Hello everyone!

Happy Manidoo Giizisoons (Little Spirit Moon)! I learned that there is also another grandmother moon called Manidoo Giizis (Spirit Moon), which sounds similar because the suffix “oons” is used to make the diminutive version of Manidoo Giizis - hence, Little Spirit Moon!

Planting the seeds of relationship and community, of appreciation and love

This is the first year of our new pilot initiative, the Plant the Seed Project. The project’s goal is to engage children and youth in nature, and to give them an opportunity to learn about this place and their place in a biodiverse world. We believe that caring for plants heals both the Earth and ourselves, and we hope that this initiative will allow students to improve their mental health through taking meaningful climate action! We are grateful for the support of the City of Kingston’s Neighbourhood Climate Champion program and Rotary Club of Kingston without whom this project wouldn’t have been possible.

How does it work?

Classes, from Kindergarten to Grade 9, each receive a package of supplies to plant and grow native trees, shrubs, wildflowers and grasses, including a library of books that will deepen their understanding and appreciation of plants and our role in nature. Students work in groups, becoming the experts on their plant by learning all they can about them and the web of relationships that they form with other beings. The aim is for the students to share what they’ve learned with each other and the wider community. They plant the seeds, and document their growth, until they’re big enough to transplant into a pot. After that, the seedlings are collected and planted in Little Forests, Pocket Forests, and Pocket Meadows (coming soon!) around the city.

Who’s involved? 

We’re very excited that 22 teachers in 10 local schools are participating in Plant the Seed: Calvin Park, J.R. Henderson, Katarokwi Learning Centre, Kingston Secondary School, Bayridge, Loughborough, Welborne, Storrington, Molly Brant, Kings Town and École Cathédrale. That’s hundreds of local kids! We are so grateful to the teachers and administrators who are helping to make this initiative possible.

Can I get involved?

Yes! If you want to know more about this project, you can contact Joanne at [email protected]

We think this initiative is awesome, not only because more people get to experience the joy of caring for another being as they grow and flourish, but also because this creates a community nursery of native plants. More seedlings means more plantings, more biodiversity, and more happiness for everyone. 

We want to introduce young people to the natural world that surrounds them so that a walk in their local forest becomes a deeper experience of community and relationship. We hope to inspire young people, and we hope they will find appreciation and love for the world around them, and feel the love that all those beings give back to them.

Stay tuned for more photos in future newsletters as the seedlings grow!

Young Forest Explorers

On November 25th, Marnie Norman, a Kindergarten teacher at Molly Brant School and participant in our Plant the Seed Project, brought her students for their first visit to the AMHS Little Forests. Josh Cowan and Bob MacInnes of Little Forests Kingston led the students through an exploration of the Forest, and talked about many things, including how seeds are spread, how the Forest was planted, and what types of trees live there. The students were avid listeners and are very interested in getting to know the Forest better! 

This was the first of what will be an ongoing series of visits by the students to the little forest. Jessi DiRocco, the Elementary Indigenous Student Support and Engagement Teacher with the LDSB, will be visiting the Little Forest with Marnie's class on a regular basis to explore how the Forest changes throughout the seasons and over time. We’re looking forward to seeing the students grow alongside the young trees.

What do seeds do in the Winter?

As humans, many of us tend to think that the Winter is the season of “dead” trees and animals (except evergreens), with very little life doing much at all. But the truth is that, just with many natural phenomena that have been overlooked, the Winter season is an essential part of life for all of us. And this is especially true for seeds.

Many seeds do not sprout when they fall — this is not true for all plants, but a large portion of them will need to overwinter through the cold and snowy months before they are ready to start growing. The seeds are looking for the best time to sprout, and until they do, they will wait…

The question we must ask ourselves is, how do seeds know when to sprout? Many seeds, especially seeds of larger plants like trees, need to go through a process called stratification, where the seeds are exposed to certain temperatures or moisture levels for extended periods of time. This occurs naturally as trees have evolved and adapted to their environment to give themselves the best chance of survival. For species that are native to our region and whose seeds germinate in the spring, stratification typically means being exposed to cold temperatures, as the seeds have to stay dormant through the winter — if they weren't dormant, and germinated too early, they wouldn’t be able to survive the cold temperatures.

The amount of time needed to stratify seeds varies from species to species. As mentioned, many seeds don’t need to be stratified while others, such as Red-Osier Dogwood, can take 70 days or longer before they emerge from dormancy. Recommended temperatures for stratification are usually a little above freezing, so you can stratify seeds by placing them in the fridge! I’ve been experimenting with growing seeds lately, and my most recent success was with a cherry seed from a cherry that I bought from the grocery store  —  I put them in my fridge in July, and they finally germinated in mid-late November. I’m not sure if I should plant them outside, as I doubt they’re a native variety of cherries, but I’ll have to do some more research. For now, the seedling is growing happily in a pot in my apartment. There are lots of resources on the internet about how to stratify and grow the seeds you collect, so don’t be afraid to do some research. The Tree Grower’s Guide offers a detailed overview of how you can start growing plants from seeds and cuttings.

Does stratification sound complicated to you? Well buckle up, because there are many other factors affecting a seed’s ability to grow. Some require exposure to sunlight before they can germinate — this is because these plants need a lot of light to grow, and if they fall in the shade of another tree the seeds might opt to remain dormant until conditions are more suitable. There are also seeds that won’t germinate if there’s too much sunlight, for a similar reason. Another approach to germinating seeds is scarification, where the outer coat of the seed is weakened (often using a file or a knife) to encourage the seed to germinate earlier. In some cases, seeds actually need scarification before they can germinate; this is necessary in the absence of natural processes that would break down the outer coat of the seeds for you, such as when animals digest them or when they are exposed to wildfires. There are many other ways to perform scarification, but I won’t get into that for this article.

If you do choose to go out and collect seeds and grow your own plants, please don’t take seeds from endangered species. Collecting seeds is also not permitted in most national and provincial parks. And, as always, harvest with respect and reciprocity in mind. As Robin Wall Kimmerer writes in Braiding Sweetgrass:

And if you want to know more about the germination process, this article from Anne at the 1000 Islands Master Gardeners about Winter seed sowing is a great starting place.