Earthworms

Great Rivers Environmental Law Center defends and protects Nature: places, creatures, plants and US.       Celebrating two decades of this worthy work, GREC President Bruce Morrison recalls triumphs, challenges and how collaboration with community is changing they way his team practices enviro law. Preview: the recent WIN for children's health thanks to Madeline Semanisin's work to secure passage of Get Lead Out of Drinking Water Act, through the MO Legislature, on July 1, 2022.                              October 23, 2022  - join the celebration at World's Fair Pavilion in Forest Park, featuring presentation of the Lewis C. Green Award for outstanding environmental work to Dan and Connie Burkhardt, founders of Magnificent Missouri. Click here for details. THANKS to Andy Heaslet, Earthworms audio engineer, and to Jon Valley, potentate of production at KDHX. Related Earthworms Conversations: Illinois Clean Energy Policy: Andy Heaslet on making of a legislative model (January 2022) The Rule of Five: Supreme

Elizabeth Fournier always wanted to work in funeral service. She was drawn to the service in this profession, and fascinated by its technical skills. Today she works "for a better living" - with Nature's tech - and she's proudly known far and wide as The Green Reaper.         Fournier is a national advocate for Green Burial, practices that are changing her profession's enviro impacts, and helping her fellow humans better connect Life to our Earthly nature, at Life's end. She compares the importance of ecological funerals to our society's everyday efforts to decrease human impacts - by supporting renewable energy, by driving hybrid or electric cars, by eating healthy foods, by promoting sustainable agriculture, by using their own cloth bags at the grocery store, and so on. Fournier celebrates how the ideas of a green lifestyle are carrying over to how we handle the dead. Fournier's Cornerstone Funeral Services, outside Portland OR, makes her the Undertaker of Boring (OR), her tiny rural town. She serves on the

It's a sister-rooted family scene at Fair Shares. The resourceful twist of this CCSA - Combined Community Supported Agriculture - nourishes St. Louis with produce and value-added products, a plateful of action for over 15 years.        As founding sister Sara Choler Hale prepares to set sail (literally) on her next life adventure, she and sibling Jamie Choler share the main course and many sides of their story with Earthworms host Jean Ponzi, with relish. From dedicated subscribing to local CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) farms, this thoughtful startup started asking all the local farmers if they'd be able and willing to contribute to a Combined CSA (CCSA), where subscriber-member fees are shared among many farmers and food producers. Answer: YES! In 2008, Fair Shares boxes started sending out Veg And: eggs, jams, honey, fresh and cured meats, cheeses, sweets. Each farmer could focus on what they do best. Today, over 400 members enjoy fantastic diversity of food from over 30 local farmers and producers.

What does a Mom and environmental lawyer do after leading a statewide enviro-coalition into its second half-century and serving as a City of St. Louis Alderperson? This one, Heather Navarro, takes on directing climate action for the Midwest U.S.          The Midwest Climate Collaborative, based at Washington University in St. Louis, envisions a carbon neutral, climate resilient, interconnected Midwest Region. This is seeing big: if the Midwest US (a dozen states) were a country, we'd be the sixth largest Carbon emitter in the world. Heather Navarro is on it! Launched with an online summit in January, 2022, this partnership to date includes universities, cities, NGOs, companies and cultural institutions. Students are working in leadership roles: connecting formal research projects, educating educators, and asset mapping are activities so far, seeking options to work with the agriculture and industry sectors that powering Midwestern economics. Solutions, strategies and shared actions are the focus of this Eart

Historic Greenwood Cemetery, terrestrial resting place of over 50,000 Black human beings, embodies the paradox of dis- and respect that our species can so profoundly bring to pass. In a heartfelt complementarity, Greenwood also offers one of our region's best opportunities for environmental and cultural service.      Shelley and Rafael Morris, leaders of the Greenwood Cemetery Preservation Association, first shared with KDHX Earthworms in January 2018 the significance of the oldest non-sectarian African American cemetery in the St. Louis region - and the moving story of efforts to reclaim the grounds from invasive plants and illegal dumping. Four years later, Greenwood's network of volunteers and supporters has certainly grown, yet the need persists for fiscal and work party support. Good news is that multiple STL companies have adopted Greenwood as a reoccurring focus of service and monetary support. AmeriCorps St. Louis volunteers are regular workers. About half of Greenwood's T-shaped 31.85 acres have been

