Each day’s news seems to pitch us deeper into the pits of despair: climate change action feels stalled, or worse, rolled back.
According to the latest report by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (a body of the world’s most respected scientists from 195 countries), climate change is here, and it’s accelerating faster than many models predicted. What’s more, climate change will usher in catastrophic food shortages and natural disasters by 2040 unless we change course.
If you curl up with A Sand County Almanac by a window, you may soon be looking outside and seeing a passing dog as a “professor” of scents. You may imagine how if a nearby chickadee worked, it would have a “Keep calm” sign above its desk. Aldo Leopold’s classic book combines such memorable and humorous observations of flora and fauna on his Wisconsin sand farm, as well as his thoughts and philosophy on conservation.
“Filmmakers can shape the future,” says filmmaker and teacher, Jonathan Moeller. “Film and video has the power to expose wrongdoings, right doings, and the cultural context that comes with it.”
Jonathan will teach the Young Filmmakers Live Action Workshops at the River Forest Depot, 401 Thatcher Ave., in early December from 1 to 4:30 p.m.
For seven months now, a group of 20 people, give or take a few, have been practicing Sacred Wandering at Thatcher Woods, the third Saturday of each month. We start with some community-building conversation, a standing meditation, and then we walk slowly to our first meditation spot where we sit for about 15 minutes, focusing on the nature surrounding us.
Grace Lutheran Church and School in River Forest is co-hosting one of Faith in Place’s itinerant indoor Winter Farmers Markets from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, November 10. The market is free and open to the public. These markets move from one location to another each weekend to provide more communities with access to local foods and give vendors the chance to meet new customers.
At a time of year when most summer farmers markets have closed for the season, this market will offer attendees the opportunity to purchase items such as meat, eggs, honey, salsa, jam, bread, pastries, seasonally-available produce, and more.
Saving food starts with your mindset. It’s a skill, as well as a passion. Like a muscle, it strengthens as you use it!
We can make a big difference by becoming food waste warriors! We don’t usually think of food being a major source of greenhouse gases that cause climate change, but according to research published in 2017 in the book, DRAWDOWN, edited by Paul Hawken, “reduced food waste” was ranked as the 3rd most effective of the 80 solutions that could actually reverse global warming.
At the closing celebration for the One Earth Film Festival, Isaiah Mākar presented his Spoken Word piece, “Earth’s Breakup Letter: Please Don’t Leave Me for Mars,” on March 11, at the Garfield Park Conservatory. Recently, he answered a few questions about his journey from a shy kid to a Spoken Word entrepreneur. This interview is followed by his Spoken Word poem from the closing celebration.
Practicing self-care is essential in 2018. It’s been a year of soul-crushing news about the climate, the state of our democracy, and #metoo. If you enjoy walking, you might try forest therapy. Called forest bathing (shinrin yoku) by the Japanese, this beautiful practice combines mindfulness and a slow stroll in nature, under the direction of a certified guide, often in the company of others.
By Sally Sovall
Raindrops on roses
And whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of my favorite things
Okay, maybe not that kind of favorite things, but we asked some local native plant, bird and butterfly lovers, “What is your favorite native shrub or tree?” Here are some of their answers. . .
American Hazelnut (Corylus americana): Katy says she loves the Hazelnut because the flower is so pretty. She cautions however that finding a hazelnut is like finding a hundred dollar bill to a squirrel, so plant them only if you are open to welcoming squirrels to your yard.
American Hazelnut
Black Chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa): Chokeberry is the fruit that pemmican was made from. The indigenous people of North America invented pemmican as a high-energy food that could sustain a person on long journeys or throughout brutal winters. Katy likes Chokecherry because of the connection to the land and the traditions of the indigenous people.
Black Chokeberry
Bur Oak (Quercus macrocarpa): Laurie: “The leaves are a deep, glossy green, and wonderfully thick and leathery. When I see parts of the leaves nibbled away, it makes me happy -- it's one of the best insect habitats, and those nibbles mean it's doing its job. Bur oak's habit is not symmetrical, but it's very sculptural. The branches attach to its trunk like a modern dancer's limbs, sort of all akimbo, but still elegant and strong. It's really beautiful.”
Bur Oak
Buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis): Katy recommends the buttonbush because when she was a butterfly monitor it was the plant that attracted the most fritillary butterflies: “I even saw a great spangled fritillary on a buttonbush one day.” They love the flowers and so does she.
Buttonbush
Elderberry (Sambucus nigra var. canadensis): Another one of Katy’s favorites is the Elderberry. “It’s just so giving,” she said as she showed me large bunches of elderberries. “I left some for the birds, but you should see all of the mead that I have inside.” Mead (according to Wikipedia) it is an alcoholic beverage created by fermenting honey with water and various fruits, spices, grains or hops.
Elderberry
New Jersey Tea
New Jersey Tea (Ceanothus americanus): Pam says her current favorite is New Jersey Tea. “It is very well-behaved so it makes a nice foundation plant. We have several in front of our house and they are compact, densely leaved, form a nice neat ball, stay in their place, and have beautiful white flowers all over them in the Spring. They are the host plant for caterpillars of little blue azure butterflies and skippers and I see them hanging out there all the time. Pollinators love the flowers. As a side note: the leaves were dried and used to replace tea during the Revolutionary War, but they don’t have caffeine.”
Pagoda Dogwood (Cornus alternifolia): Charlie: “A nice small to medium sized tree that grows well in part shade, perfect for Oak Park-sized yards. The horizontal branching of the tree is just beautiful.”
Steve: “We have a 4-year-old pagoda dogwood growing on the north side of our house. My home office windows provide a front row seat view of it. In late summer, I love watching all the birds that come to eat berries. They are mostly robins. Sometimes squirrels come, too. It's fun to watch the squirrels -- they snip off a whole section like a bunch of grapes and eat them all in one sitting.”
Pagoda Dogwood
Snowbell
Snowbell (Styrax americanus): Laura really likes the American Snowbell. “The white miniature flowers in the spring and early summer are something I look forward to every year.”
Smooth Hydrangea (Hydrangea aboreescens): Charlie: “I was sold on this shrub when I saw it in a garden growing next to its cultivated cousin, the Annabelle hydrangea. Not a single insect was near the flowers of the Annabelle, but the native hydrangea blossoms were absolutely covered with bees, butterflies, and who knows what else.”
Sally also voted for the Smooth Hydrangea that she planted in the shady front yard native garden at her condo. “The flowers were stunning!”
Share the love! Please tell us your favorite native shrub or tree, tell us what you like about it and send a photo. We’d love to add it to our web page.
Together we can make the world a better place for birds, butterflies and other critters that we share our space with.
The Native Shrub & Tree Sale continues until Sept. 22, with plant pick up on Sept. 29. Place orders here.
Smooth Hydrangea Bush and Flower
