Mayor Greg Ballard

Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard issued an executive order today declaring a water shortage warning in Marion County.  The declaration includes contains mandatory water use restrictions, most importantly a ban on lawn watering. The restrictions outlined take effect Friday, July 13, and apply to all Marion County residents except the Lawrence and Speedway communities, which operate their own water systems. Voluntary restrictions remain in place until the mandatory water use restrictions take effect.

The full executive order is available here.

It is, though, still inspiring to see a community come together and create the first garden in their city.  In February 2012 fourteen Hartford city residents came together at the First Christian Church and discussed how they too could have a community garden that would not only feed the people in the community but bring them together in a collective effort.  The planning began and donations were needed for even the most basic gardening tools like shovels, rakes and hoses.  A wish list was distributed for all the needed items and visits were made to mobile homes, senior living and apartment complexes to announce the plans for the garden.  

As April arrived the garden work days began and many volunteers showed up ready to dive into the dirt.  Rocks, trash and debris were removed while mulch and compost were being spread.  While digging up perennials for the flower bed excited participants discussed what to grow.  Gardeners were also given the chance to sign up for free seeds from a local foundation called Tori’s Butterfly Foundation whom furnishes community gardeners with seeds, tools and other gardening help.  

In May the garden was dedicated and the gardening season began, “I am so excited to know that the garden is ready. There are many things I am looking forward to,” said community gardener Lois Reading. “Giving back is first and foremost.  Teaching my children that there are many blessings to be had when one shows a giving heart.  Also, I plan to make some new friends, and grow some plants that I know will be blessed by God” said Lois Reading.  

Wayne and Anita McCardle donated the land for the garden while others donated time, muscle, plants, and seeds.  The church garden group also offers a garden mentoring program to help with questions and gardening advice.  This garden offers the opportunity to merge food, friendship, and faith together while sharing knowledge to others about healthy organic living and gardening.  Bringing together like minded enthusiastic individuals with a common goal was all Hartford needed to make their vision a reality.

Turkey Run State Park is a beautiful place for a summer vacation

Clifty Falls State Park

Madison, Ind.

Clifty Falls State Park is one of Indiana’s most beautiful settings. The park’s waterfalls change with the weather and seasons, ranging from frozen beasts to spectacular plunges to delicate mists. Clifty Canyon is a real draw; reminding us northern and central Indiana residents just how exciting it is to have avoided (mostly) a hellacious glacier. The entire park is fossil heaven (not to suggest any particular denomination), but you can’t take any home!

Numerous trail options exist, from “very rugged” to “easy.” Other activities include tennis, swimming, camping and a nature center. Nearby is the sweet town of Madison, which you should definitely work into your visit; it’s a treat!

1501 Green Road, Madison, Ind., 47250

812-273-8885

eXplore Brown County

Nashville, Ind.

This new park offers 500 acres of adventure — year round! The Zip Line Canopy Tours really catch our imagination; heck, we had a staff retreat there last fall and it was great fun! Featured are the longest, fastest, tallest zip lines in Indiana. Go through treetops, fly over a lake, feel free as a bird (with a harness, that is). Good golly, you can even zip at night! Other activities include hiking, paintball, ATV tours (OK, not so green) and mountain biking. Visitors can stay in rustic cabins or camp and can also rent a rowboat or canoe.

2620 Valley Branch Road, Nashville, Ind., 47448

812-988-7750

Hoosier National Forest

Nine Indiana counties

Nestled in the hills of Southern Indiana is the Great Mother of Indiana forests: 202,000 acres of nature just aching for you to come and tread lightly upon its tundra. There are 266 miles of trails for hiking, horseback riding, and mountain biking, plus opportunities to camp to your heart’s content. Outstanding features include the Pioneer Mother’s Memorial Forest, comprised of 88 acres of old growth forest and an archeological site; and the Charles C. Deam Wilderness, Indiana’s only Congressionally designated wilderness area with 13,000 acres of solitude. There are numerous water recreation spots, including the popular Hardin Ridge Recreation Area.

