By Taylor Templer
Plant roots, native species, soil and water relationships, oh my! On March 5th, Youth Eco Solutions (YES!) held a workshop at Prairie Woods Environmental Learning Center called Plant Your Roots. The day started out with a quote from Epic’s Impact Journal: “The age of climate change is upon us. In order to deal with a global-scale problem of this magnitude, the solution must be biological.” That solution is plants that sequester carbon.
Students from DREAM Academy and New London-Spicer attended the event and both teams were very excited to start making plans and choosing plants for their rain garden projects at their school after the day was over! Ryan Peterson from the Soil and Water Conservation District was invited to talk to the students about urban storm water and rain gardens. Beth Markhart from Prairie Restorations Inc. was invited to talk about the varieties of prairie plants and their different characteristics. Christopher Lundeen from the North Fork Crow River Watershed District was also there to talk to the students about past YES! projects that involved fixing water issues such as erosion, runoff, and flooding.
After learning all about native Minnesota plants and water and soil relationships, the students were able to make seed bombs which are made from soil, water, clay, and native grass seed (which Beth Markhart was kind enough to bring from Prairie Restorations Inc.) that can be tossed anywhere sunny! After lunch the students were able to project plan with the local experts! The students asked many questions specific to their school such as which plants to use, how to divert the water to go into the garden, where to purchase the plants, and when to plant. We are excited to see their dreams and their plants grow this spring!