Badger Barrens Addition Update By Nate Simons In November, we hired John Merritt to do the final fine-grading to smooth tire ruts created by the heavy equipment used during the tree removal phase of the restoration project. In two days, John used his tracked skid-steer loader to push the high spots into the low areas to restore the contours within the low area south of the barn. While he was at it, he prepared the sandy high ground located between the road and the barn for this December’s volunteer prairie planting party (please join us for this annual event on Saturday, December 7th). The sandy soil is ready to receive June’s volunteer-collected lupine seed. The lupine seed will be mixed with little bluestem seed and other dry soil wildflower seed collected by volunteers in September and October.

In addition, the Blue Crew spent time removing the last of the Asian bush honeysuckle, autumn olive, and black locust throughout the 24-acre site. Plans for next year include controlling patches of reed canary grass in the low, black sand to release the native sedge, grass, and flower seedbank; blanket spray approximately 5 acres of sandy land south of the barn; collect more lupine seed; and sow the seed on the remaining sandy land south of the barn. At the point the lupine meadow restoration project should be “complete.” But our work is never done. Continual stewardship work will include annual removal of reappearing invasive species and frequent fall prescribed fires.

Growing Up! By Nate Simons This coming February, Blue Heron Ministries will turn 24 years old. From our birth, we were raised by Tom Smith, pastor of the Presbyterian Chapel of the Lakes. And in some sense, since Tom invited me to start an environmental ministry for the congregation he led, one could say that he actually gave birth to us. As we learned to crawl under his guidance, the congregation warmly welcomed us into their household. They housed us and fed us by allowing us office space, use of the copier, use of the restroom facilities, use of the kitchen and dining room, and parking lot. As we grew, we learned to help out around the house a bit…odd chores like shoveling the sidewalks after a snow, fixing roof leaks, working in the garden, sweeping the floors and cleaning the bathroom. Tom spent a lot of time with us. Most mornings, he joined us for our morning breakfast meetings. Trivia, jokes, theological insights, and the annual college basketball playoff pairings, and laughter. He genuinely took interest in each of the crew members as the Blue Heron family continued to grow. And Tom would randomly and infrequently engage me in hours-long discussions on what he was studying. As we reached our teen years Tom was looking out for us. He actually planned ahead with us. When land and garage across the road from the church building came up for sale, he orchestrated a way for us to buy the land with help from congregational investors. As we became financially stable doing work outside the home (our work, stewardship of Creation, consists of helping others take care of the land they steward and so build for the kingdom of God), we earned enough money to pay for and add on to the garage. The new space was large enough for our toys…trucks, trailers, ATV’s, skid-steer loader and mower, fire equipment, and seed storage and cleaning facility. We still had our office in the house. As we went off to college, Tom once again thought ahead for us. It was time to gain some independence. Our next step was to apply for and receive our own non-profit status in the eyes of the Federal government. While we lived in the house and under the authority of the congregation, we borrowed our non-profit status under the umbrella of the Mother Church. With our diploma in hand and with our identity formed, the natural next step is to fledge from the nest. Tom encouraged us to do that as well. As he talked more and more about retirement we wondered about our future. He retired and we are on our own to fly. We will be 24 years old in February. With thanksgiving to Tom and the congregation for all the love and guidance, we are ready to move into our own home. Our plans have changed a number of times in the last few months. With guidance from our Board of Advisors and affirmations from our heavenly Father (they have come in the form of dreams in the early morning hours), we have decide to add office space to the garage on the land across the road. After consulting three contractors and three banks, it looks like we will build 528 sq. ft. enough room for the office desks, a round table, two bathrooms, and a utility and storage closet. The projected cost is $140,000, but we should plan for 15% more. We plan to obtain a mortgage, using the collateral from a paid off garage, addition, and land. We have $9,000 in gifts from friends and little bit saved ourselves. The work we do to restore Creation has good value to those for whom we work. We have a reputation for doing good work at a very reasonable price. The value is due in part to the low overhead we have that came from the generosity of Tom and the congregation that allowed us to live and grow up in their care. Now that we are on our own, we would like to retain that value for those for whom we work. We would like to reduce or even eliminate the amount of a potential mortgage. So, with humbleness, we would like to invite our friends to partner with us to raise funds for our new office space. With your help, we can continue to offer folks our ability to help take care of the land they steward at a rate that will be affordable to them. If you desire to partner with us and bless us with a “house warming” gift, you can donate online or send your gift to Blue Heron Ministries at 2955 W. Orland Rd. Angola, IN 46703.  Thank you!