811 Constitution Ave., Bedford, Ind., 47421

812-275-5987

Indiana Dunes

Porter County

The Indiana Dunes are comprised of 15,000 acres of beaches, prairies, wetlands, savannahs and forests, along with two parks: Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore and Indiana Dunes State Park. You’ll need plenty of time to explore this fragile, breathtaking and diverse ecosystem. Pretty much all activities are available, from swimming to hiking to fishing to biking to skateboarding. Also, don’t forget gazing at the water and ogling the sunset, too. Note the Beyond the Beach Discovery Trail, a self-guided tour of 60 sites that showcase the region’s greatest natural and cultural treasures. They include outdoor recreation, museums and historic sites.

1215 N. State Road 49, Porter, Ind., 46304

219-926-2255

Knobstone Trail

Clark, Scott and Washington counties

Wander southern Indiana on the Knobstone Trail, widely considered one of the most beautiful hiking paths in the country. Its 58-mile long trajectory maneuvers through 40,000 acres of gorgeous forest, extending from Deam Lake, just north of S.R. 60 in Clark County, to Delaney Park, just east of S.R. 135 in Washington County. Here’s how bucolic this is by the list of ‘don’ts’: no mountain bikes, ATVS, motorcycles or other motorized vehicles. Even horses and wheeled vehicles are prohibited! It’s just you and a good pair of hiking boots — and don’t forget to watch out for ticks. Large, full color, waterproof maps are only $4 and can be purchased through the DNR by calling 317-232-4200.

Limberlost

Geneva, Ind.

The Limberlost Cabin, a state historic site administered by DNR and managed by the Indiana State Museum, honors the life and work of Gene Stratton-Porter. Stratton-Porter is one of our state’s most famous authors, an accomplished naturalist and born storyteller. Her most famous book, “A Girl of the Limberlost,” is still widely read and appreciated. It’s estimated some 50 million people have read her works. She and her husband built this cabin, a 14-room home in the Queen Anne style that features the original furniture, paintings and photographs. Commune with the space that housed one of Indiana’s great nature lovers and enjoy the nearby Limberlost Swamp, from which she drew her inspiration.

200 E. 6th St., Geneva, Ind., 46740

260-368-7428

Morgan-Monroe State Forest

Morgan and Monroe counties

Behold more than 24,000 acres of some of the most spectacular ridges and valleys you’ll find in Indiana. Camping and hiking are encouraged, and get this: You can pan for gold! Heck yeah, why not? You have to get a permit, but can’t you just see yourself panning for gold, striking it rich? It’s got to better odds than a lottery. Three forest lakes, Bryant Creek Lake (nine acres), Cherry Lake (four acres) and Prather Lake (four acres) are open to fishing. Trail designations range from “rugged” to “moderate” for you hikers. Plus, there’s the Draper Cabin, a primitive, wooden-floored log cabin that takes visitors 100 years back in time.

6220 Forest Road, Martinsville, Ind., 46151

Portland Arch Nature Preserve

Fountain County

This National Natural Landmark delights all who visit. Located near the Wabash River in Fountain County, this preserve is marked by Bear Creek flowing through a deep ravine. Joined by a tributary, the waters carved an opening through a massive sandstone formation, creating the natural bridge dubbed the Portland Arch. Managed by the Indiana DNR, this 435 acre tract features two trails, with plenty of natural beauty and wildlife abounding. Treat yourself to this one of a kind destination!

Division of Nature Preserves, 402 W. Washington St., Indianapolis, Ind., 46204

317-232-0209

Turkey Run State Park

Marshall, Ind.

Numerous commune-with-nature opportunities await you here. We will never forget the trip we had at Turkey Run years ago. Suddenly it grew cold, dark and strange; we were experiencing an eclipse! This is a magical place, with hiking, camping, fishing, picnicking — all the fun you’d expect to have. Situated just southwest of Crawfordsville, Turkey Run features deep, sandstone ravines, plus stands of aged forests and scenic views along Sugar Creek. The Colonel Richard Lieber Cabin honors the father of Indiana’s state park system.

8121 East Park Road, Marshall, Ind., 47859

765-597-2635

Wolf Park

Battle Ground, Ind.

An Indiana treasure, this park is a great way to get to know one of nature’s most extraordinary creatures, the wolf. Through seasonal activities (May 1-Nov. 30) and education opportunities, park-goers have numerous ways of getting to know these beasts better. You can sit in the Turtle Lake grandstand and watch Wolf Park’s pack of wolves go about their daily lives. This perch gives you great views of the pack’s seven-acre enclosure. You won’t want to miss the wolf/bison demonstrations, the Wolf Park kids camps, or the popular howl nights. Come and commune!

