Show Your Earth Love

The last few weeks have been full of successes. We welcomed on board the last of our four schools to receive an educational orchard in 2012; we accepted another application from a school to participate in 2013; we prepared for tomorrow's fundraiser at Flatbread Pizza in Portland, ME, which will help fund the 1,000 trees we will plant in 2012, reaching 1,000 kids through the orchards we install. That's not to mention the number of teachers, family members, and communities our programs will inspire to grow their own food, make gardens and orchards their playground, and prepare nutritious meals for each other.

At ReTreeUS, we like to incorporate creative expression with our environmental education. Here I am, in one of Kat Gillies' art classes, with my guitar and some Cricket Hunt School students who will receive an orchard and programming this year. 

Which brings us to another great milestone: this week, we received one hundred packets of tomato, onion, lettuce, squash, and many other delicious plants including kale, our favorite vegetable.  These were sent by High Mowing Seeds, one of our new, very generous sponsors. The seeds they delivered will be planted this spring in the ReTreeUS garden, and those plants will be available at our farm stand for donations on a sliding scale.

This is just one more way ReTreeUS is creating greater access to good food, growing organically and selling it at a price you can afford--no matter how much money is in your bank account. Our suggested donations will range from a few dollars down to a few cents, and we ask clients to be fair in assessing how much they can spend on a bundle of organic kale, for example. Our farm stand will be conveniently located on a busy thorough-fair used by a diverse array of people on their commutes each day. (Please stay tuned as spring approaches for more details on our produce.)

Of course, we will use only earth's preferred pesticides, as I like to call them. That means those organic mechanisms for controlling insects, rodents and disease without interfering with the flow of the surrounding ecosystem. And luckily, the ReTreeUS farmers will have some help.

We often see bald eagles--the most skilled organic pest managers of all--soaring over our fields, moving from river to ocean and back, and hunting for rodents along the way.

One morning last week, we had the privilege of witnessing a most impressive display of a healthy ecosystem in full swing. We were having breakfast by the kitchen window when a huge juvenile eagle swooped down to have her breakfast, too! She circled the field a few times before landing behind a hill, out of site from the kitchen window.

This gave us just enough time to grab our binoculars before the raptor emerged with a giant rodent in her talons! I saw the long, skinny tail and thought it must be a huge rat, and Richard thought, from the sheer size of the animal, that it must be a groundhog.

Either way, that rodent would have ravaged our fields in the coming spring, and we were amazed and relieved to watch our new eagle friend enjoy the meal.

After the eagle had finished, I went out to see what the bird might have left behind in the fight for her breakfast. I had been hoping to see a beautiful feather lying on the snow, but instead I found what some might call a disgusting display of entrails from whatever rodent had just been eaten. I was certainly not disgusted, though; in fact, I found the remains quite interesting! The cycle of life and death is a beautiful, natural progression that works. If nothing interferes with the function of an ecosystem, the plants and animals who live there (including humans) will have everything they need.

I am glad to see that the ReTreeUS site is home to an already-thriving natural dynamic, and we plan to keep it that way! We also plan to create new places for wildlife and humans to thrive through our school orchards and home garden programs.

The banner we made to hang at Flatbread Tuesday evening.

If you live nearby, please come to the Flatbread Pizza fundraiser tomorrow and share in the excitement of the ReTreeUS program! Meet Richard, myself, our members and volunteers, as well as students and teachers from participating schools, who will benefit directly from your support. Eat delicious, locally-made food, and get great deals on cool items like Wilbur's of Maine Chocolate Confections, Lost Valley Ski Tickets, and more!

The Wilbur family donated some delectable treats for Valentine's Day! 

Lost Valley Ski generously donated 2 full day passes to our auction, which you can get at a fraction of the price!

Local musician Matt Loosigian uses music to teach about the environment as well!  He donated this award-winning CD to our auction, to be held at Flatbread Pizza tomorrow, January 31st. 

...another item in our auction: 3 Maine-made Pantry Candles, donated by  Michele Bois-Gilbody.

Come to the auction to see what else we have to offer!

If you are an out-of-town supporter, don't worry; you can Show Your Earth Love, too by donating $1, $5, or $100 to the ReTreeUS Kickstarter Campaign starting February 14th. It's a great way to send a Valentine to the Planet, and you'll even earn rewards for donating...no matter how much you give.

So, please join us as we plant 1,000 trees, reach 1,000 students, and raise $1,000+ by March 14th. Buy a pizza, go online, and Show Your Earth Love today!

Going Further, Reaching Out

The sun was bright on the snowy Cape Cod beach we visited last weekend. Out past the snow and ice, there was brackish water lapping around tiny mountains of shaped sand, and beyond that…there was Open Ocean. 

The beautiful view from dry land.

Richard points to Destination Sandbar.

Richard suggested that we venture further out, as we normally would, to explore the fascinating mix of sand and water in its many forms. He saw that a little further out there was a dry sand bar we could get to if we moved quicker than the rising tide. 

At first I thought the view from dry land was so beautiful that I would be satisfied just to look from right where I was.  You see, it was low tide, but my boots were made for no tide. My feet stayed dry as long as I hopped from sandy shape to sandy shape, narrowly missing the water and accepting the risk of dipping my feet in by accident.

But once I caught a glimpse of that mystical sandbar in the distance, I agreed that we had to go. 

We tried hard to stay dry as we approached our destination, and we did a fairly good job of it. We said we would keep an eye on the tide so we wouldn’t get stranded and have to run through frosty water and snow melt, but the beauty of that sand bar was the ultimate distraction. 

