall workshops on bulb planting and on peonies; envisioning a walking/meditation path around the property; improving access to and increasing vegetation down by the Penn Oak; participating in a road cleanup program; adding a young companion Stewartia tree donated by the Millers. Stay tuned for future details!
We are ever so grateful to all the parishioners who have encouraged us and supported our events and recycling efforts; for the volunteers who so faithfully tend our many lovely gardens like Jim and Cheryl Kuzko, Martha and Paul Pearlman, Bernie and Debbie Miller, Maggie Hibbs and many others; and to the Millers for their hospitality and ongoing horticultural expertise, education workshops and so much more.
Want to get involved with the Green Team? Come and join us each month at 11:00 AM, second Sundays, in the Battin Room. OR volunteer to help with a specific project, e.g., tending gardens, weeding or watering. Contact any member of the Green Team or Glenn Wikel for more information.