As climate change threatens native plant populations, freezers in a lab in Gray Summit, Missouri are helping to preserve seeds vital to potentially restoring communities of these plants.       Meg Englehardt, Seed Bank Manager for Missouri Botanical Garden, is guardian of these precious resources. What's involved with Seed Banking? Why is this (vitally!) important? And how does the Garden's work in this area contribute to biodiversity, overall? This Earthworms conversation digs into Seed Bank details. Learn more!  THANKS to Earthworms Engineer, Andy Heaslet, and to KDHX Production wizards Jon Valley and Andy Coco. Related Earthworms Conversations: A Cinematic Ode to Seed Savers (Nov 2016)      

Meditation practice can lead a person to understand causes and outcomes, prompt awareness of impacts and impulses, ground the perception that change is an only constant - and foster a commitment to act with loving kindness. Valuable for our toddler human species, busy whacking at all around us. And a tall order, that's not out of reach.  What transpires when meditation practice focuses on our human relationship with Earth?  Lisa Hoover is exploring this space. Lisa peer-leads the weekly practice of White Oak Sangha, based in the Missouri Ozarks, grounded in the Western Insight meditation tradition. This winter, she is exploring relationships to Earth, through an intensive class ____________- Earthworms host Jean Ponzi took advantage of Zoom access (vs. an hour from St. Louis drive) to join this group when 2020 pandemic adaptations moved meetings online. Sharing their love of Earth, Jean shares insights with Lisa Hoover. THANKS to Andy Heaslet, Earthworms audio engineer, and to Jon Valley and Andy Coco, the KD

State legislators are heading back into session. Another year of biz-as-usual - or worse? A powerful coalition of advocates recently moved Illinois lawmakers to achieve results for people, planet and economics.            Andy Heaslet, Earthworms' own audio engineer, dug into the details of CEJA, the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act enacted into Illinois law in September 2021. He shares the story from his research for Masters' level coursework at Southern Illinois University, which was one nexus of collaborative activism that make this landmark policy a law both powerful and replicable.        Give a listen - be inspired! Thanks, Andy, for how Earthworms sounds - with THNX as well to Jon Valley and Andy Coco of KDHX Production. Related Earthworms Conversations: Diversifying Power: Energy Democracy with Jennie C. Stephens (Sept 2020) Rule of Five: the Supreme Court and CO2 (July 2020) Leah Clyburn: Organizing to Act on Environmental Racism in St. Louis (Oct 2019) Drawdown: Solutions to Reverse Global Warming

What if plants, regenerative technology, and spaces for people comprised the structure of our urban environs? Envision It!      Artist and community-grower Jayvn Solomon does, in his big body of work, Loutopia. On view through May, 2022 at TechArtista, 4th and Pine, in downtown St. Louis, this energizing array of 50 image panels puts nature-for-people in the foreground of urban life.  This Earthworms conversation hikes through sustainability, social justice, urban planning, arts-as-essential, resilience - and more. Join it, with Jean and Jayvn. Thanks to Andy Heaslet, Earthworms audio engineer, and to Jon Valley and Andy Coco, KDHX Production mavens. Related Earthworms Conversations: Chalk Riot: Street Art, GRL-Powered Art Riot (May 2018) VR Botany - Techno-Biologist Dr. Kyra Krakos brings nature waaaaaay in! (June 2020) Urban Environments: STL Style with Randy and Jeff Vines (June 2018)  

From plots of land in the Dutchtown neighborhood of south St. Louis, farmed since the 1870s, partners Mimo Davis and Miranda Duschack send forth bunches, bouquets and buckets of flowers that are "locally grown, not flown" to gladden many local hearts.       Especially poignant in this conversation with Earthworms host and flower fan Jean Ponzi is the story of Urban Buds covid pivot. Nature, Love and Beauty will not be stopped!           More than 70 varieties of blooming plants are sustainably grown using drip irrigation, compost, integrated pest management, minimal tillage and cover crops. This unique farm's one acre across seven city lots embodies knowledge and commitment that joyously hold Golden Beet Certification from Known & Grown St. Louis, the regional local food evaluation program of Missouri Coalition for the Environment. Thanks to Known & Grown!           Urban Buds supplies seasonal and high-tunnel grown flowers for weddings and events, direct sale at Farmers Markets, and wholesale custome

