Welcome!
Founded in 2017, Westfield Green Together (WGT) promotes and educates about sustainable practices in the city of Westfield, Indiana. To receive our newsletter, subscribe on our website at https://wgtogether.org
Also check out our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/groups/WGTogether/
What’s Happening in Westfield?
WGT has already logged 515 hours of volunteer time since the first of the year!
On Saturday, January 10th, WGT conducted a winter sowing and butterfly gardening program at the Westfield Washington Public Library. The successful event will be repeated again next winter, so keep an eye out!
WGT published its first annual report! You can see all of our 2025 accomplishments by visiting the WGT website where the report is posted. Big THANK YOU to Jodi for putting the report together.
On February 4th, several WGT members met with Shamrock Connections to discuss their grant for an outdoor learning space. WGT assisted with providing recommendations for native plants and garden vegetables.
On February 17th, members of WGT met with the Westfield Parks Department staff at Raymond Worth Park to discuss plans for 2026 and chipping of the piles of invasive species debris removed by volunteers, headed up by Shelly Brown. The staff was incredibly impressed with the amount of work that had been done.
On February 19th, WTG members, along with staff from Grand Park, accepted the Outstanding Conservation Project 2026 award from the Hamilton County Soil and Water Conservation District. The award recognized the 3-day effort to plant over 100 trees at Grand Park in October 2025.
Shelly and Monica met with John Capes with the Westfield Parks Department on March 5th to discuss ideas for environmental education, especially during the winter months. During the meeting, Monica dropped a hint that Westfield needed to provide educational signage along the Midland Trace Trail and a couple months later…
WGT had a table at the Westfield Shamrock Drop on March 14th. It was a fun, but cold, day. We also conducted a honeysuckle weed wrangle that afternoon at Asa Bales Park. What is a Weed Wrangle? Find out more at https://www.hcinvasives.org/weedwrangle.html
On April 18th, WGT coordinated a Garlic Mustard pull at Raymond Worth Park. Many buckets of this invasive perennial were removed from the park. The Nature Conservancy has a nice article on garlic mustard in Indiana at https://www.nature.org/en-us/about-us/where-we-work/united-states/indiana/stories-in-indiana/garlic-mustard/
Lots of tree seedlings were given away at the April 25th Westfield Green Day booth at Grand Junction Park. 128 leftover tree seedlings were planted at Raymond Worth Park on May 2nd. Additional work (tree mulching and spraying) at Raymond Worth Park took place on May 9th.
WGT officer elections were held on June 4th. Results were:
Shelly Brown – President
Lisa Birkbeck – Vice President
Pam TerBush – Treasurer
Monica Cannaley – Secretary
Last, but definitely not least, WGT started working in April on the sharing garden. It is looking fantastic! Come help do a little watering and plant staking, and take home some wonderful veggies. Volunteer times are: Tuesday’s at 7:30 a.m. and Sunday’s at 4:00 p.m.
Upcoming Events:
Learn more about solar for your home by attending a free Solar 101 workshop, put on by Carmel Green Initiative, on August 20th at 6:00 p.m. at the Carmel Public Library. To register, visit: www.carmelgreen.org/live-and-learn/solar-programs/
Save the date for the Indiana Native Plant Society’s annual conference on October 17th. The featured keynote speaker will be Doug Tallamy!
Easy Ways to Reduce Your Impact on the Earth
Here are some way to reduce your environmental impact when doing laundry:
- Wash clothes when they are actually dirty instead of after only one wear.
- Only wash full loads of laundry and use cold water.
- Swap harsh chemical products for eco-friendly, plastic-free detergents.
- Use wool dryer balls to decrease drying time. Better yet, line dry a load instead of using the dryer.
Garden Checklist
Landscaping:
- Keep newly established trees, shrubs and perennials well-watered during dry spells.
- Plant spring-flowering bulbs, and divide and transplant perennials, in late fall/early winter.
Fruits and vegetables:
- Continue to clean up and discard fallen leaves and fruit around plants to reduce disease.
- Harvest onions and garlic after tops yellow and fall. Cure them in a dry, well-ventilated area.
- Pick beans, tomatoes, peppers and squash often to encourage more production.
- Prepare new garden beds in the fall for spring planting. Include organic materials.
- Thin fall crops, such as lettuce and carrots, that were planted earlier.
- Remove raspberry canes after they bear fruit.
- Harvest pumpkins and winter squash before frost, but when the rind is hard and fully colored. Store in a cool location until ready to use.
- Apply mulch to strawberries in October to protect them from winter extremes.
Fun Green Resources
Consider downloading the free Merlin Bird ID app by Cornell Lab to help identify bird calls while gardening, hiking or birdwatching. Visit www.merlin.allaboutbirds.org
If you are concerned about the climate, action is the antidote to despair! The free Climate Action Now app makes it easy to make a difference by providing daily actions and petitions that can be sent at the touch of a button. Visit www.climateactionnow.com
Green Book Club
The book club is still on hiatus, but you can always join clubs with other green groups. The Sierra Club has a free monthly book club organized through the Hoosier Chapter. Visit www.sierraclub.org/Indiana
Other
“Wilding” is a PBS documentary that tells the true story of a young couple who bet on nature to save their failing 400-year-old English estate. The film documents their 20-year experiment of stepping back, letting the land’s ancient natural processes take over, and transforming barren farmland into a thriving biodiversity hotspot.
Test your luck with “The Great Green Quiz” (courtesy of the Sierra Club):
- What is Gorp?
- Glue for fixing shoes
- Trail mix
- Green Organization for Responsible People
- Condor vomit
- Which of these takes the longest to break down in nature?
- Banana peel
- Cardboard box
- Plastic bottle
- Cotton T-shirt
- What is the main greenhouse gas produced by cars and airplanes:
- Carbon dioxide
- Nitrogen
- Oxygen
- Helium
- Which of these is NOT a reason for the decline in bug populations
- Streetlights
- Pesticides/chemicals
- New buildings
- New national parks
- Why are forests important in fighting climate change?
- They smell good
- They stop the wind
- They provide homes to animals
- They soak up carbon dioxide
- Which of these is a keystone species?
- Beagle
- Goldfish
- Oak tree
- Mosquito
- Which action does NOT reduce a person’s carbon footprint?
- Scrolling TikTok
- Walking, biking or taking the bus instead of driving
- Using reusable bags
- Eating less red meat
Answers: Trail mix, Plastic bottle, Carbon dioxide, New national parks, They soak up carbon dioxide, Oak tree, Scrolling TikTok
Westfield Green Together 