The Soil, the Seeds and the Sisters

All the flowers of all the tomorrows are in the seeds of today.

Chinese proverb

Spring is moving into lovely warm days and the threat of frost is gone. It is the time we have been waiting for all winter long. It’s also the time to get our hands in the dirt and make things grow. And that we did! First, the SOIL! It takes the whole IHM community living on the IHM end of the Marywood campus to make a nice, soft rich soil for next year’s planting.

Everyone has a part in the composting process— saving rinds and peelings, organic scraps, and yes, even coffee grounds. These are transported by individuals and Chartwell’s kitchen staff to be added to the four-bin compost system outside of the IHM Center dining room windows. The compost will be tended and turned until it
becomes a rich soil which will be spread to help regenerate the soil on the Land Restoration. It is in a sense our corporate work of producing a new creation.

On Earth Day, April 21, a group of EarthCare Committee members and others gathered to pray and bless our property for another season of growth. All during April, the sisters had been collecting yogurt cups in which to place the seeds that eventually would sprout and be planted in the friendship garden to bloom merrily in the summer sunshine. Committee members sorted the seed packets and slipped a few small seeds into each neatly labeled yogurt cup—cosmos, marigolds, zinnias, sunflowers, daisies…

Other gentle hands watered each cup to moisten the soil and the seed, and then lined up the cups on trays to be delivered to willing volunteers at Our Lady of Peace and
the IHM Center for tending during the next three weeks as they germinated and popped up into life above the dark soil, some still dragging their shells. Some sisters reported moving their seedlings into more suitable sunny locations to promote healthy growth. For sure, the tiny sprouts were lovingly nurtured until they grew strong and acclimated to being above ground.

On a sunny Friday afternoon, EarthCare committee members circulated and picked up the little plants that seemed strong enough for planting and carefully carried them to the Friendship Garden where gloved hands received them, planted and watered them, all while reflecting on the many hands that had brought them to this point. They admired the miracle of growth that had happened almost before their eyes. Truly, it takes a village to create an IHM Friendship Garden. So, in few weeks, be sure to visit the Friendship Garden, sit in a rocking chair and enjoy the riot of colorful flowers all around you. And don’t forget—keep on composting and keep the cycle going.