DEN Enews

If you are a subscriber to this Enews, I believe you are a person engaged in many avenues to express your passions for life, for family, friends, your faith and our fragile earth. Perhaps, like me, you juggle many plates at the same time. Each plate is an expression of love for the people in my life, my beliefs and the places I hold dear. If I am healthy and clear of negativity, those plates stay perfectly balanced and manageable, with an ease born of passion for them.

Thankfully, our plates are filled with different things to keep the world balanced and in sync.

Lately, it seems like each plate is full of tennis balls, a rolling mass of angst that threatens stability. It comes with a fear that all we hold dear will come crashing to the floor. My Facebook feed, once a fun diversion, is now a constant stream of existential threat to every value I hold dear. It’s like a trainwreck that I don’t want to see but can’t stop examining. Even Greenpeace recently asked the question: “How is everyone doing?”

This constant barrage of bad news from the south coupled with our own provincial government trying to shackle democracy and undo safeguards to our environment is threatening every value and principle I was taught. It is making me very angry.

Are you feeling the same? What do we do with this anger to still maintain our sanity and keep those spinning plates in perfect balance?

According to Sarah Bessey in her last newsletter: “ Your job isn’t to get over your anger. Anger is our holy starting point, but it is Love who sustains the passion and directs it into life-giving transformation…….Because our soul- anger is a gift, a powerful force we can steward with care and intention as we rise up at injustice……I believe the Holy Spirit is active in that space of righteous anger to wake us up from the sleeping numbness of our culture, shocking us out of our nice little lives centered on avoiding conflict or inconvenience or complacency….I want you to pay attention to your anger. And learn to steward it well as an invitation from God.”

Righteous anger without the locusts and other plagues. I am emboldened and inspired by each one of you who attends rallies, writes a letter, makes a phone call or a Facebook post. I am in awe of your courage that seems to have transformed your anger into a positive force for change.

And I am encouraged by the fact it is March. The birdsong seems more joyous. The air holds promise but most importantly it heralds HOPE. In this issue, we bring you some hope and some garden inspiration. Keep your righteous anger and may it be channeled towards loving justice with a courage you may have never known.

The Editor

Here’s some Hope. This group is campaigning for a law that recognizes a healthy environment is a human right. See more below in the Advocacy section.

More Good news from Climate Scientist Katharine Hayhoe in her latest newsletter 

…” the good news is that trees are a strong natural defense against flooding. They help soil absorb water by soaking up rainfall through their roots. The roots also reduce erosion and runoff while leafy canopies slow rain down, reducing flash flood risk. In the UK, researchers at the University of Plymouth are planting native trees in Dartmoor, in hopes of reviving the area's ancient woodland pastures and helping with local flood control. They're planting these native trees using the “tiny forest” Miyawaki Method I’ve written about before here. By planting many different native species closely together, planted trees can rapidly mimic a multi-layered forest ecosystem. In cities, green roofs don’t just keep buildings cool. They also absorb rainwater and reduce surface runoff. In India, for example, one study found that installing green roofs across an urban area could reduce flood volume between 10 and 60 percent.

Trees already filter the air, keep us cool, provide habitat for species and so much more. Now we know they’re essential to protecting us from floods as well!

Ways to make a Difference:

Keeping the Good News coming, we are switching presentation order today and letting you read Grandma’s Going Green article before the Advocacy section. It won’t be long before the South Shore is blanketed with pollinator gardens thanks to Claudia’s Seed Share project.

DEN’s Green Story – The Seed Share Project

There on the picnic table sits the finished product of 8 months of work. Over 2500 packs of seeds were counted out and packed for the parishes mainly on the South Shore. This was the work of an entire team. It includes all those who answered emails to a multitude of questions, especially Rev. Patti (Brace) and Rev. Breanna (Andrews) from South Shore and Rivers to Trails Regions. It was also those who approved the grants, filled the envelopes, and agreed to transport and disperse all those boxes. Most of all it was Rev. Marian (Lucas-Jeffries) and our editor Carole Aylard who kept encouraging me through the entire process.

