Tree Planting for Amma’s 70th Birthday
On the first tree planting day organised by GreenFriends/local community, we awoke to some frost. But it stayed dry during the day and the ground did not freeze keeping the soil soft and easy to dig. We would be planting for Amma’s birthday on the auspicious day of Trikartika and during the National Tree Planting week.
GreenFriends UK had spent the previous few months liaising with the local community on the site we were to plant, and with IDverde, who look after Bromley Borough’s parks and open spaces. It is what we hope to be the start of a successful partnership.
The planting site is called Richmal Crompton Fields, which has been named after the author of the Just William children’s books who lived nearby. It is about 15 minutes’ drive from the Bromley Centre. Our local community contact is a lady called Teresa, who heads the enthusiastic Friends of Richmal Crompton Fields (FRCF) and they undertake the smaller projects as there are so few of them.
There is a section of the hedge which surrounds the site which unfortunately was killed by pollution from a farm next door. The source of the pollution has been removed, and the FRCF wanted to replant the 20 metre gap in the hedge but it was too big a project for them alone. This is where Greenfriends UK came in. After a lot of discussion with Teresa of FRCF and with Penny, our contact at IDverde, we successfully applied to the Woodland Trust for 90 native trees of 8 species to plant in the hedge. This included Hawthorn, Crab Apple, Dog Rose, Hazel and Dogwood.
Hedges are a form of living fence that have been used for hundreds of years in this country. They are an essential wildlife corridor for small animals, birds and insects to travel through without exposing themselves to predators. They provide a home for birds/insects — one of Amma’s Indeed Pledges. Their berries and flowers are a source of food for wildlife and of course they act as a barrier between two areas.
In addition to the 90 Woodland Trust trees, devotees from around the country had been nurturing and growing trees. We had planned that these 18 additional trees, bringing us to 108, would be planted at the same time. However the Council were concerned about bringing trees from other areas of the country which may introduce new disease to the area. This was completely understandable as the country at the moment is struggling with various trees diseases such as Ash die back, Horse Chestnut and Larch disease to name a few.
All trees had been sponsored by Amma devotees — THANK YOU.
We were nervous about how much help we would get and whether we would finish the planting that day — we envisaged 5 of us working till night fall to get it all done!
However, our fears were unfounded. Not only were we blessed with ideal weather for tree planting, we were also blessed with plenty of help on the day. More than 2 dozen people came, many from the local community and Amma devotees with their friends.
Before any planting could take place all volunteers were gathered together and we gave a quick talk about the benefits of hedges and what the plan of action was for the day. Over 24 volunteers then split up into small groups and scraped the surface, dug holes, planted the trees, covered the trees and hammered in a wooden stake.
Teresa from the FRCF was incredibly happy with the hedge, something they had wanted doing for some time and we were overjoyed that we were able to fulfil her wish. Penny, from IDverde was also glad that so many people had come and that she had been able to enjoy the day herself.
We are already in discussion about the next project we can undertake with them, hopefully in March 2024.
We did it all in one and a half hours — which included a tea break! An amazingly satisfying day.
Kaivalya and Richard
Embracing the World
Embracing the World (ETW) is a global network of humanitarian organisations inspired by the Indian-based humanitarian initiatives of the Mata Amritanandamayi Math. Embracing the World exists to help alleviate the suffering the burden of the world’s poor through helping to meet each of their five basic needs — food, shelter, healthcare, education and livelihood — wherever and whenever possible.
Amma, the founder of ETW, teaches that everyone — rich or poor — has the power to make a difference in the life of another, and that no selfless gesture is insignificant. Rather, it is the selfless actions we perform for one another that hold the keys to true peace — the peace of the individual, the peace of the community and the peace amoung diverse culture, nations and faiths.
GreenFriends
GreenFriends, the environmental branch of ETW, is a rapidly growing, global grassroots movement promoting environmental awareness and local participation in conservation efforts in over 23 countries. GreenFriends’ unique approach integrates ecology with the core values of selfless service and awareness of the unity of all life.
