Rooted In Place
10th annual ecological gardening symposium
NOV 10th @ 9am - 3:30pm
We need acts of restoration, not only for polluted waters and degraded lands but also for our relationship with the world. We need to restore honor to the way we live so that when we walk through the world we don’t have to avert our eyes with shame, so that we can hold our heads up high and receive the respectful acknowledgment of the rest of the earth’s beings.
— Robin Wall Kimmerer, “Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants”
In collaboration with Berkshire Environmental Action Team (BEAT), Berkshire Botanical Garden presents Rooted in Place, our annual ecological symposium. This year we will inspire participants with insights into our ecological past, present and future. We will explore the impact of pollutants in the Berkshires and beyond and reflect on what is classically known as the Four Elements of Nature: earth, water, air, and fire. The event will take place on Sunday, Nov. 10, from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., here at BBG.
Schedule
9 to 10 a.m. — Mohican herbalist and author Misty Cook of the Stockbridge-Munsee Community on plants as medicine: the use of land when there were only indigenous in the region.
10 to 10:15 a.m. — Break
10:15 to 11:30 a.m. — Eloise Gayer of the Morris Arboretum will speak on her practice of integrating native plant ecological horticulture into the land and how this practice reverses some of the destruction caused by both invasive plants and herbicides. Brittany Ebeling of BEAT will go further into herbicides and how the composition of this pollutant affects our plants, ground and surface water, earth, and more.
11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. — As the interconnectedness of nature reveals, light pollution is also ecologically destructive. Tim Brothers, an MIT astronomer and manager of the Wallace Astrophysical Observatory, will discuss the unexpected loss in plant life resulting from light pollution. Some examples of lights and guidance on lighting for a better future will be included in the presentation.
12:30 to 1:15 p.m. — Lunch provided for $15
1:15 to 2:15 p.m. — Wilding the land and restoring natural processes has potential in the management of extreme fires and the smoke pollutionthat goes along with them, something that will be further considered by Sam Gilvarg, PhD student at SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, using the “One-Health” approach: human, animal and environmental systems all working together for a more just and free ecology.
2:15 to 3:15 p.m. — As land, air and fire pollution all end up in the water, the reciprocity of the elemental interconnectedness calls for a review of water and watershed pollutants and the impact of the shifting climate. Jane Winn will discuss the cleanup of our region’s freshwater resources and how that impacts the Berkshire ecology.
3:15 to 3:30 p.m. — Rooting: a meditative closing, guided by community mindfulness-in-nature facilitator, Sandrine Harris.