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I never saw the garden as a place to escape reality, but I did think it was a way of training my eyes on a different aspect of it. The fragile aspect, it felt now. The perpetually destroyable.
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Olivia Laing, The Garden Against Time, 82
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Working my way slowly through the winter reading I mentioned in a previous newsletter, I am listening to Olivia Laing narrate her meditations on what it means to restore a garden during a pandemic, along with the history of her particular garden, of gardening across time and class, of the the garden as paradise.
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Her words above resonated with me because they encircle the heart of our mission. She was writing under the weight of her political context then as we move through the daily weight of our political life now. The ecological restoration that we do in our yards on our own and with others is not an escape but rather a vital part of our current reality, from which we can learn through observation and we can gain strength through common purpose.
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The Journeywork board and I are extremely grateful for all of you who contributed to our year-end campaign. We now have 80 members. Thanks to your generous support, we raised $6,019.
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We look forward to adding thousands of native plants to our local habitat in 2026--with you! Please check out our upcoming events for ways to get involved this winter and think about what you would like to do in your yard this spring. Starting small is starting, and we are always happy to help.
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Prepping new habitat in the new year!
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We have four great winter events coming up! You can help remove vinca, pachysandra, and English ivy this Saturday from 10:00-12:00 in a yard near the Tookany Creek so that the yard owner can plant native shrubs and flowers in the spring.
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On Monday, January 12 from 4:00-5:00 or Martin Luther King Day from 10:00-11:00, you can join me in Gwynedd to sow winter seeds. Registration is limited to six people each time, with a suggested $5 donation for soil. Participants can take the pots of native flowers that they sow. Please email me if interested.
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In February, we are returning to the area in Harriet Wetherill Park where we worked last year to remove invasive vines. Andrew Conboy of Community Canopy Project reports that he has seen the bloodroot population in this old growth forest remnant expand with the removal of invasive species--very exciting! We will be working with volunteers from Community Canopy Project and Wissahickon Restoration Volunteers. Join us on Saturday, February 7, 9:30-12:00!
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Welcome, new board members!
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We are thrilled to welcome four new members to our board who value our mission and are eager to help Journeywork expand its outreach and programming.
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Dave Cinque brings experience in landscaping, permaculture, and native plant nurseries (owner - reTerra Greenscaping) as well as corporate / consulting management (Slalom, Deloitte, VentureTech Group).
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A naturalist at heart, Dave has also completed the Climatebase Fellowship (Cohort 5) and looks at habitat and natural resource conservation as accessible ways that anyone in our community can 'make a difference' both in protecting wildlife and combating climate change.
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Dave's motto of 'leave it better than you found it' is one he puts in practice every day - and he looks forward to doing so at Journeywork as well, both by serving on the Board and through the activities of the organization in 2026 and beyond!
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Juanita Miller is a Philadelphia native and resident, who has spent most of her time working in non-profit education and community organizing sectors.
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Working as a substitute teacher and with groups like the Philadelphia Student Union, YouthBuild Charter School, and Youth United Change, she is grateful to have been part of some impactful community projects (Malcolm X Park Project) that have helped shaped the green and voting futures of West and North Philadelphia neighborhood residents.
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After helping manage local farmers markets in the city and surrounding suburbs, Juanita believes in a sustainable and holistic approach to connecting people’s physical and mental health to the land-- and maintains a deepening permaculture mindset that also focuses on energy efficiency. She spends many of her days in Philadelphia and Lancaster counties, embracing quality time with her family and Rhodesian Ridgeback.
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Poorva Choudhary is a technology leader with over a decade of experience managing multi-million dollar engineering initiatives at Cigna, where she currently serves as Software Engineering Senior Manager. Her professional expertise in systems thinking, strategic leadership, and resource management—leading teams and budgets up to $1.5M while delivering measurable impact like $400K in cost savings—has equipped her with skills she is eager to apply toward environmental restoration.
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Inspired by Dr. Doug Tallamy's vision of ecological change through individual action, Poorva has become a Certified Pollinator Steward, Certified Sustainable Property Manager, and active Journeywork volunteer.
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She practices what she advocates: she has planted over 140 native shrubs and trees plus hundreds of perennial forbs in her own garden, continuously transforming her property into an ecologically restorative landscape. She is drawn to Journeywork's board to bridge her technology background with her passion for native plant restoration, bringing strategic planning and community engagement skills while deepening her commitment to reversing the climate crisis through actionable, local solutions.
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Travis D'Onofrio has been passionate about design and the outdoors for as long as he's had woods to run through and paths to forge. His connection to nature helps him appreciate both the natural and built world and question what our role could be as we coexist between the two.
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As a licensed landscape architect with over 12 years of experience, Travis has focused on planning and designing spaces both for plants and people that construct meaning and build relationships with each other.
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Travis is an appointed Shade Tree Commissioner for Abington Township and has had the opportunity to improve the ecology of the township by planting native trees--creating dozens of benefits for local properties and the community's social and mental well-being.
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Personally, Travis relishes in convincing friends to add more plant layers to their grass-centric yards and connecting people to their spaces through functional designs that solve problems and create more environmental resiliency.
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some of my great rereading
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I mentioned in my last newsletter that I planned to reread all the webinar and conference notes I have accumulated since Journeywork began in 2022. Well, I have attended many, many webinars and conferences and filled several notebooks. I am not all the way through this project, but here are a few bits that may be of interest.
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- In a linear economy, leaves are waste that need to be removed. In a circular economy, leaves are seen as a resource needed to keep nutrients on site and restore carbon to the soil. (Brandy Hall)
- Don't plant plants. Plant ecosystems. (Brandy Hall quoting Dave Jacke)
- You can eat the fruit of blackhaw viburnum (in the photo). (Jared Rosenbaum)
- I learned from Reed Noss at the 2024 NDAL Symposium that forests in the southeast have grassland seeds waiting for the sun and saw that for myself in Alabama in March 2025.
- Moths overwinter in the crevices of persimmon bark. (Sam Nestory at Stoneleigh)
- Bald cypress knees are called snorkels. They take in air when trees are flooded. (Bill Cullina)
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small change to Pollinator Palooza sun set
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If you ordered the Pollinator Palooza sun set this fall, you will see in your prep guide that one of the flowers included is threadleaf coreopsis (Coreopsis verticillata). That will not be locally available in time for our May distribution, so we are replacing the seven coreopsis plugs that you would have received with three plugs of aromatic aster (Symphyotrichum oblongifolium) and four plugs of showy goldenrod (Solidago speciosa). These plants will add autumn blooms to your garden bed and food for late season pollinators! And you, too, may become one of those people (like me) who takes dozens of videos in the fall of all the bees visiting your asters and goldenrod.
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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 593 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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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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