Tag: Stories

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Peggy and Jeff Boshart live on Peace of Eden Farm, located west of Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin. Glacial drumlins accentuate the landscape. The poorest soils in the area are not very suitable for crop production and are often covered with oak, hickory, and cherry woodlots. Peggy’s family purchased this farm when she was in middle school. Jeff was a city kid from Lebanon, Pennsylvania, but who grew up in a family that enjoyed camping, birdwatching, and gardening. They met as interns in Florida at a Christian non-profit organization called ECHO (Educational Concerns for Hunger Organization). Later, they served as intern supervisors in Haiti for ECHO, and as community development coordinators in the Dominican Republic for the Church of the Brethren.

Fifteen years ago, the Bosharts moved to Wisconsin and built a home on a corner of her parent’s 200-acre farm. Peggy’s parents have gradually turned over part of the farm – first about 3 acres of cropland that was converted to vegetable gardens, a small orchard, and a pasture for a few sheep and a small chicken flock, and recently 37 more acres that contain a several acre woodlot. Immediately, with the help of a government grant, 20 acres were planted in permanent pasture and divided up by electric fencing into smaller sections for rotational grazing. Produce from the farm is sold at several local farmers markets. Vegetable production, primarily salad greens in the colder months, and tomatoes in the summer, is year-round with the aid of high tunnels. Lamb, eggs, fruit, apple cider, and maple syrup round out the seasonal offerings.

In the 1990’s in preparation for overseas work, Peggy and Jeff received Masters’ degrees from Cornell University. Peggy focused her studies on animal nutrition and Jeff on Adult Education, both in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Jeff took several classes that touched on agroforestry in both tropical and temperate settings. The term agroforestry encompasses a variety of practices, all of which include the intentional integration of both tree products and crop or animal farming in farming systems on the same piece of land. Through proper design and species selections, agroforestry systems offer both short- and long-term financial opportunities, wildlife habitat, and synergistic interactions that mimic nature. Funding to establish tree plantings is available through grants from the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).

One category of agroforestry that combines Peggy’s love of working with animals and Jeff’s love of planting trees is known as silvopasture. Silvopasture is the practice of integrating trees and livestock production on the same field. Plans are in the works to begin a silvopastoral demonstration in one of the pastures, with trees being planted with wide spacing to mimic a temperate savanna ecosystem. Jeff reached out for advice on spacing and tree species selection from the Savanna Institute in nearby Madison, Wisconsin.

Caring for God’s creation is what brought Peggy and Jeff together and is the motivation behind all that they do. Their two teenagers share this passion as both are looking to further their studies in environmental science. The Bosharts also expect to have solar panels installed on their barn later this year. The goal of the farm is to serve their local community by providing healthy food, as well as being good neighbors to their global community by capturing carbon through the conversion of cropland to permanent pasture, along with tree planting.

Are you pursuing a tree-planting project in your community? Do you want to be part of Mennonite Men’s JoinTrees project to plant one million trees by 2030? Send us an email and let us know what you’re working on at info@mennonitemen.org.

​ On Oct. 22, 2022, EPIC, the Ecumenical Project for International Cooperation, Inc., received $20,000 from Mennonite Men to facilitate the planting of 20,000 trees by the Baja Verapaz Sustainable Agriculture and Health Education Program. Program staff expects to greatly exceed planting expectations with up to 34,248 trees planted this grant year. The exact number of trees that are planted will be known when the tree planting season has finished.

Trees were planted this grant year in 18 communities with a total of 277 families involved in planting. These families receive the trees without cost, but they are not paid anything for all of the work they do carrying the trees to the planting locations (sometimes long distances), digging the large holes for planting, and caring for the trees.

About 40% of the trees will be used in reforestation of badly eroding land. Frequently this serious deforestation has been caused by powerful lumbering companies or wealthy individuals coming in and cutting forests illegally. The deforestation causes soil erosion and multiple negative effects in the environment. Perhaps one of the most serious effects is that the small streams on which local populations depend for their farm and household use have less water. Doing reforestation is the most difficult work of the project.

Photo: (Right) Members of the village of Chivaquito are planting seeds of several varieties of native trees in a seed bed they have prepared. Note that the seed bed is near water so that in the dry season it can be watered. (Below) Women of the group transplant the seedlings from the seedbed into individual grow bags.

Approximately 30% of the trees will be planted on the farms of local participants in a wide variety of small agroforestry projects. These consist of a managed mix of trees planted to produce various products: food to eat or sell, fodder for livestock by cutting lower tree branches, lumber for houses, sustainably grown firewood for the family, etc. Producing lumber and fuelwood from these plantings protect trees from being removed from more valuable intact forest ecosystems. The objective is to restore the land while also producing an economic advantage for the farm family.