From Flint to Standing Rock - indeed, world-wide - communities keep resisting corporate and government actions that threaten water quality and access. One heroic story from El Salvador embodies the most resourceful courage and painful struggle of "ordinary people" who know water is more precious than gold.       John Cavanagh and activist/author partner and wife Robin Broad lived support for this saga. Their new book The Water Defenders (Beacon Press, March 2021) draws on over a decade of research and their own roles as international allies of the Salvadoran champions who took on Big Gold and the World Bank - and saved their country's water from corporate greed. Thanks to Andy Heaslet, Earthworms friend and engineer - and to Jon Valley and Andy Coco of KDHX Production. Related Earthworms Conversations: Photographer Neeta Sataam, Documenting Himalayan Climate Change (March 2018) Rule of Five: The Supreme Court and CO2 (July 2020)  

The land of second generation Missouri farmer Matt Arthur flowers thanks to his investment in growing soil. He says: “We are stewards of our land, committed to a no-till practice of regenerative agriculture. No chemicals, lots of cover crops, a preference for native species. Growing in permanent raised beds: once formed, we never disturb them." Flowers and herbs, native and medicinal plants, grow on three BLH Farm acres of this Fulton MO hillside.  Honeybees and other pollinators forage on 140 forested acres. Subscription compost collection from nearby St. Louis communities nourishes the BLH Farms' soil. Cut-flower customers can buy through the BLH CSA or online store and at Hy-Vee in Columbia MO. BLH Farms proudly holds membership and certification through Known & Grown St. Louis.  THANKS to Andy Heaslet, Earthworms audio engineer, and to Jon Valley and Andy Coco, the KDHX Production team.  Related Earthworms Conversations: Dr. Elaine Ingham: Soil Science Rocks Plant Health (Oct 2017) The Work of Eco

For Sam and Bill Wiseman, Sunflower Savannah Farm embodies  the continuity of life. Everything serves a purpose and contributes to the wellbeing of the farm.               Sheep eat the grass, conserving tractor fuel, and produce compost to grow cut flowers and specialty veg. Garden produce supports the Market, the animals and the farm family. Dogs guard the animals and the house and cats hunt critters that would ruin the grain eat garden seeds. Chickens, ducks, and geese feast on the bugs that eat the plants that feed everyone, and provide eggs to eat and compost to feed the garden soil. garden. This is the cycle for Sam and Bill, farming 22 acres in Beaufort, MO.    Thanks to Known & Grown STL, our regional local food brand and farm certification, for connecting KDHX Earthworms to Sunflower Savannah - and to all the Earthworms On The Farm conversations. Earthworms engineer is Andy Heaslet  - THANKS! also to Jon Valley and Andy Coco of the KDHX Production Team. Related Earthworms Conversations: Kate Es

Where in an urban space do goats, bees, flexible muscles, resilient spirits, elderflowers, generous hearts, and veg all flourish? Thanks to farmer and healer human being Janett Lewis, in Spanish Lake, a community in unincorporated North St. Louis County, MO.          Janett's work through Rustic Roots Sanctuary grew its strong fibers from her Georgia childhood on a family plantation, through work at a Waldorf School "where everything revolves around nature," to hands-on learning of bodywork skills in global cultures. A real estate business decision brought her to Spanish Lake. She stayed to address community needs and "because it's so beautiful and the people are amazing." Rustic Roots 6.64 acres add urban farming land-wealth to the GROW Spanish Lake community garden, both co-creators with Spanish Lake CDC - with Janett's strong hand in each. In each of her key roles in Spanish Lake, Janett Lewis draws from her lifetime of experience and commitment to help people feel better. Rustic Roots Sanctuary is a proud

If you can only plant one tree, make that tree an Oak.        Doug Tallamy, national advocate for restoring the LIFE in our places with the power of Native Plants, celebrates the mighty Quercus family of trees with this latest book, his third as definitive matchmakers for humans and plants. The Nature of Oaks: the Rich Ecology of our Most Essential Native Trees (Timber Press, 2021) is Tallamy's personal story, scientific observation chronicle and love song to the oak trees around his home. He connects tree lore to healthy soil, songbirds, and more caterpillars than even he (an expert entomologist) can count. Earthworms host Jean Ponzi welcomes Doug Tallamy back to KDHX, in a conversation part Eco-FanGirl idolizes Bug Guy, part Summit of Biodiversity Peers. Prepare to want to grow with an Oak! Presented in partnership with the 2021 Green Living Festival from the EarthWays Center at Missouri Botanical Garden. THANKS to Andy Heaslet, Earthworms audio engineer and Sierra Club national communicator, and to Andy C

