Over the weekend I joined about 20 other volunteers in helping one small corner of God’s earth make progress towards renewal. I want to encourage you to seek out opportunities like this in your own life. They’re out there.
In the photo above, you can see what we were doing – planting thousands of young prairie grasses where corn and soy beans used to be grown.
The Libertyville Township Open Space District has long owned this 44-acre parcel of land. For the last number of decades a farmer farmed it. Soil eroded, harming local waterways. Wildlife, including butterflies, found no food or sanctuary there.
The Open Space Disrict has begun restoring this field to prairie and oak savanna. In the first step, contractors removed 5,500 linear feet of drain tile from the field to allow water to more naturally infiltrate the land. But until diverse prairie vegetation can be established, preventing erosion is critical. This is why you see the erosion-preventing, bio-degradable mesh blankets in the photo.
And into that fabric volunteers are planting 10,000 young prairie grasses over two weekends. Specifically, we are planting prairie cord grass.
This is a favorite prairie plant of mine. Prairie cord grass likes its “feet” a bit wet. It also spreads quickly through energetic rhizomes. Pretty soon you have a thick, beautiful stand of green waving and undulating in the wind. Below the ground you have a thick, anchoring root system. This makes it perfect for erosion control.
For nearly three straight hours, we used hand-spades and even just our hands to create small gaps in the fabric. Once we had access to the soil, which was usually somewhere between being moist and water-covered muck, we dug a thin hole. Into that hole, we inserted the prairie cord grass plant. We then pressed the soil close around it.
If you don’t like sun, breeze, dirt on your hands, living things around you, and the chance to talk and even banter with people around you, then you should definitely avoid this kind of thing.
But I’m guessing you’re someone who would enjoy the experience. And, like it did for me, it would do your heart good. By the end, I felt tired and yet very alive and satisfied.
Being part of these kinds of projects is a way to honor and serve our Creator God. This is a natural part of a whole Christian faith. We should do what we can on as large a scale as we can to enable God’s earth to be as alive as possible and to recover from the wounds we have inflicted on it.
And doing so is a spiritual growth experience.
Look for opportunities like these. Non-profit land trusts and nature conservation organizations near you are a good place to start. Agencies like conservation districts, park disricts, and departments of natural resources are also well connected.
Dig in!
