Pollinator Pilot Project.  Year 1 of the project is now in the books.  The six pilot congregations have put their gardens to rest.  Plants are dormant and preparing to reappear in a bigger and bolder fashion in the Spring.   

The six pilot congregations are:  French River in French River, Our Saviors in Outing, Bethesda in Malmo, St. Andrew in Grand Rapids, Bethlehem in Twig, Our Redeemer in Pine City.  Preparing each site showed a lot of interesting thinking and variations from these six pilots.  Here are some of the preparations that took place in Year 1:  putting down black or green plastic, adding bee houses, put up a fence, tilling the land, planting plants donated by congregation members, visiting established pollinator gardens, plants in pots for future planting, burn dead grass with weed torches, removal of buckthorn and/or invasive honeysuckle, weed barriers, and adding water barrels. 

Other churches in the NE MN ELCA Synod have joined in the fun.  Some already had pollinator/native gardens, and some are just beginning to consider how they can get involved.  These churches include: Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd in Duluth, Trinity in Cook, Faith Lutheran in Hoyt Lakes, First Lutheran in Duluth, Our Saviors Lutheran in Duluth, Zion Lutheran in Grand Rapids, Concordia Lutheran in Duluth, Suomi Lutheran in Deer River, Lutheran Church of the Cross in Nisswa, Trinity Lutheran in Duluth, Gloria Dei Lutheran in Duluth, and Bethlehem Lutheran in Grand Marais.  Some individuals are also indicating that they might like to get involved in their homes, schools, businesses, parks, etc. 

Churches that have taken the additional step of Monarch Waystation Certification include:  Bethlehem Lutheran (Grand Marais), Gloria Dei (Duluth), Suomi Lutheran (Deer River), Trinity (Duluth).  Here is how to become certified along with 41,564 other Monarch Waystations in the U.S. and Canada: 

1.  go to:  monarchwatch.org 

2.  click on link for Monarch Waystation Program 

3.  scroll down to What You Can Do 

4.  click on:  register your habitat 

5.  click on:  Secure Online Application 

The monarchs are now in Mexico.  No, it’s not “fun in the sun” for the monarchs.  Instead, they are living in the Mexican mountains at an altitude of about 10,000 feet, The days are cold and grey with occasional snow.  Those monarchs that arrived nice and plump have the best chance of surviving the winter.  They were able to fatten up on the nectar plants they found during their migration and will rest living off that body fat until Spring.  Those that arrived slender have a lesser chance of survival.

The NE MN ELCA Synod Ecofaith team wants to know all churches in the synod that have a pollinator garden and/or a Monarch Waystation. If this describes your church and you are not in one of the lists above, please let me know: tomuecker1946@gmail.com.