On Legacy Circle Farms, Tyler and Erin Bernsen start their growing underground: nourishing "challenging Ozark soil" with compost, mulch and intensive grazing. Vibrantly visible are their crops of vegetables, fruits, mushrooms, nuts, high value herbs like turmeric and ginger, and heirloom varieties of garlic.            Recent addition of high tunnels boosted productivity from the quarter-acre the Bernsens farm. Their big-picture stewardship of Legacy Circle's 71 acres in Lonedell, MO embodies a unique exchange: a rent-free relationship with their landlord from which Tyler and Erin are seeking like-minded "landless" farmers to share their place for a farming start.               Legacy Circle Farms proudly holds Golden Beet Certification from Known & Grown St. Louis, our regional local food brand, a program of Missouri Coalition for the Environment. With advance reservations, tours are welcome. Goods are available through a local farms online collaborative,  at the Wildwood, Washington and Point Labbadie F

Sustainable farming is both lifestyle and full-time job for Holly Evans, Randy Buck and their three children. Holly and Earthworms host Jean Ponzi "tour" this young family's 15+ acre Rosy Buck Farm on a hillside property in Leasburg, MO, where Randy digs circular vegetable beds!        Third in Earthworms' series featuring local farmers certified by Known & Grown STL, our regional sustainable food brand, this conversation explores Rosy Buck's search for land, learning process, and joyful commitment to farming, overall.                 Rosy Buck Farm brings their bounty to Sol Market (Maplewood), Wednesdays 4-7, to Point Labadie Thursdays 4-7 and Wildwood Saturdays 8-9. CSA subscriptions are, happily, sold out for 2021. They proudly hold Golden Beet Certification from Known & Grown STL.  Thanks to Andy Heaslet, Earthworms Green-savvy engineer, and to Jon Valley and Andy Coco at KDHX. Related Earthworms Conversations: Nancy Lawson, the Humane Gardener (Feb 2019) Kate Estwing Grows, Arranges Loves . . .

Here at the confluence of the fourth largest watershed on Earth, most St. Louisans don't connect with our big rivers - or our community tributaries - beyond an occasional public event. How to  help us relate to the value, needs and health of our waters? Convening presenters from local, DC and global advocacy groups, this is the Global Freshwaters Summit's intent.           Organizer Laura Madden grew up in St. Louis on Coldwater Creek, now notoriously contaminated by radioactive waste. From a visit here with DC colleague and friend Myra Jackson, these women have rallied colleagues in environmental and social action, coordinating a virtual event hosted by the Missouri Historical Society around their landmark "Mighty Mississippi" exhibit.  Conference sessions and a film festival take place April 19-23, on Zoom. Registration is free. Overflowing the banks of "normal" Earth Week events, this summit aims to Change In One Generation how we humans relate to freshwater resources - and each other. THANKS to Andy Heas

Earth Day, April 22, is one of the most widely observed dates on this planet. For enviro-advocates, this celebration has become Earth Month: starts in March, runs to May.       This is way true for the folks of EarthDay-365, celebrating virtually again this year in St. Louis. Executive Director Dr. Jess Watson, and Bob Henkel, Director of Programs. Earthworms host Jean Ponzi knows Jess and Bob as colleagues and friends, so this preview of a month of social action, learning, engagement and fun comes from heart, hands and eco-logic intertwined. Give a listen, get involved! Happy Earth Month to you! THANKS to Andy Heaslet, Earthworms engineer, and to Andy Coco and Jon Valley, the KDHX production team. Related Earthworms Conversations:Earth Day: History of a Genius Event with Adam Rome (May 2018)

As dancer and choreographer Dawn Karlovsky read about The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate in Peter Wohlleben's bestseller of that name, SHE felt that communication - and transformed her experience into dance.                            Her conversation with Earthworms host Jean Ponzi explores the nature of movement as a primary force mastered (even in stillness) by trees, from whom our species can take a useful leaf! Karlovsky and Company's performance this spring of Interwoven celebrates the nourishing nurturing interconnected nature of what we now know as the "Wood-Wide Web" in a collaborative performance that includes original music by Tory Starbuck and Kalo Hoyle with stage design/visual art by Dr. Bill Russell. Audiences can virtually experience Interwoven March 26 - April 11, and learn more about this and other collaborative works at www.karlovskydance.org  THANKS to Andy Heaslet, Earthworms friend & engineer, and to KDHX production staff Andy Coco and Jon Valley. Relate