Taftsville Chapel Mennonite Fellowship, Taftsville, Vt., held a workday in early October to create some native plantings around their church building. Principles from permaculture and edible forest gardening guided their planning. The garden will include edibles, native species and plants for pollinators. Large plantings were installed this fall; smaller species will be added next spring.

The Taftsville crew used a sheet mulching technique to smother the lawn with cardboard before laying down compost and bark chips. Small children helped out by wetting the cardboard to help it decompose and by picking up apples from a damaged tree that was replaced.