Celebrating Earth Fest: A Pollinator Planting Party
Blog post by: Jess Ross, School Community Garden Coordinator
On April 10th, 2024, Nourish Nova Scotia participated in Earth Day by hosting a neighbourhood Pollinator Planting Party to celebrate the relaunch of the Grow Eat Learn (GEL) program. It was a beautiful sunny day, despite some brisk April winds. Located at Farrell Park, directly across the street from our office, GEL welcomed community and organizations from the neighbourhood and surrounding areas to drop by and get their hands dirty (with soil!) working with some special native pollinating plants like Bee Balm, Red Maple and Pearly Everlasting. Together with some David Suzuki Foundation Butterfly Way Rangers, we seeded, divided and transplanted over 200 pollinators into pots- some for visitors to take home and some collections saved for local community gardens.
Over 75 youth came through the event, which also featured snacks (catered by Jess Ross, School Community Garden Coordinator), art-making and an enthralling Pollinator bingo station where many cool facts about common pollinating plants and creatures where shared. Most youth from the Dartmouth North Boys and Girls Club came to participate- having fun in the sun with plants and taking home their own sunflowers to be able to support pollinating bugs and birds from their own front steps, yards or patios.
Pollinator Bingo cards used during the event!
This event happened as part of a week of Climate Action events leading up to Earth Day in the HRM. When a wild habitat is lost or fragmented, it affects local biodiversity and can result in species loss. So, when we create native habitat zones, even simply in container gardens, we are supporting biodiversity and taking action to support our precious climate. Planting in outdoor spaces (whether in pots or in the ground) with native plants can counteract the loss of biodiversity and support one or more of the over 800 bee types found in Canada. Pollinator gardens don’t just support bees, they also support other animals and people! Hummingbirds, wasps and bats are also pollinators.
It’s not obvious, but encouraging pollination can also support food security efforts. Pollinating creatures move pollen between female and male plants, ensuring they get fertilized, which is necessary for many food bearing plants we rely on to produce fruit and vegetables. During the event, community members potted over 30 plants going to 10 different community garden spaces, some at nearby schools like John Martin Junior High and Harbour View Elementary as well as nearby community gardens like North Grove and Common Roots. These plants will help local populations of pollinators and increase food production emerging from the plots.
Finding native pollinating plants can be difficult, so we are lucky to have nurseries like Baldwin Nurseries nearby. They are one of the only Nova Scotia nurseries to specialize in native plants, which are great pollinators for the struggling populations of native bees and other bugs who are responsible for fertilizing fruit bearing plants. If you would like to explore a variety of pollinating plants Indigenous to Turtle Island (North America), check out this seed company, Wildflower Farm who have ample selection and some resources on planning a pollinator garden.
We are looking forward to continuing to highlight the role of pollinators on school grounds and in our neighbourhoods as a form of climate action. Thank you to all the organizations and community who participated in this year’s Earth Fest Climate Action Fair.
Clustered perennial plants from Baldwin Nurseries such as Bee Balm were divided and repotted.
