April 2, 2018

April – Healthy Soil, Healthy Garden, Healthy Soul

Some fell into good soil, and when it grew, it produced a hundredfold.” As he said this, he called out, “Let anyone with ears to hear listen!”

-Luke 8:5

 

April’s ACTION is all about healthy soil and gardening.  Commit to one Action each week this month.  Contact  zerowastechurch@gmail.com  for more information.


Let’s ACT together this year to restore the fullness of God’s earth. 

 
Lester Brown, Earth Policy Institute, says, “the thin layer of topsoil that covers much of the Earth’s surface is the foundation of civilization.” Around the world, however, much of our soil is seriously degraded. If soil fertility is not restored, world hunger is likely to increase significantly. Regenerative agriculture, which increases organic matter, fertility, texture, water retention, and vital organisms in the soil on farms around the world is showing promise for improving plant health, nutrition, and productivity. These approaches can be duplicated in backyard and community gardens enabling individuals and churches to help restore God’s Earth.  Healthy soil practices replenish our earth, and healthy soul practices involving soil can replenish our souls. 
 
Gardens are frequently named as important places for people’s spiritual practice of connecting with God as they dig around in the soil. The act of intentionality and presence needed to successfully grow plants, vegetables, flowers, all living things, can help bring our attention to God’s grace and God’s movement in this world. As we get our hands dirty to grow things, we can pay attention to the ways we can honor God by adopting practices that bring health back to our soil.
 

For more information on healthy soil and growing your own garden, see below!

Are you a Church leader looking to initiate this program as part of a zero waste campaign?  We will have PDF posters from each of our Monthly Actions, that can be downloaded from our “For Leaders” Resource Page. 

Week 1

  • Learn to grow patio veggies in a pot or build a raised bed.

  • Compost your organic waste and use it in your garden.

 Week 2

  • Shop at a farmers market and buy locally grown food in season.

  • Remove weeds by hand, not chemicals.

Week 3

  • Join a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). 

  • Use organic fertilizers.

 Week 4

  • Volunteer at a community garden or farmers market,

  • Mulch your garden with shredded leaves and avoid tilling your garden.

Bonus Action!

 Start a community garden at your church or school.

Resources 

Web resources: 

Regenerative Solutions: https://greenamerica.org/blog/regenerative-resolutions-0. 

    http://www.landinstitute.org/our-work/issues/#sthash.HV7yx42q.dpuf.

    https://kisstheground.com

    https://soilhealthinstitute.org/

Regenerative Agriculture Is Saving Farmers, Ranchers, and the Environment from Financial and Ecological Failure: https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2015/10/11/regenerative-agriculture-practices.aspx.

Plant Blueberry Bushes outside the Fence, http://nativityonline.org/plant-blueberry-bushes-outside-fence/ 

Articles:

 Looking to nature for solutions, Turner, W, Looking to nature for solutions, Nature Climate Change, 8, 18, 2018. 

Books: 

Bahnson F, Soil and Sacrament, A spiritual Memoir of Food and Faith, Simon and Schuster, NYC, NY, 2013. Brown, L. R.

Full Planet, Empty Plates, The New Geopolitics of Food Security, WW Norton & Company, NYC, NY, 2012. Brown, L. R.

World on the Edge, How to Prevent Environmental and Economic Collapse, WW Norton & Company, NYC, NY, 2011. Davis, E.

Scripture, Culture and Agriculture, An Agrarian Reading of the Bible, Cambridge University press, NYC, NY, 2009. Hawken, P. (2017). 

Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming. Penguin Books.

Resilient Agriculture, Cultivating Food Systems for a Changing Climate, New Society Publishers, Gabriola Island, BC, 2015. Lengnick, L.

 

This is part of our RESTORING GOD’S EARTH, A YEAR OF PERSONAL ACTION program;  A monthly guide to help individuals learn the many ways they can help care for God’s creation.

 

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