Left: Dan's 4-year-old helps to plant their milk jug native plant garden. Right: Milk jug gardens planted and situated along the pavement. (Photos courtesy of Dan Masterton)
Dan with his children (Courtesy of Dan Masterton)
I manage social media as part of my job for a religious community. One day, I received a direct message (DM) from the St. Kateri Conservation Center and learned about its great Catholic ecological ministry — including its amazing online Catholic Ecology Library, St. Kateri Habitats and Parks initiative and awesome social media accounts, which I now follow both for work and personally.
Since then, the religious community that I work for has registered its grounds as a St. Kateri Habitat. A young adult volunteered with us to research better stewardship and leaned on the St. Kateri Conservation Center for expertise. And now I've brought their tips home, too!
My 4-year-old and I collected empty milk jugs and ordered local-ecology seeds. By cutting the jugs open, drilling holes in the bottoms and planting some soil and seeds inside before taping them shut, our milk jug native plant garden could get a head start on spring. Now it joins our compost barrel as our first small steps toward better backyard stewardship.
We're grateful to Kat from the Kateri Center for being a proactive evangelist for creation and a generous friend!
[Dan Masterton is a part-time pastoral minister and freelance writer, spending most of his time as a stay-at-home dad with his two kids and his wife in Bolingbrook, Illinois.]
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