Northside friends, I want to share with you the progress we are making on one of the projects near and dear to my heart: creating a pollinator garden at the Heart of Northside.
Did you know that one-third of the food we eat depends on the pollination of plants? Pollination is the transfer of pollen – that yellow dust in the center of male plants – to female plants, which then allows for the creation of seeds. Seeds, of course, are potential new plants. Without pollination, we wouldn’t be able to make new plants through the creation of seeds.
The US Forest Service writes: “Without pollinators, the human race and all of the earths terrestrial ecosystems would not survive. Of the 1,400 crop plants grown around the world, i.e., those that produce all of our food and plant-based industrial products, almost 80% require pollination by animals.”
Pollinator gardens support insects by providing plants that make nectar – food that helps the insects survive and thrive. Nectar in the pollinator garden plants attracts the insects which then carries the pollen from male plants to female plants, helping to create seeds and thus, new plants.
Second-year medical student Ryan Goodson has generously been volunteering to help me with this project. His goal is to turn the patch of lawn near the bus stop (see photo) into an official Monarch butterfly way-station! I hope you find this just as exciting as I do!
We welcome your help and support with this project. Our first goal is to lay down cardboard over this area to kill the grass currently residing there. We will replace this with ground-cover (will not need to be mowed), as well as seeds for pollinator plants that will support monarch butterflies specifically, but also other pollinating insects.
This work will support our community in many ways. Not only will we increase pollinators for gardens all over the neighborhood, but they will also support the ongoing project to grow food for Northside right here, on and in the Heart of Northside. The pollinators in the community will ensure that we can continue to have a vibrant, healthy ecosystem to support the growth of food for our community.
We welcome neighbors and friends to help either with time, expertise, or donations to the Heart of Northside. If you are interested and able, please contact us!
