Luísa Black Ellis, director of resilience and community engagement at the Elizabeth River Project, led a group in song during her seed harvesting workshop in October in Norfolk, VA. As a monarch butterfly glided onto goldenrod, the group serenaded plants behind the organization’s Ryan Resilience Lab, musically asking permission to harvest their seeds.
This fall marks one year since the Elizabeth River Project created its seed “library,” which locals are already using to grow their own native plants. The group has also partnered with researchers at Old Dominion University who are focused on essential marsh grasses and why they struggle to grow from seed.
The seed library itself is a small alphabetized wooden chest of drawers containing seed packets for 40 species of native plants. Any organization, business or individual can take seeds for their own garden…