Oct. 23 to help establish a pollinator plot on the church grounds including over 70 species of prairie wildflowers
WILLMAR — The small things we do to make the world a better place do make a difference.
Sunday school students in grades one through five at the Calvary Lutheran Church learned that lesson the fun way on Oct. 23.
They joined for a “bison stomp” on a parcel of land on the west side of the church. They tossed prairie seeds into the ground and joined in stomping the seeds into the soil, playing the role that once belonged to the millions of bison that roamed the prairie lands of the North American continent.
In the years ahead, the approximate, 75-foot by 75-foot parcel will bloom into a colorful prairie with 70 different species of prairie wildflowers.
It will provide food to a wide variety of pollinators, which is the goal for this plot.
Yet it’s the lesson the plot offers that matters most.
As individuals, we cannot do a lot to restore the bison or other wildlife to the prairie.
“But pollinators are really cool because everyone of you can do something about it,” Scott Glup, who helped organize the bison stomp, said he told the students. Glup, director with the Litchfield district U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office, is a part of the Creation Care team at Calvary Lutheran Church.
The team’s mission is to “treasure the Earth and to care for it as our common home, fully integrating creationcare into our love of God and neighbor.”
The idea of a pollinator plot had long been discussed among members of the Creation Care team, said Glup. The site is part of the former Bethesda property. The church removed an old building at the site and had seeded it to grass.
Now it will eventually bloom in full prairie splendor. The students stomped into the ground a mixture of seeds identical to the prairie mix the City of Willmar has planted in some of the park areas this past year.
In addition, Glup handharvested a variety of prairie plants from conservation plantings in the area.
The big challenge is ahead. Creation Care team members will need to keep invasive weeds and tree seedlings out of the patch in the coming years until the prairie plants can fully establish themselves, Glup said.
It will be roughly a five year process or more before the site truly shows the beauty of the prairie, he explained.
Prior to the stomp, Glup explained to the students why pollinators are in trouble and how we can make a difference by planting pollinator-friendly species of plants. We don’t necessarily have to convert our entire yards to prairie, he explained. Planting a few milkweeds along the edges of our lawn or adding flowers all help.
He pointed out the example of the Rusty Patched Bumblebee. It has disappeared from much of its range in Minnesota, but remains in some urban areas thanks to the efforts of those who maintain pollinator plots.