Eco Seeds Project

Overview

The aim of Eco Seeds project is to expand native habitat by distributing native wildflower seeds within the community and teaching people how to plant them. The project consisted of researching, purchasing and distributing native plant seeds to local residents to plant in their own gardens and yards.  We also planted seeds in several large habitat restoration areas in the Village of Hastings-on-Hudson.  

Planting native pollinator plants is important because they support native ecosystems, which have been reduced and fragmented by residential and commercial development, monoculture lawns, and invasive plant species.  The Village of Hastings-on-Hudson and the Rivertowns along the lower Hudson River are no exception. The Eco Seeds project is an attempt to help to reverse that loss of our native habitat. 

Eco Seeds project steps:  

1. I applied for the Bloomberg micro-grant and was generously awarded it in June 2024 by Mayor Armacost and the selection committee 

2. I researched the best seeds for distribution during early summer 2024 

   1. The seeds needed to be appropriate for our local environment and geography, deer-resistant, and easy to plant and grow.   

   2. I spoke with Katie Tolson of Seed on Hudson, a local gardening and native plant advisory company.  She suggested the four species that I ultimately chose, and the best source for my seeds (Prairie Moon Nursery)

3. I ordered the seeds from Prairie Moon Nursery in July, 2024 

4. I did a pilot seed distribution event at the Good Witch Café in Hastings-on-Hudson in August 2024 to test out my education materials and get community feedback on the project as a whole 

   1. As a result of this, I created an easy-to-read, one-page brochure describing when to plant the seeds, how to plant them, and why it is important  

5. I distributed seeds at the Pollen Nation Festival in Hastings in September 2024, which was a student-organized festival celebrating pollinators 

   1. I described the project to many local residents and distributed about 20 seed packets of each type to local residents 

6. I distributed seeds at AqueFest! in Dobbs Ferry, a locally organized festival celebrating the Old Croton Aqueduct NYS Park 

   1. Volunteers from the local Rivertowns Pollinator Pathways (including Haven Colgate, Hastings-on-Hudson Village Naturalist) and I described the project to many area residents and distributed about 10 seed packets of each type to local residents 

7. The remainder of the seed packets will be planted in January-February 2025 in several large habitat restoration areas in the Village of Hastings.  The planting will be done by me, my family and other volunteers.  

   1. Exit 12/Farragut Parkway in Hastings-on-Hudson, a large habitat restoration project for native trees and shrubs. This project is managed by local volunteers and funded with assistance from the Village of Hastings-on-Hudson and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s Hudson Estuary Trees for Tribs program 

   2. The Burke Wetland in Hastings-on-Hudson, a large habitat restoration project for native trees and shrubs. This project is also managed by local volunteers. 

   3. Hillside Woods in Hastings-on-Hudson, a large Village park, part of which was recently fenced-in to prevent deer predation  

8. The Eco Seeds project is being done as part of my Girl Scouts Heart of the Hudson Gold Award project, so I will also be working with local junior Girl Scout troops to help plant the seeds and educate about the project 

9. I will also be following up during the winter of 2024-2025 and the summer of 2025 with the local residents to whom I distributed seed packets, to document how their plantings are going 

Output by the Numbers

• 4 native plant types selected for distribution 

• Ran seed distribution booths at 1 pilot event and 2 large events, with presentations and distribution of seeds to attendees.  Talked about the project with approximately 50 interested residents

• Distributed 120 packets of native plant seeds to local residents (30 packets each of 4 types of seeds) 

• 20 community residents volunteered to participate in follow-up by email during winter of 2024-2025 and summer of 2025, to remind them to plant the seeds, answer any questions, and hear any problems they are facing, which will help us with future seed distribution projects

• 40 packets of native seeds will be planted in local habitat restoration projects during January-February 2025 

• 8 volunteers assisted with the distribution of seeds, and will assist with planting the seeds in the habitat restoration projects this winter 

Lessons Learned

As a whole, this project has helped me better understand long-term projects. I’ve learned that it's important to set up a clear plan of action before you jump into things, and that you don't have to do it alone.  You can ask for help from others in the community (as long as they’re ok with it) and request backup when you need it. 

There were some challenges. I had a difficult time getting started with the project, so I decided to begin with the pilot I ran at our local cafe, The Good Witch. While I did not hand out many packets as I expected, I did learn a great deal about how I should go about engaging people, and that I should ask for emails and provide planting and other information to potential seed-takers. I also sometimes found myself overwhelmed because of the workload. But that's also one of the best parts about working with adults: people like Katie Tolson and Haven Colgate always had answers to my questions and helped me figure out next steps. 

One thing I noticed about the Hastings/Rivertowns community is that many people live in apartment buildings, and as a result, have no access to land they can reasonably plant flowers on. I think a great idea for a future project would be to organize interested residents of apartment buildings to work on one of our several restoration projects on public land.

All in all, I was able to work through the challenges of figuring out how to start and how to manage all of the work involved in making Eco  Seeds a success.  Although there were moments of stress, I had a great time and met many community members who share my goal of increasing native plants throughout Hastings-on-Hudson and the nearby areas (or who at least agreed to plant some seeds!).  I hope to continue this project in the future.

The project was made possible by a micro-grant from the  Bloomberg Philanthropies' Youth Climate Action Fund.