Love Your Mother (Earth)
Earth Day doesn't just mark a day; it's an urgent call for environmental stewardship and collective action.
We hope you had a wonderful Earth Day 2025 on Tuesday, April 22, and had some time to enjoy the outdoors! Luckily for us in Whately, MA, Earth Day was accompanied by sunny skies and temperatures in the 60s––it can't get much better!
Earth Day highlights and raises awareness of environmental challenges that may jeopardize ecosystems and human health, and promotes environmental education. Click the topic to read more on the following concerns:
What impactful actions and earth-honoring practices can you do in your daily life?
Committing and creating a greener future requires small but meaningful sustainable actions.
Personal Practices
Reduce Food Waste: Turn your scraps into gold by composting.
Click here to read our blog post, Composting 101
Recycling: Check with local recycling centers for acceptable materials.
Mindful Consumption: When possible, choose local, sustainable, and ethically sourced goods.
Before you toss something in the trash and purchase a new one, ask yourself, can I repurpose this item and give it a new life?
Green Transport: If possible, make your commute via public transit, biking, or carpooling—even if it's once a week!
Swamp Single-Use for Reusable: Use reusable water bottles, bags, and straws, and avoid products made from or packaged in plastic when possible.
Community Clean-Ups: Foster community pride, improve public health, and enhance the environment by joining efforts to clean rivers, parks, and neighborhoods.
Gardening Practices
Planting Native: Welcoming native plants into your landscape protects soil from erosion, supports pollinators, conserves water, and creates habitat for wildlife.
Water Conservation: Installing a rain barrel that captures water from a roof allows you to store it for use later in the garden.
Mulching: Mulching helps the soil retain moisture, meaning you can water less. Bonus—it suppresses weeds!
Limiting Chemical Use: Ditch harmful pesticides or fertilizers that may harm soil life, insects, and waterways. Use natural pest control when necessary.
Reuse and Upcycle: Don't toss your containers, pots, and trays; wash them and use them again or pass them along to a friend or neighbor.
Creating a Pollinator's Paradise: By designing a pollinator garden in your yard, you can increase native biodiversity, encourage biological control of “pest” insects, increase pollination of your crops, and beautify your home.
Click here to read our blog post, Pollination 101
Click here to read our blog post, Creating a Pollinator's Paradise
Food for Thought:
Think about how you view yourself and our planet.
Do you view yourself as nature?
Did you know that our bodies are composed of the same elements (calcium, water, and carbon) as stars, soil, and trees? Modern biology establishes that humans share significant DNA with animals, plants, and fungi.
Humans are an extension of nature, and everything in nature is interconnected and interdependent. Without the natural world, humans would cease to exist. Trees supply us with oxygen to breathe, bees pollinate our food, and water sustains our bodily functions. Nature provides us a lot but requires little in return—mutual respect and responsibility rather than control, degradation, and extraction.
Next time you venture through a forest, greet the trees with kindness and respect as if they were old family members. When you breathe the fresh, crisp air, remember to act not as a consumer but as a caretaker of your relatives.
The Earth is alive, ancient, and wise. Will you listen to its pleas for sustainability?
Nourse Team Recommended Reads:
Want to read books and articles hand-selected by Nourse Farms team members related to Earth Day? Read along! Books are in no particular order.
Pick 1: The Lorax by Dr. Seuss
Recommended by: Sierra, Marketing Content Coordinator
"The Lorax is one of my all-time favorite books from childhood (and my favorite book to gift at baby showers)! The Lorax explores environmental responsibility and taking action to protect nature. Wrapped up in colorful illustrations and catchy rhymes, readers learn how unchecked exploitation, uncontrolled industrialization, and the pursuit of profit can lead to the destruction and degradation of the environment.
Living in an age where it's easy to get bogged down and unmotivated by all the "bad," I like to think of this quote from The Lorax, "Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not." and remember that we must be advocates for the natural world and we can inspire positive change."
Pick 2: Silent Spring by Rachel Carson
Recommended by: Sierra, Marketing Content Coordinator
"My first exposure to this environmental science book was at Temple University, during a lecture discussing the harmful effects of pesticides on the environment and human health. Carson shares the environmental philosophy of deep ecology, emphasizing the interconnectedness of all living things, and shares her belief that the approach to pesticide issues is inherently undemocratic. The book provides examples of misguided pest control initiatives that devastated local bird and fish life and poisoned people and pets.
After its publication in 1962, controversy swirled over Silent Spring, leading to an environmental movement and inspiring the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency and other environmental legislation, including the Clean Water Act and the Clean Air Act. I first read this book for a homework assignment. Still, I keep pulling Silent Spring off my shelf to read again and again because of Carson's ability to capture my attention and motivate me to be present and conscious of my environment."
Pick 3: Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Recommended by: Shannon, Director of Marketing
"I recently listened to the audiobook Braiding Sweetgrass while spending time in my yard, and it left a lasting impression on how I relate to the plants around me. The author's stories gently shifted my perspective—from seeing plants as something to take from to approaching them with a sense of gratitude and respect. Instead of assuming that flowers or fruit are simply there for me, I now try to recognize the effort plants put in just to survive and thrive. I want to create the healthiest possible environment for them to do their work—whether growing, blooming, or bearing fruit.
In the chapter, "The Gift of Strawberries," the author describes how the plant is "up all night assembling little packets of sugar and seeds and fragrance and color…" It's such a beautiful way to explain the quiet, unseen work that goes into each berry we enjoy. It reminded me that the least I can do in return is to thoughtfully care for the environment that the plants need to grow and thrive, and to pause with gratitude before harvesting the gifts they offer."
Pick 4: And Then It's Spring by Julie Fogliano
Recommended by: Leanne, Administrative Coordinator
“I love this children’s book because it reads like a simple poem, with one sentence per page that beautifully expresses the anticipation and patience of waiting for spring. It's written in a way that makes the reader pause between each thought, each concern, as they flip the page. It builds the real but amusing worry of the boy as he wonders if his seeds are alive under the soil.
It captures how we all feel when we look outside in early spring and don’t see anything growing. The young boy plants his seeds and checks on them every week, but sees nothing, “And then it’s one more week, and you worry about those little seeds.” Page by page, we watch as the boy sits in his wagon next to his dog, staring at the brown across his farm. Just when it feels like spring is never coming, he wakes up, goes outside—and spring is here, and his seeds have grown. This story is a reminder that everything takes time, even when we can’t see it right away.”
Pick 5: The Soil Will Save Us by Kristin Ohlson
Recommended by: Dulce, Customer Services
“This book is one of those books that really stuck with me. It dives into the science and stories behind soil regeneration, and it’s full of inspiring people (farmers, scientists, and environmental advocates) who are all working to heal the land by rebuilding healthy soil. What really stood out to me is the hopeful message. The main idea is that by using regenerative farming practices, we can actually return carbon to the soil. Not only does that improve the land, but it also helps pull carbon out of the atmosphere, which could play a big role in fighting climate change. Pretty amazing, right? What I loved most is how approachable it all felt. The book has such a grounded (ha!) and practical vibe, and it focuses on real people making a real difference. Instead of getting lost in climate anxiety, it gave me a sense of optimism, showing how things like cover cropping, composting, and no-till farming can genuinely make an impact. If you’re looking for something both informative and uplifting this Earth Day, I’d definitely recommend giving it a read.”