4004 E. 800 North, Battle Ground, Ind., 47920

765-567-2265

Fore more info:

Obviously, Indiana Department of Natural Resources is a one-stop-shop for information about the great outdoors. But another great site is A Greener Indiana, part newsletter, part information repository, part social networking interface. This is a must-belong-to portal among Hoosier eco-lytes. If you’re looking for information on everything- green or want to meet like-minded greenies, you found the right place. A recent upgrade is nothing less than boggling. It’s a panoramic view of outdoor Indiana, with links to sites that can even tell you how the river is flowing.

From 4-6 every week, Growing Places Indy will open up the Slow Food Garden farm stand at the Chase Near Eastside Legacy Center, to give everyone an opportunity to bring home locally grown produce. Then at 5 the doors of the large classroom will open for the public conversations. You’ll find them at 727 N. Oriental St., 46202.

 June 5: Integrating Local Food into Public Health

• Barb Ammerman, Clinical Nutrition Manager: Wishard Health Services
• Brandy Hauser, Dietitian: Wishard Health Services
• Rhonda Bayless, Director: Center of Wellness Urban Women
• Denise Ferguson, District Nutritionist NEDHO, Marion County Public Health Department

June 12: Integrating Local Food into Institutional Cooking

• Becky Hostetter, Executive Chef: Duos and Duos Kitchen
• Tom Thaman, Food Service Director: Wishard Health Services
• Nate Jackson, Executive Chef: IUPUI Food Service

June 19: Gaining Media Literacy

• Michael Kaufmann, Director of Special Projects and Civic Investment: Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County

 June 26: Integrating Local Food into Community Development

• Imhotep Adisa, Executive Director: Kheprw Institute EcoCenter
• Sister Faizah, Founder: Living Well Urban Farm

July 10: Integrating Local Food into Hunger Relief

• Cindy Hubert, President and C.E.O.: Gleaner’s Food Bank
• Jerry Adams, Chairman: Second Helpings
• Dave Miner,  Chair: Indy Hunger Network

July 17: The Basics of Understanding City Civics

• Jane Henegar, Deputy Mayor for Indianapolis Neighborhoods

 July 24: The Benefits of Eating Raw

• Audrey Barron, Certified Raw Food Chef

 July 31: To-Be-Determined

Jeremy Rifkin is the keynote speaker.

As the city of Indianapolis enjoys a new found appreciation for all things green, we are modeling what Americans do best, according to Jeremy Rifkin. The internationally recognized president of the Foundation on Economic Trends is a prolific writer on scientific and technological changes to the economy, workforce, society and the environment. Rifkin has written more than 20 books.

“The one thing about America is that once we get the story, no one can move as quickly,” Rifkin said in a telephone interview. “We can transform our country overnight.”

Rifkin is among the keynote speakers headlining the upcoming Greening the Heartland conference, where he’ll discuss his vision for the Third Industrial Revolution — also the title of his most recent book. European political leaders such as German Chancellor Angela Merkel have embraced Rifkin’s vision while leading a robust economy and adopting new distributive energy technologies that include wind and solar power.

In Indianapolis, scores of green projects, including the new Wishard Hospital construction and the energy-efficient retrofits made to the 50-year-old City-County Building, seem to suggest the city is moving quickly into a less fossil-fuel dependent future.

“Momentum for green building is growing in our city and our office is thrilled to be part of these efforts,” said John Hazlett, director of the city’s Office of Sustainability.

As the city evolves into what many hope will be one of the greenest in the Midwest, it seems appropriate that, after being held in several surrounding cities, the ninth annual Greening the Heartland conference will finally land in Indianapolis from May 16-18.

For officials at the new Wishard/Eskenazi Health, who are seeking Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver certification for their project, Indianapolis’ selection as host city reinforces the progress the city has made.

Matthew R. Gutwein, president and CEO, Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County, wrote in an email that he is thrilled to be part of the Greening the Heartland conference.

“Eskenazi Health will be a national leader among hospitals in sustainability, efficiency and design, and Greening the Heartland is the premier conference on sustainable and energy-efficient building practices in the central United States,” Gutwein wrote. “We are pleased … to highlight the architects, planners and designers on our project who’ve made our sustainable construction possible; and to interact with and learn from leaders in sustainability including the Indiana Chapter of the USGBC and leaders from across the country.”