We did it!

Well, it may be better to say, “This is what we did, so far”. A project like this never stops.

What did we learn?

We learned about money. The grant process for 2026 starts on March 15^, 2025. Yep, I was way behind this year. Getting the grants was a miracle. Seed companies do donate seeds at the end of one growing season to use the next year. Somehow, we received just what we needed.

We learned about pollinator seeds. Wildflowers are great and will always be the standard when trying to help the pollinators. However, buckwheat serves two purposes. When it flowers, it attracts bees and butterflies and feeds them. When it turns to grain it will feed the birds through winter. It is even available at my local Co-op store. Grandma needs a few more answers but next year we may introduce buckwheat in our wayside Pollinator Seeds.

We learned about seed packaging. Did anyone else see on the evening news where in Sydney the library gives out 17 thousand garden seeds to encourage growing your own food? Wow! One thing I noticed was that they used a label on the back of their seed envelopes. The self-inking stamp does not like all the seams on the back of the envelope. They were so helpful giving me information, including where they got their supplies.

We learned about transport. My basement is now empty of any box that would hold from 40 to 500 packs of seed. They look cute tied up in string with labels taped to them. We need something simpler while still reducing the impact on the environment. We may reuse the strong paper bags that my daughter’s groceries arrive in next year. Better still, have the name and number of seeds needed for each parish on those bags on seed filling day. When counting, drop the seeds into each waiting bag, reducing work.

We will need more seed filling days instead of trying to do it all in one day.

Seed Share was supposed to be pollinator seeds going out to every parish in a region. The idea is to add regions, year by year until as a Diocese, we are helping the pollinators. That was the grand idea, and it is a good one. The reality is that even in a smaller area there are other groups that will help you spread the seed.

The Parish of Blandford’s “planting kits” will have the wayside pollinator seed added. That is another 250 packs planted on the Aspotogan peninsula. Our first annual seed and plant giveaway will spread at least another hundred. The local Baptist church has the biggest Sunday School here. Suppling them with seeds plants more. Then just reach out to other community gardens and seeds disappear.

Any great project has a goal at the top, supported by a mass of people. A Diocesan Seed Share is happening. We are not the only ones. Please tell us your stories. Does your community tend a small garden somewhere? Are you on the butterfly flyway? Are daffodils waiting to pop up by the church steps?

Don’t let me do all the bragging!  You have the stories. Send me a line at [email protected]

Craft Time

There hasn’t been much time to play with crafts, but I have been finding things I can use for this year’s deer chasers, ah, this year’s mobiles.

To make the mobile you need something for the top. It does not have to be round: a friend cut the middle from a larger rectangular plastic container top. Mine was an odd spatter cover. After removing the wire middle, I covered the sides first with aluminum foil. Next I wrapped the rim in “plarm” (when we had plastic bags they would be cut in strips and connected to use as string or yarn).

My strings are made from a coil of rug making material that is tough as nails. Any cord will do but I do have to admit that any “poly” string lasts longer.

This mobile was constructed with only bottle caps and beads. Once you make one mobile you will find many new addons for your strings: the navy round tops from my herbal tea, the skinny coil from my dog’s potty bags, a clear tube from an inhaler or even an odd button.

It lets us see what plastic we just throw away without a thought. It allows us to make a tacky but rattling scary item for deer. Have fun!

Something to eat

No matter if you just got home from work or from filling seed envelopes, you just don’t want to cook. There is a good chance that you are craving something salty or spicy and you want it fast.

Grandma use to make pizzas, at least 2, usually 3 in either the round pans or on cookie sheets, just to have enough to feed our table. Now that there is just Nana and I at home I make my pizza in disposable pie plates that fit neatly in a large zipper closure bag to freeze.

That is all good BUT it is now close to 5 o’clock and you have hungry people looking at you.

Hopefully you have store bought pie pastry or phyllo in the fridge (or you made pie dough last night and threw it in the fridge) You might have the cute ramekin dishes, small pans, or old saucers in your cupboards.

