Dear friends,
This spring, as you come onto the Edwards Church campus, you are likely to see lots of people. You might see Neela, a botanist from Garden in the Woods, pointing out native plant species. You may run into Andrew, a permaculture gardening specialist who created our Edible Forest Garden, showing a group of volunteers the difference between an invasive weed and a native meadow grass. On any given weekday in May, you could see Robert, a student at Dover-Sherborn High School, shoveling compost, as he does his Senior Project with Framingham Community Farm. Or Mike or Brigitte or Jessica setting up irrigation and planting seedlings.
On Friday afternoons, you will likely run into a team of volunteers from the Advocates Mentoring project, working in one of our gardens. On a Sunday in late April, the men’s and women’s rugby teams from Framingham State will be doing some of our heaviest work. And often, of course, you will run into Sofia, our Open Spirit Intern who is continuing through the summer, and Ted, who is working with her to coordinate our gardening efforts. You are likely to see Joe making things beautiful, Scott and Bill and Buddy and Bruce coming up at the most unexpected times to do something they see needs to get done.
This flurry of springtime activity reflects a lot of work that has happened over the winter. As we have enjoyed the four special gardens on our campus—all of them created in collaboration with other groups—we have begun to think about next steps. How can we look at the big picture of our campus? Can we become a place known for the beauty and peacefulness of our gardens? Can we be a “demonstration site,” where people come to learn about how to create gardens that help sustain our planet? Can we be a spot where people who do not have their own garden come to get their hands dirty, build community, and reconnect with the earth?
Over the winter, we have talked about ideas in small groups, in our congregational meeting, at the Trustees, and with our community partners, including Open Spirit, Framingham Community Farm, Transition Framingham, Green Framingham 2.0, Sudbury Valley Trustees, and Garden in the Woods. We have agreed that we need to start small, and we need to be sure we have an on-going source of volunteers to maintain whatever we start.
Currently, we are exploring a couple of projects: a pollinator garden, perhaps in conjunction with Sudbury Valley Trustees and the Framingham Boys and Girls Club; an expansion of our herb garden, perhaps with more raised beds; replacing the overgrown yew bushes in front of the sanctuary with something smaller and more sustainable. We are also trying to envision what might be possible in future years: a larger labyrinth in the playground area; a small children’s discovery garden; an outdoor lending library.
Right now, it appears that Friday afternoons, from about 2:30-4 pm, will be opportunities for volunteers to come work on projects on the campus. Keep an eye out for more details, and come join us!
Peace,
Debbie