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I went to a prestigious college as a first-generation student before that was a thing and helped to start an organization called SOFA, Students on Financial Aid, a group that offered support for low-income students and advocated for need-blind admissions. My college experience sensitized me to class divisions. Lawns were once a marker of great privilege, a signal of wealth. Now, in many ways, eradicating your lawn and installing native plant gardens or meadows can also separate those who have the funds to hire landscape designers and pay for maintenance contracts and those who can't.
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Journeywork was founded to bridge that gap and create accessibility--to make knowledge and plants available and to make this transformation possible by building a community that supports each other. This spirit was in the air at our first fall plantings, with adults and children working together and learning while they work.
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Plants can heal, and they can help us see our common humanity. When we hear multiple times every day about our polarized culture, the work we do of creating gardens together is a balm. In Braiding Sweetgrass, Robin Wall Kimmerer invites us to see a unifying way to be in the world through the model of asters and goldenrod:
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It was the bees that showed me how to move between different flowers--to drink nectar and gather pollen from both. It is this dance of cross-pollination that can produce a new species of knowledge, a new way of being in the world. After all, there aren't two worlds, there is just this one good green earth.
That September pairing of purple and gold is lived reciprocity; its wisdom is that the beauty of one is illuminated by the radiance of the other. Science and art, matter and spirit, indigenous knowledge and Western science--can they be goldenrod and asters for each other? When I am in their presence, their beauty asks me for reciprocity, to be the complementary color, to make something beautiful in response.
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Thank you, Robin Wall Kimmerer, for helping me make these connections, and thanks to my friend and SOFA-mate Sue, for the inspiring work she is doing in Minnesota to find common ground.
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41 yards signed up, 169 more to go
We are taking Pollinator Palooza registrations until October 27. Last year, 105 lawn owners in the Philadelphia area committed to adding pollinator plants to their yards, and we are trying to double that number this year. 28 native plants for full sun or dry shade plus prep directions plus a garden map plugs planting directions--all for $75!
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If you live in Lower Gwynedd Township, you can claim a free plant set, thanks to the Lower Gwynedd EAC, while supplies last, by going here.
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We love it when Pollinator Palooza participants share their garden photos and really appreciate Fawn sharing hers on Instagram. The photo on the left shows the barberry that Fawn removed in her yard and replaced with the pollinator plants on the right. If you have planted a Pollinator Palooza garden and taken pictures of it, please send them. We would be thrilled if you share them on social media and tag us. You are helping us grow a community of pollinator gardens and eventually many connected pollinator pathways.
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the Journeywork journey
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Now is time to make plans for invasive species removal this winter--Journeywork can help with that! We are also doing consultations now for spring planting.
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It is not too late to become a Journeywork member and get 10% off plants from Edge of the Woods Nursery and Good Host Plants.
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We have 587 newsletter subscribers now--woo hoo! As soon as we went over 500, the fee to send the newsletter doubled. If you have enjoyed our newsletter, please consider making a donation to help us cover our costs.
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Over 1000 plants in the ground in September
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At the beginning of the month, we helped a homeowner (and newsletter subscriber!) add native plants to an area of his lawn where he had already sheet mulched and begun planting.
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We handed out 728 plants at our fall Pollinator Palooza distribution on September 13.
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That afternoon, members of Salford Mennonite Church filled a garden bed with 122 native plants to create a new pollinator garden behind their building.
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Species included blue false indigo (Baptisia australis), purple coneflowers (Echinacea purpurea), and mountain mint (Pycnanthemum tenuifolium), as well as shrubs such as native bush honeysuckle (Diervilla lonicera) and shrubby St. John's wort (Hypericum prolificum).
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And the next day, volunteers gathered in a North Wales yard to remove the sod and plant a pollinator garden in a hellstrip, the turf area between the sidewalk and the road.
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The homeowner rented a sod cutter, and we took turns pushing and kicking it. Our volunteer team quickly organized to remove the sod along the edges, plant, and water, and before we knew it, we had 89 plants tucked into their new home!
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Species included purple lovegrass (Eragrostis spectabilis), spotted bee balm (Monarda punctata), eastern bee balm (Monarda braduriana), and wild petunias (Ruellia humilis).
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On September 24, members of the community and the Whitemarsh Environmental Advisory Board planted the Pollinator Palooza garden that they had prepped in the spring. One EAB member purchased the plants and volunteered her yard for the sample garden. Whitemarsh Township filmed the prep and the planting and plan to post instructional videos for residents.
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Fall tables
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When we weren't planting, we enjoyed meeting new people at the Mt. Airy Village Fair, the WNF&GA fall native garden tour, the North Wales Community Day, and the Whitpain Township Community Day.
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We were delighted to offer plant grants this fall to Copper Beach Elementary in Abington, Upper Providence Elementary in Spring-Ford, the College Settlement Camp in Horsham, Lower Gwynedd Elementary in Wissahickon, the Regina Academy at St. John the Baptist, the Friends of Fernhill Park, and Norwood-Fontbonne Academy.
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Congratulations, and happy planting!
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This is the back of the shirt. The gorgeous front and stylish cap to pair with it will be revealed in the next few weeks. Stay tuned!
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if you are ever in Madison, NJ
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The Nature of Reading Bookshop specializes in environmental books for children and adults, and I had the opportunity to visit recently on the way to see an exhibit in New York.
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The book selection is thoughtful and wide-ranging, and the store is cozy. I highly recommend a visit if you are in the area and need to stock up on gifts and reading for the nature lovers in your life.
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Journeywork-inspired yard
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Rachel and Dan, two of our dedicated volunteers, were inspired by our 2024 spring gathering speaker, Hayden Remick, to work with him on their front yard, and they have exchanged lawn mowing for beauty and regular butterfly and hummingbird viewing!
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If Journeywork inspires you to sheet mulch, start seeds, or plant some native plants in your yard, please send us a picture! Or a donation! Let's celebrate and support each other!
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