In honor of Memorial Day, I want to thank all those who have sacrificed everything to protect our nation and our communities.
I don’t normally think about our military when I think about agriculture and natural spaces in the United States but this year, I started to see the strings and I want to highlight them.
The United States National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, US Forest Service, Fire Departments, Conservation Officers, and more government agencies all work to protect the people and the natural spaces of our beautiful and massive country. Those officers help protect our natural spaces and the people using them. But let us not forget that it starts with the protections granted to us by our nation’s militaries.
Because of them, we are privileged to preserve our native spaces to the best of our abilities. We get to work to protect the environment and our ecosystems. Without a safe and secure nation, funds and resources would not be spent on seeds, trails, or tour guides.
Often in my job, our Nation’s Agriculture and Farms are regarded as a prong of our National Security. I know this may seem like a stretch, but planting native plants, removing invasives, and avoiding invasive and non-native species when shopping at plant nurseries helps protect and honor our nation too. Conservation makes us a stronger nation. Protecting our soils, protecting all layers of an ecosystem and its food web makes us a stronger nation. In nature, every living organism is connected to another just as we are too, in this nation, and our communities.
We are grateful to those who have given their lives in lines of service for the American people. Thank you to our troops, our law enforcement, and our fire departments for keeping us safe so that we can spend time and resources on figuring out the best ways to grow our food, and preserve our natural spaces.
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There is still space available in the upcoming Invasive Species Class, which takes place Tuesdays in June from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Fusion 54, 101 W. Main St, Crawfordsville. The cost for all four classes is $35 or $10 cash or check at the door for individual classes. Please email triciaherr@purdue.edu for more information or to confirm your spot.
Classes and topics are as follows:
June 4 — Introduction to Invasive Species
June 11 — Reporting, Recording and Tracking
June 18 — Invasive Forest Plants
June 25 — Invasive Species in the Home Landscape
The Supplemental Weed ID Walk hosted by Montgomery County CISMA and Montgomery County SWCD will be 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. June 20 at the Sugar Creek Nature Park. The walk is free and open to the public and Invasive Species Class participants.
A Native Plant Jamboree hosted by the Montgomery County Master Gardeners is scheduled 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. June 8 at the Montgomery County Fairgrounds, 400 Parke Ave., Crawfordsville. Buy native plant and learn more about why they are so important from local vendors and the keynote speaker at 10:30-11:30 a.m.
Tricia Herr is the Montgomery County Extension Educator, Ag and Natural Resource. The office is at 400 Parke Ave., Crawfordsville; 765-364-6363. She may be reached by email at triciaherr@purdue.edu.
