March 2026 Meeting: Saturday 7th March 2026, 10:30am. This will be an online meeting at bit.ly/climate-network. The MPL Community Room was already reserved for this date/time.
Meeting leader: Nuzhat
Note taker: @syd
With agenda items, upcoming events, or more email wcmncn@googlegroups.com
Agenda:
- Community Check-ins
- Group photo!
- Updates
- Container Farming Project
- Tina Helseth (the hired container farmer) might join our meeting and share about how the project is going so far!
- Pollinator & Resilient Lawn Crew
- Climate Network friend, @mgm works at Legacy Assisted Living where community member, Tony, lives. Mary shared with us that Tony is curious about the possibility of transforming the reeds next to the pond by Legacy into milkweed/native plantings. This property is owned by the company that owns Eastpoint Village.
- Movie Theatre Slide
- Container Farming Project
- This Month’s Main Conversation Topic: Climate Network next projects/plans
- Ideas pitched so far:
- Support UMM Sustainability Students with Earth Month Programs
- Do a Video Screening & Discussion series on Peter Gelderloos & SubMedia “Its Revolution or Death”
- Brainstorm other unmet needs that we can help act upon.
- What happens when a storm comes and the power goes out this summer?
- What are people missing from their life right now? (movement, social engagement, meaning making?)
- Ideas pitched so far:
- Future plans
- Things to think about when we want/have space for a new agenda item:
- Community garden events in the summer
- Longer term planning for a “community envisioning event"
- Upcoming Events
- Earth Month Energy Buffet at the Community Center, Morris Model Energy panels and tabling style conversations, April 16th 5:30-7:30pm.
- Sea of Grass event on April 17th
- Things to think about when we want/have space for a new agenda item:
- Announcements
- Riverview Expansion - March 12th Deadline! - Land Stewardship Project
- Next Meeting
Notes:
- Community Check-ins
- @nuzhatfatima is enjoying time in MPLS and spending time with friends (new and old).
- @Cait_C is back to say hello after spending lots of time with Master Gardener stuff this last year! The Master Gardeners are going to do a garden tour this spring!
- @Nic_McPhee is purveyor of a fairly messy garden of native plants! They have some irises and hollyhocks that were on the property when they moved in, these plants might have been here for 100 years, which… kind of cool. Spring break is starting and the adult/child McPhee is around, Nic will be visiting family in WI also!
- @Susan_Gilbert (she/they) was doing the metal pour in the sculpture studio on Monday! “That’s always exciting, pouring hot metal.” Sue has two pieces in the HFA Gallery student show right now!
- Tina is project coordinator for the container farm. Excited to be back in MN! Did school in various places across the US.
- @Agkilian (she/they) has been busy, busy moving in the off-work season. She was thankful to spend time with friends and family. Will be coming back to work at the Morris Wetlands in April!
- @cberthiaume (they/them) is thinking about their taxes. Laser focused, they will be working on that later. Taxes make them think about bureaucracy, “what’s my role in the government, how do I feel about that?”
- @Jeff told folks he didn’t want to hang out with folks today, so he could have time to himself. Now to figure out what to do with the day, maybe taxes.
- @badtothebohn (he/him) is currently walking through the woods with his dad, looking for deer antlers (birds, actually). Thinking about whether or not he wants to be a federal employee again, about what kinds of jobs he wants to do.
- @Stardrop (she/her) is going to get he walls painted before summer comes along! Spring pretending to show up is reminding Kim about all the projects she wanted to get done in the winter, she is productivity minded today.
- Joel is thinking about taxes to be done, both his and his relative who passed away. He is thinking about spring and getting things running, he is thinking about getting organized for work now so he can take longer vacations later. Drone work went well this week, they (Talitha & Morris Model) got some thermal images of buildings around town.
- @syd (she/they) is thinking about what it means to practice relational work and how she loves people!
- Group photo!