View from the Crew by John Brittenham

This November was tree planting season for the Blue Crew. Fall is an excellent time to plant trees and this extended warm fall gave us an extra long window to get some beautiful oak trees in the ground. Here, Fred and Madi work to plant some oak trees and other fire tolerant species on a project near Angola.

After the trees were planted, we used fencing to protect the trees from deer. The fencing on most of the trees was to prevent deer from rubbing their antlers on the trunks and damaging the trees. Most of the trees were big enough already to prevent deer from browsing and damaging the tops. Madi proudly shows off this fenced tree she just completed.

Bring on the fall burn season! Fall burn seasons are almost always very short, with only a handful of burns being accomplished. The best time to burn is after a killing frost and this usually means November is prime time for fall burns. This year was very abnormal with very few to no killing frosts occurring until late November. Pictured here is the crew getting ready for a prescribed fire in southern Michigan at the Michigan Audubon Society’s Otis Sanctuary.

On a trip to northern Michigan near Traverse City, I came across this beautiful patch of Reindeer Moss/Reindeer Lichen (Cladonia spp.) This lichen is a symbiotic relationship between a fungus and a green alga and thrives in dry sandy areas, often near trees. Reindeer Lichen is a common site in northern Michigan, but can be found in our area as well.

While out on a hike in northern Michigan, we found this old, open grown Sugar Maple tree. This tree just called out to be climbed and some of my kids took the challenge. What a great reminder of what a tree can be if we give it enough time and space.

Another beautiful day for a fall burn. Here, Josh and Madi are all smiles after completing a prescribed fire near Clear Lake.

Tree planting continues on a property near Dallas Lake. The area was quite the challenge to maneuver in. With just hand tools and some large trees to plant, we descended into this quagmire of trees and debris and came out victorious having planted over 30 trees by the end.

Now we’re talking. Digging holes with the skid loader is way easier than the old shovel. Josh made short work of digging the holes for all our trees at another property near Dallas Lake. This was a breeze to do after our previous project of planting trees in a brushy, tree fallen woods.

Madi, Matt, and Eva all work together to get the trees in the ground and made short work of it. The trees are being planted here to help stabilize the lake edge and provide valuable habitat for animals living in the area.

One of my favorite times of the year! It’s seed cleaning season. We take a break from our usual field work every November to process all the native seeds we have collected throughout the year. It is a nice change of pace and a very fulfilling way to get to know each plant species and its seeds. These seeds will be planted in December at the new addition to Badger Barrens near Clear Lake.

Separating the seeds from the chaff is dusty work. Respirators are a must as we work on the seed cleaning process for multiple days. Simple handmade screens are all we need to separate most of the seeds from the plants. Each species is different, and it is often a fun challenge to figure out how to best and most efficiently clean each species.

On a recent work project to remove invasive shrubs at a friends house, my kids worked hard to help cut and remove a whole hillside of bush honeysuckle, autumn olive, and multiflora rose. Naomi even made herself a lovely multiflora rose bouquet. It would make a nice floral arrangement don’t you think?

Upcoming Events

Prairie Planting December 7th at 1PM Throughout the year, Nate has been providing updates and highlighting the progress at our Badger Barrens Addition. This will be the site of this year’s volunteer December prairie planting. We will use native prairie seed that has been gathered by the Blue Crew and volunteers during the year. Come join us, and see the work that has been done. No experience is necessary to participate, and we welcome newcomers!