While we revel in the experiences of starting trees from seed and joining friends on the weekends to plant trees, we know that this act alone will not have the environmental effects we want... unless we ALSO deeply consider that tree as a part of an entire interconnected ecosystem first. Does that mean we can't simply donate to tree planting, or spend a few hours on the weekends, or support carbon tax credits and feel like we're done? Unfortunately, it does.
But if you're thinking deeper education, connections, and commitments sound heavy, we're happy to tell you that they don't have to! Quite the opposite, in fact. If you dive into real holistic learning about ecosystems, we can just about promise that you'll fall in love over, and over, and over again with this beautiful world of which you are a part. We invite you to join us there!
Resources
Books
If you begin with these four, you will be transformed by the end, especially if you haven't dug into this stuff (pun intended) before, and particularly if you remain open to such internal movement!
Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Wall Kimmerer
The Overstory, by Richard Powers
Sand Talk, by Tyson Yunkaporta
Designing Regenerative Cultures, by Daniel Christian Wall
THEN...
Finding the Mother Tree, by Suzanne Simard
Entangled Life, by Merlin Sheldrake
The Hidden Life of Trees, The Heartbeat of Trees, and The Secret Wisdom of Nature, by Peter Wohlleben
Audio and Video
Podcasts
On Being, by Krista Tippet: Episodes with Suzanne Simard, Robert Macfarlane, Janine Benyus, and James Bridle
How to Save a Planet
Our Mycelium Selves: Episode with Merlin Sheldrake
Video
Tending the Wild, PBS, series: "Tending the Wild shines light on the environmental knowledge of indigenous peoples across California by exploring how they have actively shaped and tended the land for millennia, developing a deep understanding of plant and animal life. This documentary examines humans’ balance with nature and how traditional practices can inspire a new generation of Californians to tend the environment."
Kiss the Ground, film
America Outdoors, with Baratunde Thurston, PBS
Down to Earth, TV, the season in Australia
The Biggest Little Farm, film
Courses and Experiences
Gaia Education (gaiaeducation.org). All courses seem relevant and valuable. The Ecosystem Restoration Design course is a particular recommendation, as it focuses on solutions in its entirety.
Ecosystem Restoration Communities (ecosystemrestorationcommunities.org). This is a worldwide group of folks who work together to restore and regenerate a vast array of ecosystems. Online and in-person classes, experiences, and volunteer camps are available.
The Work That Reconnects: Climate Crisis as a Spiritual Path (www.naropa.edu/academics/schools-centers/jmc/resources/). Joanna Macy, now in her 90's, published and created programming around how to handle our environmental grief/love decades and decades ago. The Joanna Macy Center, now at Naropa University, houses events, resources, and training programs to become facilitators in the work.
How-To
How to find good plants and trees for your area
In order to regenerate ecosystems as a whole, including all the symbiotic relationships we might not be aware of, we should usually plant trees and other vegetation that are indigenous to our areas. Put in your location here and the National Wildlife Federation will tell you who has always lived there! https://www.nwf.org/nativeplantfinder/plants
How to Harvest and Start Locust Trees (for free!)
Honey Locust and Black Locust trees are drought tolerant, nitrogen fixers, fast growers, easy to start, and have seeds that are all over the place on the ground, even in urban areas, making them a great choice in arid climates.
This video is great for Black Locust, and the steps are the same as Honey Locust below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVJHyLXag8c. Importantly, he doesn't mention that you have to cold stratify Black Locust seeds--they have to be in the cold for six months (on the ground or in your fridge) before you proceed to his nicely summarized steps.
1) Collect a bunch of seed pods underneath locust trees in your area. If you're in Denver, they are quite literally all over the ground at the zoo.
2) Gently split the pod in half and extract seeds that have not been partly eaten. If they have holes in them, someone else has already moved in, and you should leave those alone.
3) Boil the seeds for about 10 seconds and leave them in the water overnight. Discard any that float.
4) Remove the seeds from the water and line them in a paper towel and roll it up.
5) Put about an inch of water at the bottom of a jar, drape the rolled seed bundle over a stick, and submerge the ends of the paper towel in the water.
6) Wait about two days, and check to see if the seeds have sprouted.
7) Remove those that have and plant them 1/2 inch deep in whatever containers you have, in standard potting soil.
8) Keep checking daily until the remaining seeds have sprouted or molded, and plant or discard accordingly.
Prefer to buy trees? We recommend this place, unless you can find a great place near you that starts locally harvested, indigenous trees in your own area. https://raintreenursery.com/ Black Locust trees are only $5 and always arrive and grow in great health.