Turn your oven to 350F. Roll out or unroll your dough. Turn your pan, dish or ramekin upside down on the dough and cut out bigger than the dish. Slip dough in dish. Add meats like wieners, left over meat or salami and pepperoni. Cover in cheese and put in the oven.

This gives a wonderful smell in 2-3 minutes.

Remember if they smell supper cooking, they won’t bother you for awhile. We were taught as young cooks to put an onion in the fry pan to give you time to even think of what you were going to make. The family smells the onion and just expects it to take some time. It always worked.

What is your busy day meal. DEN loves to hear from you [email protected]

 Butterfly Ranger Project

 Recently this editor applied to the David Suzuki Foundation to become a Butterfly Ranger. It is the goal of this program to create Butterflyways in communities to support a diverse and dwindling butterfly population. The church I attend has a Monarch Sanctuary Garden that has engaged the day care children in incredible ways. The goal is to expand that this summer. To that end, I will be planting dozens of Swamp Milkweed seeds to be given to the children in the day care and to offer to churches in the region. More news on that in later issues.

It’s time for Nova Scotian law to recognize and protect a human right to a healthy environment. We urge the provincial government to commit to enacting a provincial Bill of Environmental Rights and Responsibilities. At minimum, that bill should: 1) say all Nova Scotians have a right to a healthy environment in which biodiversity is preserved, 2) say the Government of Nova Scotia has a legal responsibility to protect the environment for present and future generations, and 3) give Nova Scotians new and enhanced legal tools to support this work. East Coast Environmental Law has developed a model Bill of Environmental Rights and Responsibilities for Nova Scotia that would make the legal changes we are calling for. The model bill draws on legislation from the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Ontario, Québec, the Yukon, and the Nunatsiavut Government in Labrador—all of which have laws in place to recognize and protect environmental rights. The model bill also recognizes the impacts of environmental racism in Nova Scotia, the need for environmental justice and equity, and the Indigenous rights affirmed in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Send a message asking Alberta to join the global clean energy movement! Over the next decade, new clean energy generation is expected to overtake polluting fossil fuel industries. Already, 30% of the world’s energy comes from clean technologies, like wind and solar power, with more renewable energy added every day. This is the world’s fastest-growing energy market. Alberta has lots of wind and sun, but they are missing out. In February of 2024, the government imposed unfair rules on Alberta’s clean energy industry. These new rules cost billions of dollars in investment and thousands of jobs, while increasing the cost of living with high energy prices. Join in asking for a reverse of industry-crippling restrictions on renewable energy.  

ReconAfrica is a Canadian oil and gas company engaged in the exploration and development of oil and gas in Namibia and Botswana. This exploitation would be a catastrophe not only for the global climate, but for wildlife, water resources, and the livelihoods of local Indigenous peoples and the many who depend on the water and land. ReconAfrica not only threatens bodies of water in the dry savannas but also the Okavango Delta. This is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and massive wetland home to dozens of globally threatened birds and endangered animals like black rhino. Our world’s largest remaining population of wild cheetahs lives here, along with the largest remaining populations of endangered African elephants. We have an obligation to protect and care for nature, and this petition asks us to put that ahead of profit and exploitation.

The Permian Basin is a large sedimentary basin in the southwestern part of the United States. It is the home to three of the United States' most endangered animals: lesser prairie chickens, dunes sagebrush lizards, and freshwater mussels called Texas hornshells. Decades of relentless oil drilling, plus livestock grazing, mining, and pollution, have pushed all three to the brink of extinction.  Without safeguards, these species will disappear. Dunes sagebrush lizards have lost more than 95% of their habitat to oil and gas development and sand mining for fracking. Lesser prairie chickens also now occupy a fraction of their historic range and Texas hornshells are down to only five known populations in the United States. After decades of advocacy, the Fish and Wildlife Service has finally protected all three species under the Endangered Species Act. However, the agency still hasn't given them critical habitat even though the Act requires it to. Send a message to push for strong critical habitat designations.