Another on-the-farm way the trees will be used is to create living fences. Planting rows of cypress trees can solve a major problem contributing to deforestation in the region. Farmers cut down small native trees to make fence posts for barbed wire fences, but the life of these fence posts is only 6 to 8 years. Planting rows of cypress as living fences solves this cause of deforestation. About 28% of the trees planted will become living fences.

To curb the consumption of junk foods and to improve local nutrition, especially that of children, 375 grafted fruit trees have been planted this grant year. These have mostly been planted by women relatively close to their homes to enable easy access to the fruit and to be able to bring water to the trees in very dry weather

Many of the trees were grown on local family farms before being transported to their final planting spots. A total of 54 families were actively involved in creating tree nurseries to produce trees for transplanting. These program participants had hoped to produce many more trees than they did, but their nurseries suffered large losses because of drought and the much hotter than normal temperatures that were experienced in Guatemala as a result of climate change.

The climate and food security situation is very worrisome in this area. The temperatures this year have been unprecedented, and for several years most of the Baja Verapaz region has experienced droughts and the rainfall that has arrived has been erratic and not with the normal timing. As a response to these challenges, the leaders of the Baja Verapaz program are planting only native trees and those of other regions that have been shown to be adapted to a dry area. However, they are continually searching for more drought resistant varieties to mitigate the climate crisis.

This large grant and planting project follows a similar grant and project in 2022, where Mennonite Men granted 20,000 and EPIC Baja Verapaz Sustainable Agriculture Program planted 35,385 trees. You can read about Don Antonio and Doña Hermelinda who, with their family, helped to supply trees for the project in their nursery.

Once other large-scale tree projects like this receive sufficient funding and are completed in 2024, Mennonite Men’s JoinTrees program will be 1/3 of the way toward its goal of planting one million trees by as a way to combat climate change. Read more about the program and ways you can get involved at MennoniteMen.org/jointrees.

​This piece originally appeared at www.mennonitemission.net on August 30, 2023.

In early August 2023, Q’eqchi’ Bezaleel Mennonite Educational Center students and Iglesia Nacional Evangélica Menonita Guatemalteca (INEMGUA, National Evangelical Mennonite Church of Guatemala) church leaders planted 367 Hass avocado (Persea americana) trees at the education center in San Juan Chamelco, Alta Verapaz, Guatemala. Funds to purchase the trees were provided by Mennonite Men through the JoinTrees campaign to plant one million trees by 2030. This campaign targets climate change by increasing tree and forest cover. Mennonite Mission Network provided an additional $500 for transporting the trees, organic fertilizer and other materials.

Photo: Bezaleel agriculture teacher Alejandro Hub Caz (second from right) who coordinated the tree-planting project, celebrates the work they have accomplished with teacher Luvia Guillermo de Ac (third from the left) and four of the students who planted trees. Q’eqchi’ Bezaleel Mennonite Educational Center in San Juan Chamelco, Alta Verapaz, Guatemala.

With a deep commitment to spiritual growth and environmental responsibility, while serving as president of the INEMGUA, Santiago Iqui and former Mission Network international service worker Deb Byler envisioned a project that would not only contribute to the beautification of the education center’s landscape and provide produce for the students at the education center but also serve as a tangible expression of the Mennonite faith’s teachings on caring for the environment. Mission Network is a partner of INEMGUA.

Months of research and planning preceded the actual tree-planting endeavor. Church leaders collaborated closely with consultant engineers and an agricultural technician to examine the education center site for drainage concerns and exotic and endangered plant species. They also collected soil samples for testing to ensure the trees would thrive.

They chose to plant Hass avocado trees based on their ecological suitability to the region, as well as their ability to provide valuable ecosystem services, such as carbon sequestration, soil stabilization and habitat creation.

‘Helping with trees in agroforestry projects like this is especially important because these trees not only help sequester carbon, cool the planet, and reduce deforestation but also support the livelihoods of families. So we get multiple benefits by planting trees in communities like San Juan Chamelco,’ said Steve Thomas, Mennonite Men Coordinator for USA.

The church leaders worked together with Bezaleel’s agriculture teacher Alejandro Hub Caz to include the education center’s students and teachers in the planting initiative to foster a sense of collective responsibility and ownership in the project. One of the project’s stated objectives is to teach students to manage trees so they can help reforest their local communities once they graduate. Guided by environmental experts, the volunteers learned proper planting techniques, which ensured that the trees had the best chance of survival and growth.

Ongoing stewardship and care for the newly planted trees is important for food security and will benefit the students and teachers. A maintenance schedule was developed, which includes fence maintenance to protect the trees from animals and keeping the areas around the trees clear of any other plant growth.