I danced around on dry sand, feeling we had reached the edge of the world. It was just the two of us and a couple of seagulls. 

But before we knew it, there was water there, too. 

"Moriah..." Richard said with a look of growing concern on his face.

I had been too busy prancing to notice the tide quickly surrounding us, but when I saw Richard's face, I immediately started running back for the beach.  Richard was headed that way too, but his boots were a little more appropriate for wading and his feet stayed dry.

As for me, I winced a little as the water soaked my boots, my feet, my ankles, my calves...my knees. 

When we finally made it to shore all I could think was that the cold risk we had taken was absolutely worth it. Had we just caught a view from the beach, we would have had a beautiful few moments. But reaching out further gave us a whole day full of memories and a story to tell. 


And, like most of my experiences, that day made me think of our journey with ReTreeUS. 


We returned from Cape Cod and promptly welcomed aboard our last school orchard recipient for 2012. Cricket Hunt, Mast Landing, Merriconeag Waldorf, and Waynflete Schools will receive orchards, workshops, and mentorship as a result of our donors' generous support. This means that not only will 1,000 trees be planted in 2012, but 1,000 students, from preschool to high school, will be reached by the ReTreeUS program. 

One of 1,000+ students to participate in the ReTreeUS program this school year.

It was relatively easy to spread the word about ReTreeUS to the 2012 school participants,  because of previous connections we had at each of those schools. (I work part-time at one school, Richard attended two of the schools, and he is a substitute teacher at the other.)

Knowing people at each of these schools made it easier for them to see the beauty in our program because we talk about it all the time. Gaining their support was a little like peacefully watching the bay from dry land. People who know us naturally see our passion for ReTreeUS, and though we worked to get the word out, much of our support came relatively easily.

We are now eager to venture further not only with these four schools but also with many others. We welcome other interested schools to contact us and apply to receive orchards in 2013. Although a few schools have applied already and are on the queue, we plan to grow the number of schools we reach and trees we plant each year. 


If you would like to help ReTreeUS reach that furthest "sandbar"--to the next thousand kids and the next thousand trees--there are many ways to get involved. If you're local, come to our fundraiser January 31st at Flatbread Pizza. Whether you're local or not, visit www.retreeus.org to become a volunteer or make a donation today. 

The poster I made, and we distributed, to advertise the upcoming fundraiser.

Together, we will reach further. Together, our branches will grow. And together, we will enjoy the fruits of a healthier, happier planet.

Rye-ght on Schedule

I mentioned in our last entry that, in so many words, we didn't start this non-profit for the money.

Of course we didn't. However, we are learning more and more about the generosity of donors and the importance of that willingness to give.

Because we have had such immense support during the first year of fundraising and planning, we have already secured 400 trees to be planted this spring, four schools to receive our first orchards, several more schools on the queue for future years, and the foundation for our fruit tree nursery.

The winter rye we planted last fall is the only growing greenery in our fields as we watch snow fall this morning. The rest of the grass is decomposing, creating heat, and melting snow that lands on top. The rye fields, however, not only glow green on a sunny and snow-free day, but glow white when the snow falls and sticks to its vibrant stems.

This cover crop serves as a reminder that we are prepared; our soil is growing more and more nourished, and we have our resources lined up to plant 1,000 trees in 2012. Our rye is growing, and we are ready. But we are also reminded that ReTreeUS is young.

Notice the white caps on both tiny hills in this picture. The snow sticks, and shows up better, on each of those plots, where we tilled and planted rye as our tree nursery cover crop.

Eventually, we hope to have a regular, annual flow of funding, so that we know every program will run and every yearly goal will be accomplished.

In our first year so far, we have just enough. Just enough to get our exciting program going. We are thankful for this, and we look forward to more financial support, ensuring that more schools will receive our orchards, more students will be exposed to hands-on learning in beautiful, sustainable orchards, and more children will grow into adults who love the earth and know how to take care of it.

We have just enough, and so does our earth. If we teach our children well, as ReTreeUS will, if we all use our resources wisely...there is enough for everyone--every baby, every child, and every adult--to live comfortably. To have everything we need, and to appreciate the beauty of a healthy, bountiful planet.

We are grateful to our supporters for recognizing that it is our goal to use resources wisely, and to teach children to do the same; to ensure that there are trees, food, and clean water for everyone.

Those same supporters are helping accomplish this goal in a myriad of ways. It seems everyone who knows of us is starting off the year with enthusiastic resolve. We have volunteers helping to perfect our curriculum, volunteers to work our land and help build our orchard exhibits. We have volunteers putting up posters and spreading the word about our upcoming events.

And for the event that's just around the corner, we have many people planning to attend, and many others still who have donated to our silent auction! We would like to extend a special note of gratitude to the following silent auction donors:

Cricket Hunt School, which is donating a special prize for a CHS family raffle
Matt Loosigian, award-winning children's musician, for his donated CD
Lost Valley Ski Area, for two donated ski tickets
Two Epic Designs, for their donated organic t-shirt prints

...and other individuals who are giving surf boards, exercise equipment, baked goods, and more!

Many thanks to all who plan to attend our benefit dinner at Flatbread Pizza, in Portland, on January 31st. For every pizza sold that evening, Flatbread will donate $3.50 to the ReTreeUS program.

It's a great opportunity to eat good food, spend time with friends, get deals on cool items, learn more about us, and--most of all--join the burgeoning, exciting movement of ReTreeUS.

We are new, but also ready....and we're rye-ght on time.