PB Meadows - 2021 Rundown of seed starting kits, seeds & self-sufficiency!

An urban community growing their own plants for restoration?

The most resiliency-focused project I got to work on in 2021 was supporting the Hamline Midway Coalition (HMC) to do a Winter Sowing seed-starting kit distribution. These kits were created to propagate native pollinator plants specifically for Pierce Butler Meadows (PBM), a community supported natural area in the Midway. Not only is the fact that folks in the neighborhood grew the plant-stock exciting, but also inspiring is that the seeds used in the kits were collected locally by neighbors too! This natural area and how it was supported in 2021 became a resiliency demonstration that showed urban residents can indeed grow their own plant-stock from hyperlocal saved seeds.

307 Seed starting kits distributed to Midway neighbors in little free cabinets during winter

Seed starting kits distributed in kiosks &“little free”cabinets

HMC has been working with Midway community members since 2017 to increase the quality and functioning of the PBM right-of-way space through improved stormwater capture and native plants. In order to be responsive to the Covid pandemic, and still be able to connect community members to Pierce Butler Meadows, the seed starting kit program was created. Over 300 Winter Sowing kits were distributed from February through the end of April. Community members were able to find kits at little free cabinets throughout the neighborhood at 2 standing location and 1 rotating kiosk (the Mobile Nature Art Kiosk- MNAK).

12 Midway host locations for the Mobile Nature Art Kiosk where kits were distributed to neighbors.

Sowing & planting done by neighbors

Community members then assembled the easy-to-make mini-greenhouses, which were immediately placed outdoors. The winter sown mini-greenhouses allow plants to sprout and grow in protected environments, increasing their odds of survival while not requiring indoor seed starting facilities. After a prescribed burn at Pierce Butler Meadows in May 2021, neighbors brought their germinated plants to a socially distanced planting day. Some of the plants were tiny and other neighbors offered to nurse them through the season and we returned again in the fall with a group of Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge interns to plant those. Splitting the planting dates turned out to be prescient because 2021 was a drought year. The fall installation allowed for a an even better chance of plant survival.

26 Midway-ites planted seedlings from neighbor-grown kits in spring

Creating a local seed economy

Part of this story is the seeds themselves. In preparation for the winter sowing kits, we planned ahead in the previous fall with a progressive seed collecting day in the nearby area. The drop-in event visited 5 local sites with an abundance of native pollinator plants. Together, we harvested seedheads that then became the seed source for the kits. Remarkably, we collected 66 varieties of native plant seeds! All from our little nook of St. Paul.

This program completed a self-sufficient sustainable loop of locally adapted seed that has been 1) harvested ---> 2) cleaned ---> 3) sowed----> 4) grown ----> & 5)  planted; All by our own community members! Not only will our neighborhood gain increased plant species diversity of locally adapted  native pollinator plants , but also a connection to the meadows for neighbors, who tried a low-cost seed starting technique.

44 Native plant species distributed from seed collected by community members