According to Mac Williams of Inverde Design, who is conference co‐chair and a board member of the Indiana chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), more than 1,000 green building and sustainability practitioners are expected to attend the building community-themed conference.

“Greening the Heartland will have continuing education value for professionals who need CEUs,” said Williams, as he described the four educational tracks offered for those seeking continuing education units.

They are Building and Design, Green Tech and Infrastructure, Ecology and Resources, and Community and Residential-Scale. Organizers expect the program offerings will reinforce the conference tagline — Watts, Water, Waste and Wheels — by exploring the interdependent elements of sustainability.

“We envision this to be the largest gathering of ‘green professionals’ ever in Indiana,” Williams said.

That’s no small feat given that Indiana historically has not been a model of sustainability and that the USGBC is not familiar to most people around the state.

“The (Indiana Chapter) is not as strong as we would like it to be,” Williams said, noting it was established in 2004. “Holding this conference will help increase awareness for our organization.”

More than 150 organizations, including educational institutions, contractors, real estate companies, builders, professional organizations and nonprofits are members of the Indiana chapter. Additionally, Indiana is home to some 1,600 accredited LEED professionals.

The USGBC is a non-profit organization dedicated to sustainable building design and construction, serving as a third-party green building rating system. LEED provides a common framework for practitioners to identify and implement measurable solutions in green building design, construction, operations and maintenance.

The conference, which will be held at the Indiana Convention Center, seeks to attract LEED professionals from around the Midwest. Williams anticipates that Greening the Heartland will have a broader appeal.

Drawing from the “triple bottom line” tenets of sustainability, each of the three days of the volunteer-driven conference will a theme — environment (ecology), technology (economy), and community (equity). Keynote speakers will expand on the themes.

Environment day will feature Charles Fishman, senior writer at Fast Company and author of The Big Thirst. Rifkin will keynote technology day, and Wishard officials, including Gutwein, will keynote community day.

This year’s conference will include a special Keynote + Lunch registration for Fishman (Wednesday) and Rifkin (Thursday) for $55 each. It includes access to the exhibit hall and book signings.  Friday’s session does not include lunch and costs less. Williams said these sessions are for those who may not be interested in the full conference or breakout sessions.

More info:

Greening the Heartland
U.S. Green Building Council-Indiana Chapter

About the U.S. Green Building Council

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) is a 501c3 non‐profit organization committed to a prosperous and sustainable future for our nation through cost‐efficient and energy‐saving green buildings.

Participating Midwest chapters of the USGBC

Illinois, Iowa, Ohio (Central, Northeast, and Cincinnati Regional Chapters), Central Plains Chapter (Kansas and N.W. Missouri), Michigan (West Michigan and Detroit Regional), Flatwater Chapter (Nebraska), Minnesota,  Missouri Gateway, Wisconsin Green Building Alliance.

Official Greening the Heartland partners

City of Indianapolis Office of Sustainability
The Nature Conservancy of Indiana
The Lugar Center for Renewable Energy (LCRE) at IUPUI

Local teens working and learning at the Felege Hiywot Center. (Photos by Mark Lee)

This piece is part of the Child’s Work series,  featured in the May 2012 issue of Indiana Living Green Magazine.

The Martindale-Brightwood neighborhood of Indianapolis has had its share of ups and downs over the years. From the early days of railroad-driven prosperity, to the more recent era characterized by declining jobs and property values along with attendant poverty, crime and gang violence, a restlessness here reflects the hopelessness of so many decades of struggle.

As resident Aster Bekele puts it, “Everybody in this area is waiting to get out. They shouldn’t have to wait just to get out. They should be able to figure out how to make it beautiful here.” Bekele, founder and executive director of Felege Hiywot Center — a locus of hope for the neighborhood — not only believes they can, but she’s helping to make it a reality.

Felege Hiywot Center, or FHC, is the project Bekele set in motion about a half dozen years ago. It comprises nearly a block on Sheldon Avenue off 16^th Street, just before the 1-70 overpass — a reminder of one cause of the neighborhood’s decline.

