Another Nest Renewal!

A big thank you to the youth volunteers and their group leaders from Faith Point Lutheran Church, who volunteered to renew the nest of Children's Nest Egg on Wednesday June 5th.

Rebuilding the nest wall is an opportunity for volunteer groups to express values of care and renewal of nature and the earth. The nest wall is made of branches and naturally bio-degrades over time, shrinking as the bottom layers disintegrate into the soil. Volunteers learn to rebuild new layers of the nest wall on top of the old. 

This year's nest renewal had a new twist. Mark Zembryki, of Westwood Hills Nature Center gave an introduction about the harmful influence of the invasive Buckthorn plant and provided snippers for volunteers to gather the invasive plant from the nature center. (Gathering of plant material from the Nature Center, is only allowed under guidance from the Nature Center Staff.) Volunteers then gathered Buckthorn and used it to build new layers on the nest wall. I then showed them how to weave the layers together using basket weaving techniques, manilla rope as thread, and a giant wooden needle. 

This new twist of using Buckthorn solved two problems at once (removal of invasive plants, and raw material for the nest) but it was also the first time fresh-cut branches were used in building the nest, with green leaves still attached. Although this fresh-cut appearance of the nest was fleeting (the leaves dried and fell over several weeks) it was also delightful.