|
|
|
|
|
Well, a lot has happened since our last pithy newsletter. The election. COP29. I got a new license plate.
|
The third event is not intended to make light of the first two. Right before the election, we had our first fall gathering (detailed below), and an attendee showed us her nifty Pollinator Habitat license plate, which supports native wildflower plantings along Pennsylvania highways. If I had read a headline about this program when it was announced, I had forgotten, but there it was: a tangible thing that I could do to mitigate the climate crisis, and I had learned about it from a member of our community. (Thanks, Grace Rose!)
|
Despite the tremendous weight of national and international developments, I am heartened and energized by the Journeywork community that we are growing. When we come together, we learn from each other. We also support, inspire, and motivate each other. And we get things done.
|
Journeywork volunteers gave 238 hours this year to plant, weed, sheet mulch, lop, pack seeds, and sow seeds. Through our plantings at schools, in residential yards, and through our first Pollinator Palooza, we added 5,408 native plants to our local habitat. Our second Pollinator Palooza signed up 106 yards to plant 3,724 native flowers and sedges in the spring.
|
From our summer survey, you told us that you value the local. You also told us that you value biodiversity, and you want to build climate resilience. Our mission is to make it as easy as possible for every yard owner to start somewhere on the journey to transforming our habitat. We think that the key to this journey is to do it together.
|
When you donate to Journeywork, you are supporting the expansion of our outreach to schools, community groups, and neighborhoods. You are also taking a tangible step toward a shared future of less mowing, decreased air pollution, and relaxing on summer evenings among plants buzzing with native bees and hummingbirds, butterflies, and moths.
|
We are planning our 2025 calendar now, which will include more dynamic speakers and activities at our spring and fall gatherings and a special summer solstice lecture. If you have ideas for programs and skill-building workshops, we want to hear them.
|
With so much uncertainty baked into every moment of our day, the one certainty that gives me hope and steadies my stride is the power of people coming together to restore the habitat we share with the rest of the living world.
|
|
Grateful to be journeying with you,
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Our festive fall gathering
We enjoyed food and fellowship at our first fall community gathering on Saturday, November 2. Our featured speaker and board member John Cardina shared weedy stories and wisdom. We had a glorious day to stroll through the Plymouth Meeting Friends School meadow and check out the campus state champion post oak. Those gathered took home some native trees to plant, thanks to Keystone 10 Million Trees, and seeds to plant that were collected from Journeywork yards. This was also our first fall fundraiser, and we truly appreciate all who contributed--thanks to you, we raised $1,709!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
You can prep now for spring
|
|
This fall, I worked alongside three yard owners: one to add native plants to an area that had recently been cleared, and the other two to lay down cardboard and leaves to prepare planting beds for the spring. Instead of buying mulch, the owner of the bed in the middle photo used the leaves her neighbor had bagged for trash pick-up. The owner on the right had plenty of leaves and pine needles in her back yard. Pick a spot in your yard to sheet mulch now, and you will have a planting bed in the spring! Let us know if you need help.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Tree planting at Gwynedd Friends Meeting
|
|
Through the tree distribution from Keystone 10 Million Trees, we had 28 native trees to add to the woodland at Gwynedd Friends Meeting, but we needed to clear bush honeysuckle and privet to make room for them. Journeywork volunteers and Gwynedd Meeting members gathered on November 16 and quickly transformed the area pictured in the top left photo into open space for planting. We planted seven trees that day and were on a roll, so we met again the next weekend and planted 21 more! Trees included chestnut oak, red oak, and black cherry, and we planted winterberry, black chokeberry, and arrowwood viburnum in the shrub layer. Thank you to all who lopped, piled, dug, and watered!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Our winter seed sowing project
A dozen newsletter subscribers answered the recent call to sow seeds collected from Journeywork properties. Each person selected seeds from native species such as dense blazingstar (Liatris spicata), anise hyssop (Agastache foeniculum), and rattlesnake master (Eryngium yuccifolium), and sowed up to five pots, following the method outlined by the Wild Seed Project. When the plants are large enough to divide, they will keep some and bring some back to Journeywork for a sale next fall. Thank you, Journeywork Seed Sowers!
|
|
|
|
|
|
Upper Dublin Township Elder Grove
On Sunday, November 24, I was fortunate to attend a ceremony at Upper Dublin Friends Meeting to honor their treasured tulip poplar, one of 11 mature trees in Upper Dublin Township included in the Elder Grove, an initiative of the Upper Dublin Historical Commission. Check out their website to learn more about each tree and find which trees you can visit in public places. The oldest tree was a sapling in 1699!
|
|
|
|
|
|
Bottle Underground
|
Because of single-stream recycling, very little of the glass that we put in our recycling bins actually gets recycled. Bottle Underground, a nonprofit in Philadelphia, is offering a way to reuse, downcycle, or upcycle 100% of the glass they receive from public donations. When you bring your bottles and jars to them, they 1) sell them to local businesses 2) upcycle them into new glassware (below right), or 3) crush them into sand for conservation projects. You can buy the sand (in different colors!) for your gardening projects. In a world running out of sand and landfill space, this is a wonderful solution to support!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
If Journeywork inspires you to sheet mulch, start seeds, or plant some native plants in your yard, please send us a picture! Let's celebrate and support each other!
|
|
Consider donating to support our outreach efforts--thank you!
|
|
|
|
Follow us on social...
|
 
|
|
|
|
|