FHC accomplishes its goals through a multi-layered mission: to serve the urban youth of Indianapolis and orphans in Ethiopia, while providing a sense of community to second generation Ethiopians in Indianapolis. This is done primarily through using gardening as a tool to teach science and a means to connect children and others in the community to the food that sustains them. It also reveals a different reality — genuine poverty, and too often, starvation — experienced by many children in Ethiopia.

This contributes to a different sort of culture in the neighborhood, one of giving rather than taking. And for Ethiopian-born Bekele, it’s a matter of faith. “This place taught me who was in control,” Bekele says.

The center’s work is founded on a Christian sense of mission. But its reach is broad and all faiths are welcome. Bekele moved from her home in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, at age 18 to attend college in the United States. She worked as a chemist at Eli Lilly & Co. for 27 years, retiring to run Felege Hiywot full time — now with the help of additional staff.

A way of helping others

FHC is a thriving center of activity. Neighbors purchase produce here during the summer months that is grown by volunteers and children from the neighborhood who participate in its summer day camp program. The program offers learning experiences that extend beyond the garden.

“When we have camp, we always have a week we set aside to do kind of like a mock type of school, Bekele says. “The children will sit either on the ground, or on a two-by-four, and I will tell them, ‘Now you are in Ethiopia, and this is the school system. … Why aren’t you taking notes?’ And they say, ‘Well, you didn’t give us anything.’ And I say, ‘You see the sand in front of you?’ ”

The lesson includes a conversation about nutrition and starvation — and the kids start to understand.

When Bekele was a child in Africa, she slept on a dirt floor, along with her seven brothers and sisters. She continues to witness the ravages of AIDS there, one of the hard realities that drive so many children to the orphanage that Felege Hiywot supports. When Bekele’s own children were just 4 and 7, she took them to Ethiopia to see just how good they had it back in the United States. Although her family in Ethiopia no longer sleeps on dirt floors, Bekele made sure her kids had that experience. “We stayed three months. You’re talking about a complete conversion of my kids.”

You could almost say the center was started more than three decades ago. That’s when Bekele was earning her chemistry degree at IUPUI, at that time located at the Indiana State Fairgrounds. Bekele lived in the Martindale-Brightwood neighborhood and walked everywhere. On her travels, she encountered school-age kids who were not in school. She decided to help them.

“I said, why aren’t you going to school?,” Bekele says. “And they’re actually telling me they’re poor. And I’m like ‘No, you’re not poor. I’m just going to have to show you where I came from.’ ”

She’s been doing ever since. Before she started FHC, she began helping out in IPS schools. She talked about science to kids who never imagined they would understand it, let alone think of making a living doing it — like Bekele.

After those early years as a college student — helping kids in the neighborhood with their homework, when transforming an “F” to a “D” was a cause for celebration — she came back to the neighborhood so she could work with kids again. This time she helped them learn about science, where our food comes from and why it’s so important to treat the earth well. Growing one’s own food is not just a way out, but a way of helping others.

Visit the Felege Hiywot Center at

1648 Sheldon St.

Indianapolis, Ind. 46218
317-545-2245

The 20 goats trot toward Phillips' calls, while his children, Justin and Julia, bring up the rear. The kids' job was to chase down any escapees. (Photos by Lynae Sowinski)

This piece is part of the Child’s Work series,  featured in the May 2012 issue of Indiana Living Green Magazine.

The thermometer in the car reads 12 degrees and the sun barely illuminates the iced tops of the barren tulip trees, but Jacob Phillips is outside, clearing out the bed of his blue Ford truck.

The tractor is frozen, so the day’s work will have to be done on foot.

Phillips’ children shuffle out the door in neon pink and blue snow pants. Rather than watch Scooby-Doo cartoons on television or sleep in, they’re up, helping their dad move their herd of 20 Boer and Spanish goats from the pasture across the road to the one next to their house.

Three years ago, Phillips and his wife decided they wanted to leave California, so they went online and purchased eight acres in rural Bloomington.

Phillips didn’t grow up on a farm. He is a 36-year-old, former Los Angeles police officer who lived in the suburbs. But after too many injuries, he was forced into early retirement, transitioning from cop beats to corn reports, clipped hedges to clumps of hay.

Now, Phillips is a contractor at Crane naval base. He’s also a Marine Corps reservist. But on Saturday mornings, he’s a goat farmer.

