Local Elkhart youth grow seeds for education
and to benefit pollinators

 

[April 30, 2022] 

The Elkhart Monarch Flyway Native Plant and Pollinator Habitat has received a grant from Wild Ones Seeds for Education Grant Program. The funds will be used for learning and development opportunities to inspire and teach pre-kindergarten through eighth grade children why native plants and pollinators are important, why these plants and pollinators are in trouble and how each person can make a difference.

The Seeds for Education (SFE) Grant Program honors Lorrie Otto, who inspired school garden projects in the 1970s in the Milwaukee, Wisconsin area. For more than 20 years, Wild Ones: Native Plants, Natural Landscapes has awarded SFE grants to youth-serving organizations for acquiring native plants and seeds for outdoor learning areas that engage youth (preschool to high school) directly in planning, planting and caring for native plant gardens throughout the United States. In 2022 alone, Wild Ones is proud to have awarded over $9,500 in funds and partner with 24 youth-serving organizations in 19 states on critical native plant projects.
 

Jen Ainsworth, Executive Director of Wild Ones, says, "We are pleased to support the youth of Elkhart as they learn about native plants, pollinators, and supporting biodiversity and nature with this project.” The grant funds will be used to distribute native plant plug kits (milkweed and nectar plants) and provide seed training sessions that will include native plant seeds.

Mona Maas, Elkhart’s Habitat project coordinator, says "This will be an exciting hands-on learning experience for our youth. This grant will help us purchase the native seeds and plants we need. The kids can hardly wait to get started!" The children will learn about the benefits of native plants while getting a close-up view of butterflies, songbirds and other creatures that use these plants for vital food or shelter.

Elkhart Public Library is supporting the grant educational opportunities for the Habitat. Native flower and pollinator friendly seeds are available at the library to help expand the Elkhart native pollinator monarch butterfly and other pollinator populations. The library will be hosting a fun class for children on seeds, pollination and more for children and adults, followed by a walk the habitat to plant the seeds in the new seed bed. The native plant plugs kits will be distributed in May at the Habitat.

Doug Tallamy, Wild Ones Lifetime Honorary Director, University of Delaware entomologist and renowned author of “Bringing Nature Home” and “Nature’s Best Hope,” explains the value of such projects. “We have turned 54% of the lower 48 states into a matrix of cities, suburbs, roads, airports, power and pipelines, shopping centers, golf courses, infrastructure, and isolated habitat fragments, with 41% more of the U.S. into various forms of agriculture. That’s right: we humans have taken 95% of the natural world and made it unnatural.”

Youth and community volunteers at Elkhart’s Monarch Flyway Native Plant and Pollinator Habitat are working to help reverse that trend, bring back critical wild space and instill an appreciation for nature in Elkhart by providing native plants plug kits and seeds for seed training this spring and summer with funds from the Lorrie Otto Seeds for Education Grant Program (SFE) administered by Wild Ones. Wild Ones is a nationally recognized, membership-based non-profit organization with a mission to promote environmentally sound landscaping practices to preserve biodiversity through the preservation, restoration and establishment of native plant communities. Wild Ones achieves their mission by providing quality, online learning opportunities open to the public that feature experts in the native plant movement; producing free, region-specific, native garden design templates to help people start their first native garden; awarding Lorrie Otto Seeds for Education grants that engage youth in planning, planting and caring for educational natural landscapes; publishing a quarterly, award-winning journal featuring valuable native plant information and resources; and supporting the grassroots efforts of over 90 nationwide Wild Ones chapters representing over 7,000 members in 27 states.
 

Work began on the Elkhart Monarch Flyway Native Plant and Pollinator Habitat in 2020. Clean cardboard was set down and mulch was laid on top of the cardboard. Trees were pruned and debris removed. A water hydrant was installed at the site. Native plants, shrubs, plugs, and seeds were planted by volunteers. Plant marking tags, labels and group markers were installed. By May 2021 the plants were growing and some were blooming, a rock “river” was put down to guide heavy rain water through the site. A metal plant marker for each species was in place, and the weeds were under control. School children from the Mt. Pulaski School District got involved by making and decorating a compost bin and six bird houses. A rain gauge and puddling tray were installed. By early June the site was growing and ready for the official opening celebration.

“Now in the spring and summer of 2022, we will continue educating the youth at our habitat and encourage planning, planting and tending native plant gardens and pollinator pockets,” says Maas.

[Peggy Lee]