- Updates
- Container Farming Project
- Seeds are on order, Tina has been cleaning the container, osmosis water system is going to be installed, they have been repairing the broken parts of the container.
- The container hopefully will be running in about 2-3 weeks.
- They ordered another 20 foot space to put at the front to work as a head house.
- They want to see if changing the amount of time that the light is on in the container will affect the biomass output.
- On Tina’s second week a group of folks went on a field trip to Frisk Fa Bosken. They had radishes, turnips, sorel, among other things.
- Nic will reach out to Tina to find a time to take photos!
- Pollinator & Resilient Lawn Crew
- Climate Network friend, @mgm works at Legacy Assisted Living where community member, Tony, lives. Mary shared with us that Tony is curious about the possibility of transforming the reeds next to the pond by Legacy into milkweed/native plantings. This property is owned by the company that owns Eastpoint Village.
- Caitlin is interested in putting a 5’x5’ native garden on city property OR swapping out the city parks sign planters with native plants.
- Captain shared about how the last meetings were productive and full of good discussion. Folks coming to the next meeting (March 21st at 10:00am online) can pick one or a couple resources from the climate network site to discuss further. You can check out their notes here.
- Syd shared some thoughts about using the Pomme de Terrace as a place for a pollinator garden. Jeff shared that PdT is working on that already, and having more people involved in this project would be great!
- Movie Theatre Slide
- WCMNCN Ad - V1.pdf
- Looks great, Jeff! Thanks for doing this!
- Remove “West Central MN”, add a QR code that links to westcentralmnclimate.network, maybe another picture of people?, remove Stevens County Community Garden
- Send other feedback to Jeff on this by March 13th!
- Container Farming Project
- This Month’s Main Conversation Topic: Climate Network next projects/plans
- Ideas pitched so far:
- Support UMM Sustainability Students with Earth Month Programs
- They will hopefully come to the April meeting and share with us about the Earth Month programming happening.
- Support UMM Sustainability Students with Earth Month Programs
- Brainstorm other unmet needs that we can help act upon.
- What happens when a storm comes and the power goes out this summer?
- Captain needs air conditioning when the power goes out!
- What are people missing from their life right now? (movement, social engagement, meaning making?)
- Nuzhat is needing to be in the presence of other people to be motivated, she is interested in knowing what other people are doing so that people can do things together!
- Nic thinks Morris is a great town for walking! Nic thinks that this town needs walk able infrastructure. Unmet need is city government undervaluing the potential of walk ability.
- Jeff is thinking about getting the government to recognize the importance of walk ability, because they definitely are focusing on the financials of it.
- Hunter is interested in leading nature walks!
- What happens when a storm comes and the power goes out this summer?
- Ideas pitched so far:
- Upcoming Events
- Earth Month Energy Buffet at the Community Center, Morris Model Energy panels and tabling style conversations, April 16th 5:30-7:30pm.
- Sea of Grass event on April 17th
- As part of Earth Month, the authors of "Sea of Grass: The Conquest, Ruin, and Redemption of Nature on the American Prairie: will give a reading/talk + Q&A + book signing and reception that evening starting at 7pm. “Dave Hage and Josephine Marcotty reveal humanity’s relationship with this incredible land, offering a deep, compassionate analysis of the difficult decisions as well as opportunities facing agricultural and Indigenous communities. Sea of Grass is a vivid portrait of a miraculous ecosystem that makes clear why the future of this region is of essential concern far beyond the heartland.” Sea of Grass is a finalist this year for the MN book award in general nonfiction. It’s a wonderful book – informative, eloquent, and super-well-researched. The event will be held in the HFA Recital Hall at 7PM.
- Announcements
- Riverview Expansion - March 12th Deadline! - Land Stewardship Project
- Next Meeting
- Saturday, April 4th at 10:30AM
- Online at bit.ly/climate-network
- Meeting Leader: @nuzhatfatima or maybe someone else if they are brave!
- Note Taker: @syd