For Phillips, farming is a chance to live off the land, something that wasn’t part of his mindset when he lived in LA. What started with five chickens that he purchased on Craigslist has morphed into a small family-run farm, Liberty Pastures. After researching the health benefits and marketability of various meats, Phillips decided to raise the most widely consumed meat in the world: goat.

When Phillips went to the Profitable Meat Goats Conference in Indianapolis in 2010, he had been raising goats for two months. He was the only farmer there who was raising 100 percent pastured goats, which means that the goats consume only what they can graze off the land. Phillips said raising the goats this way is more economical, sustainable and ethical.

He isn’t harvesting goats to run up a profit and his life goal isn’t to be a commercial goat farmer. While he sells goat meat to individual customers, his primary reason for raising the goats is to help teach his children about responsibility at a level he never knew existed when he was their age.

Though Justin knows many of the goats will be harvested, he still treats each one like a household pet. His father wanted his kids to understand the life cycle of a farm as well as the responsibility of caring for animals.

The farm is their classroom.

Along with being home-schooled, the work on the farm provides the children with hands-on learning opportunities. When they build things with measuring tape, they learn about fractions. When they log farm-work hours on an Excel spreadsheet, it helps teach finances.

Lessons on leadership are learned during goat rotations. Because goats are grazing animals, they naturally move to new patches of land in search of brush to feed on. To mimic this process, Phillips and his children rotate the goats among their various pastures. It’s muddy; it’s slippery; it means waking up on cold mornings to walk around in the snow. But the rotations help keep the pastures from being over-eaten, allowing the goats to find new food, in a new place where they might never have thought to look.

A day in the life

At 8:07 a.m., Phillips peels back the wire fence in front of the goat shelters. The silent, pink sunrise is interrupted by the crunching of fresh snow under rubber boots.

Phillips tosses his green coffee thermos on the ground.

“Where are the goats?”

Sticking his head into one of the black plastic shelters, his son, Justin, shouts, “They’re inside!”

Huddled beneath the shelters, the goats are lying together, forming a patchwork of red, cream and chocolate-colored fur.

Faith, one of their oldest goats, rolls off her knees and shakes her head. Justin, age 12, and Julia, age 10, rub Faith’s back.

Justin does most of the work on the farm by himself. Besides brushing his teeth, his morning routine includes driving the tractor over to the goats’ paddock to give them water.

But Justin can’t do the goat rotations alone. It takes a family effort.

Phillips nods at Justin and begins walking away from the shelters. After a few paces, Phillips turns around and lets out a call that sounds like a rooster, “Doodle, doodle, doodle, dooo!”

The goats have heard Phillips’ call before. They immediately spring into a trot, their small hooves flinging up flecks of white powdered snow. Their bleating cries wash out the sounds of Justin and Julia’s clapping.

“Go! Get!”

The children follow at the rear of the herd, pushing the goats that run off to the side. One goat bolts from the group, veering away from the paddock gate. Justin lunges. As he falls to his knees, his gloves brush the goat’s rear, snow spraying as they hit the ground. He misses. Jumping back to his feet, he looks from side to side, then runs to catch the goat and brings it back to the group.

Phillips rests with Justin for a moment as he looks back across the road. For the few minutes, the work was done.

Phillips, marching ahead, sloshes through a small creek. The goats are stopped at the water’s edge.

Goats hate water.

“Doodle, doodle, doodle, dooo!” Phillips calls.

The goats stare. A few bend their necks to nibble on a patch of grass.

Phillips crosses back over the creek. He reaches down and grabs Faith, her four stubby legs squeezed together in the folds of his thick jacket. With her white fur smooshed against his mouth, he walks through the water and sets her on the other side.

Phillips says it helps to get a few of the herd over, to help inspire the others to cross.

Like her dad, Julia picks up one of the smaller goats, trying to keep a tight grip by squeezing it between her arms. The little goat squirms, writhing its body against her chest. After a few steps, the goat breaks Julia’s hold and lands on the ground.

“Nice try, honey,” Phillips says as he returns for another goat, this one named Millie. He carries her across the creek and comes back for a third.

Faith jostles from foot to foot. She looks along the edge of the snow-covered creek, finds the narrowest part and jumps back over to join the rest of the group.

Millie stands alone in the snow, bleating.

