Invitation to Care for Hoen-ji's Grounds

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May is here, the lush temple grounds teem with life-- orioles, song sparrows, flowering dogwood, swallowtails, bloodroot-- as well as many weeds that you are invited to help pull.

If you can come pull weeds, please first focus on the pebble areas in the front and side of the Forman House. The blueberry bushes on the river side of the walking path are being strangled and are also in need of attention. There is a wheelbarrow alongside the pen of blueberry bushes for weed deposit.

Other areas of the grounds are always grateful for your help in liberating them from weeds. We'd recommend starting with the more visible sites (for example, near the Zendo or sculpture) and around trees and shrubs getting buried by the less desirable plants. Here's a Weed Gallery in case all plants look alike to you:

1. Garlic mustard. This one is edible, so you can snack while you pull. What you don't eat of this plant, you can pile in a wheel barrow or unobtrusive spot to allow it to die entirely. Once expired, we will complete the cycle by adding this organic matter to the forest soil as compost.

2. Sticky willy, or Galium apartime. This is a useful medicinal plant, but you'll need gloves to remove due to the spiny sticky coating on all parts of this weak-stemmed cleaver. Take all you want. As long as the seeds have not ripened, it can also be pulled, placed in a wheel barrow to die, and then recycled for compost.

3. Japanese knotweed. Looks like bamboo, but belongs to the buckwheat family. Edible at young stages, and roots make strong medicine. Feel free to pull any sprigs and stems you see. Unlike the other species, this one you do not want to compost since an entire plant can regrow from a minute fragment of the stem.

4. You can also pull European buckthorn if you prefer to work with woody plants.
Thank you for your help in maintaining the beauty, sanctity and ecological richness of our temple grounds.

Date:

Sun, May 18, 2014 - 4:00am - Thu, Jul 31, 2014 - 4:00am

Program fee:

None

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At the Zen Center of Syracuse, we recognize the profound interconnectedness of all living beings and the delicate balance of the Earth’s ecosystems. We pledge to cultivate awareness and attentiveness in every aspect of our operations. By learning from the land care traditions of our Onondaga neighbors, we commit to actions that reflect our gratitude to Mother Earth.
The Zen Center of Syracuse acknowledges that we are on the territory of the Onondaga Nation, council fire of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. With gratitude and respect, we join in the stewardship of our shared environment.