​Green burials, planting trees draw congregation near to natural cycles of life, death

(Charity Shenk plays viola as guests await the arrival of Priscilla Ziegler’s immediate family for the graveside service in the cemetery on March 29 at Akron Mennonite Church in Pennsylvania. — Jim Shenk)

On March 29, we gathered for a graveside service to honor the life of a beloved Akron Mennonite Church member, Priscilla Ziegler. This would be unlike traditional interments.

We waited expectantly for immediate family and Priscilla’s shroud-wrapped body to arrive. Few of the 250 family and friends had experienced this kind of green burial and its intimacy. Upon arrival, guests were handed a short description of green burials, written by Priscilla’s husband, Don.

During the reading of a poem, family members gently lowered Priscilla’s body into the 5-foot-deep earthen grave. While a violist played sacred tunes, we were invited to approach the grave and drop fresh-cut flowers and a note of blessing or memory. The flowers and notes thickly blanketed Priscilla’s body.

Participants were touched by this sacred graveside experience. Many said, “This is what I want.”

The possibility of green burials in the Akron Mennonite Church cemetery grew out of conversations inspired by end-of-life workshops more than a decade ago. Don Ziegler, Jerry Shank and Dick Leaman designed an eight-session curriculum and led discussion for the more than 100 people who participated.

Upon learning more about what happens to the human body when embalmed and the consequences for the soil and groundwater, many participants considered more environmentally friendly alternatives.

A few of us advocated for green burials as an option in the church cemetery. Some wished to be buried in a biodegradable container such as a shroud, seagrass basket or simple pine casket.

Our cemetery trustees learned that in Pennsylvania there is no legal requirement for a vault. Such requirements are individual cemetery rules, primarily to prevent settling of earth for easier maintenance.

It did not take long for the trustees, led by Glenn Weaver, to approve green burials without vaults. Our cemetery is only the second in Lancaster County to offer this option. Glenn and his wife, Anne, led the way by making their own plans for shroud burial.

Photo: Nick, Abby and Lily Buckwalter joined 150 people who planted 450 tree seedlings in October at Akron Mennonite Church in Pennsylvania. — Bob Wyble

The ministry team that formed to consider more natural alternatives to practices of the funeral industry then started to dream about how to use the adjacent four-acre hay field to reflect the natural cycles of life and death.

Our dreaming led to rather grandiose plans that over the course of a few years evolved with input from a range of people from within and outside the congregation.

The original idea of a memorial garden shifted to a focus on a nature preserve connected to our cemetery space. It would be a place where life and death are experienced holistically, symbolized in the chrysalis and the butterfly. The congregation affirmed this refocusing.

Local and state approvals were secured and financial contributions committed. Presentations were made by John Weber to area Mennonite congregations, with an invitation to join in this creation-care initiative and receive member privileges for burial options. Church council gave its blessing to move forward. Neighbors were invited to a service of blessing for the transformation of this space.

Implementation of this vision began last summer. Two months of excavations shaped the sloping tract of land and formed a bio-retention basin.

On a gorgeous day last October, 150 people planted 450 trees. Individuals and families from AMC, neighbors, students and representatives of five ­sister congregations were guided by staff of the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay.

This parcel of land is being transformed into a woodland of more than 20 native species, a meadow of native grasses and flowers, and walking paths.

A sidewalk was contoured along two sides of the property to meet borough guidelines but inset from the streets to make it compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Bark-mulched paths were put down just in time to welcome winter walkers.

Congregational support was profoundly deeper than just support for this project. It was rooted in a commitment to be faithful stewards of the Earth by enhancing the natural environment for the benefit of all life.

This commitment was evident in support for a project led by Nick Buckwalter to install solar panels on the church’s roof; in 25 volunteers gathering on a Saturday to clear invasive trees and bushes from our campus; in congregational leadership proposing creation care as one of our congregation’s four core values; and in a resounding call for the nature preserve project to be understood as part of this larger commitment.

A Green Team was formed to give leadership to this commitment to creation care. Plans include collaborating with the Diamond Street Early Education Center, resident in our facility, to develop an outdoor classroom, a creation-care curriculum and a StoryWalk; developing contemplative spaces at benches with access to resources via QR codes; collaborating with interfaith partners for the Chesapeake and neighboring groups working on similar initiatives; and educating and developing awareness of individual, family and community actions to benefit the environment.

Donna Mack Shenk, convener of the Green Team, notes both the remarkable breadth of gifts within the congregation and the rich connections that have been developed with like-minded individuals, groups and churches in the community.

“It is so inspiring to see our small efforts as part of something much larger, locally and globally,” she said.

What began as a conversation about end-of-life has evolved into a life-giving initiative that offers opportunities for coming generations.

This article was originally published by Anabaptist World on April 28, 2023 at anabaptistworld.org. Used by permission.

Jim Shenk and wife Donna have been part of the Akron Mennonite Church team that has envisioned and guided the nature preserve initiative. They live north of Lititz, Pa., in a three-generation household.