Phillips folds his arms and shakes his head. Justin and Julia come to his side. The creek presents them with a spontaneous lesson on problem solving.

“What about using plywood as a bridge?” Justin suggests. “The goats could walk across that.”

Phillips bits his lip and glances around the perimeter. “Good idea, but the wood is back up at the house.”

“Maybe the goats need to be carried over one-by-one,” Julia says, shrugging her shoulders.

Phillips shakes his head. No, he knows the goats can do it on their own.

Breaking into a jog, Phillips runs up with side of the creek toward a more narrow section, urging the goats to follow. Justin and Julia begin clapping, pushing them behind their dad until the whole herd is standing along the bank.

One of the goats paws at the edge of the creek. Her head twitches. Her knees bend. She arches her body over the two feet of creek bed, which once seemed like a mile-long roadblock.

The group erupts into a mass of springing across the creek. The runt of the herd wades through the cold water. But Faith, once the alpha female of the group, still refuses to cross. Phillips heaves her into his arms and carries her, again.

“We’re finally getting there,” Phillips says, wiping his forehead with the back of his glove.

Gaining the goats’ trust

A fine layer of snow rests on the tin roof of the 100-year-old wooden barn that will serve as the goats’ new shelter.

Phillips opens the metal gate and hollers one final call, “Doodle, doodle, doodle, dooo!”

In a single-file line, the goats rush across the asphalt road between their old pasture and their new one, their hooves clinking on the road, sounding like a woman walking in heels on a cobblestone street.

They nudge the dark tufts of grass with their noses, exposing a tasty reward that survived the storm. This will be their new home — at least for the next few months.

Phillips tilts back his hat and stares across the road they just crossed, past the bowing fence posts that line the frosted grass, to the iced shelters where they started the rotation. While it didn’t go quite as planned, they had worked together to solve the creek-crossing problem.

Justin kneels in the snow, ignoring the spots of mud that dotted his pants. He looks up at his dad.

“We must have looked a bit ridiculous carrying those goats,” Phillips says.

Justin and Julia pull at their jackets and get on their feet. As Phillips drives back up to the house to get more supplies for the morning’s work, his children wave. From the rear-view mirror, he looks back at them, the lines around his lips deepening into soft creases.

Although the thermometer in the car still reads 12 degrees, there is more farm-work to be done — and his children to do it with.  

Nestled in the heart of one of Indianapolis’ liberal arts universities is a wildlife oasis, a perfect setting for the eco-education of area children. (Photo by Heather Chastain)

This piece is part of the Child’s Work series,  featured in the May 2012 issue of Indiana Living Green Magazine.

Nestled in the heart of one of Indianapolis’ liberal arts universities is a wildlife oasis. EcoLab was designed and installed in 1912 by famous landscape architect Jens Jensen. It went unnoticed for nearly 90 years until a Marian University professor went searching for an outdoor ecology lab. In 2000, restoration of the EcoLab began.

The 55-acre laboratory is made up of Indiana native plants and 20 acres of wetlands. It serves as a place where students can help the environment and learn outside the classroom. The university developed an Indiana academic quality standards based hands-on programs for students K-12, college and community organizations. Since 2000, more than 5,000 students have come through the EcoLab.

The EcoLab has an outdoor classroom immersed among the trees. “Being there, when you’re underneath the structure, you feel like you’re more outdoors than if you’re in a park pagoda,” says Jody Nicholson, EcoLab outreach coordinator. “You can see the trees and the wetlands. … Sometimes a bird flies through. It’s not invasive to the nature around it.”

The directors stress that their goal is to raise awareness so kids can make a difference in their own environment. “The kids love the hands-on portion and the ability to get their hands dirty,” Nicholson says. “You’d be surprised the number of kids who have never planted a plant before. It’s a whole new experience for them.”

“One kid even yelled during a visit, ‘this is better than recess!’ ” says Dr. David Benson, EcoLab director and Marian University biology professor. He said kids need multi-sensory stimulation and that is why the EcoLab is such a necessary resource. “All of our biggest problems today are environmental,” Benson says. “EcoLab teaches kids our options are not just be bad to the environment or be less bad. We can also do something positive to improve it. Something that’s good for the environment is good for us too,” he says.

Getting others involved in the restoration is a high priority. The project has been ongoing since 2000 when a $250,000 grant from the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust allowed EcoLab to put trails in place and complete the honeysuckle removal.

Contact with ‘the living green’

“The honeysuckle was so overgrown you couldn’t walk out there. You had to crawl,” Benson says. “I started looking into restoration work and came across the old planting and realized we had a great history. It’s just amazing we can do a historical and ecological restoration all at the same time.” After removing the invasive, non-native plant, they uncovered a one-of-a-kind landscape.

The landscape includes wetlands. Benson says wetlands are essential to watershed health and water quality by providing habitat for wetland species, modulating flood events, and filtering pollutants. Unfortunately 85 percent of wetlands in Indiana have been converted to other uses. Benson says he hopes that increased awareness of EcoLab will help educate people about the functions of natural wetlands.

Jensen, who was an immigrant from Denmark passionate about Midwestern landscape, championed his core conviction: People must have some contact with the “living green”  — flowers and plants native to their home. “He (Jensen) started restoration ecology 60 years before the idea of restoration ecology was born,” Benson says. Jensen used native plant species in ecologically sensible locations.

James Allison chose Jensen, a master landscape architect, to design the grounds for his 64-acre estate, including the area now known as the EcoLab.

According to Benson, EcoLab’s history revealed itself after a contractor laying trails saw exposed concrete and unearthed a massive rock bridge with huge limestone pavers.

“We realized all of the roads are drivable and were traveled by Allison himself,” says Nicholson.

Allison, a businessman who was one of the founders of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, formed the Indianapolis Speedway Team Company to engineer racecars for the Indianapolis 500. It eventually became the Allison Division of General Motors.

To visit:

The EcoLab is open to the public from dawn until dusk. The area has about two miles of hiking trails. Schools can have programs tailored to their specific programs. The staff can broadcast programs across the country. Go here to learn more, including upcoming events.

Last year's Earth Day Indiana Festival

On April 28, 11-4, White River State Park, 801 W. Washington St., Indianapolis, will host this year’s Earth Day Indiana festival. We interviewed Stephen Sellers, who has been the festival’s director for six years. Ever since he participated in the first Earth Day while in school at IU he’s been actively involved in conservation and preservation.

Stephen Sellers: Earth Day Indiana has grown to be one of the largest Earth Day events in the country. On a clear April day we’ll host 30,000 visitors. We’ll have 140 exhibits, live music, good food and special activities for kids.

ILG: Tell us more about the exhibits.

SS: Our exhibits focus on environmental protection, conserving natural resources and sustainable living. You will see a variety of organizations and businesses that have some stake in those basic issues, organizations that are advocacy groups. You will see groups that are based on educating people. You will see businesses that have particular products that are environmentally friendly or recycled. You will see exhibits on fuel efficient autos, on lower emission vehicles. Just a whole host of interesting, thought-provoking, and valuable exhibits, so that people can look, choose, learn, discuss and maybe learn something that they can take home and apply for themselves.

ILG: What kind of activities do you have for children?

We have an entertainment stage, so there will be some entertainment and education for the kids. One of the great features in the children’s tent is a presentation by Anamalia, a local group that will bring wildlife that kids can see. They’ll discuss different types of wildlife and the kids will learn and have fun watching that. One of the fun things that kids always get a kick out of is the Industrial Operators Association does T-shirt coloring with the kids, and that is wildly popular. They’ve done that for years, and it’s a feature that brings the kids back.

ILG: What’s the biggest thing you want people to get out of this event?

SS: We hope that people choose a path that is appropriate for them. The great thing about the Earth Day Indiana Festival is that there are so many different organizations, different choices, different points of view, so that people can come in and explore, and to learn, to make connections, perhaps join an organization, learn about something they can do to conserve or recycle. Really, choose a path that they feel is appropriate for them.

ILG: Is there anything else that you want the readers to know?

SS: Go to the website at EarthDayIndiana.org where we will start posting updates and have a lot more information about what’s coming up, so look for that in April. It’s a family friendly event, so bring the kids, bring the pets, bike in. Pedal and Park will have a corral there, so you can bike here and it’ll be secure. And there’s many things to do once you’re down there. There are museums, there’s the zoo, or just walk along the canal.

ILG: All very green options, I’ve noticed!

SS: Exactly! It’s the premier area in Indianapolis to do an outdoor event.