Monday, December 2, 2024
In recent months, volunteers steadily worked to level land, install fences, and test soil quality in the hope of turning a once-empty field between Newbold and Horton Avenue into a proper green space. But as winter puts the earth to bed, cutting off any new growth, progress on the village’s first community garden is inevitably reduced to a crawl.
Yet the future community garden is primed to flourish come next spring thanks to a vital tool to grow and sustain its budding ecosystem — a pollinator way station. Boy Scout Jonathan Herrera led the design and installation of the way station for his Eagle Scout project.
“I’ve always been interested in environmentalism and environmental conservation,” Herrera said. “So, when I had originally started drafting up Eagle project ideas, I knew one thing: it was going to be environmental.”
The pollinator way station, built a few paces away from the future site of the community garden, is packed with native flowers created to entice pollinators — bees, butterflies, and other wildlife — to fill up on nectar. In turn, these critters become purveyors of pollen to the surrounding environment, driving the natural cycle of plant growth.
“Native flowers and natural grass helps the overall health of the animals and plants in the environment,” said Herrea. “It also helps with soil quality because some of the plants that grow in the garden fix nitrogen into the soil and retain water which can, in turn, help the plants grow, which helps the animals grow, and the cycle repeats itself.”
The Eagle Scout project, the final step toward Eaglehood, is an involved undertaking that requires multiple phases of planning and the coordination of a crew of volunteers. Unsurprisingly, the Valley Stream South High School senior faced his fair share of hurdles. He noted that as he plowed the soil along the garden’s border, his shovel repeatedly thudded against tree roots, a pestering problem he eventually overcame. And his work is not over.
“Right at this moment it’s particularly warm and very dry, so I have to do some more maintenance on the waystation to make sure my plants survive and have enough water,” Herrera said.
Fortunately, he had strong allies by his side. Spadefoot Design and Construction, an eco-friendly design and construction company, alongside garden designer Serena Kleeman lent an enormous help. Frank Piccininni of Spadefoot donated mulch to cover the soil and, through his connections with a local nursery, Long Island Native, supplied the native plants.
“As a former scout, we try to help the scouts as best we can. We helped him on the margins. We know what plants do well and where,” said Piccininni. “We made sure he chose the right species to do well there. We wanted to create a community of native plants suited to the space, not just for decoration.”
The 17-year-old is excited to see his pollinator waystation shape the health and vitality of the garden’s ecosystem for years to come. He hopes his efforts to better the local environment motivates others to do the same.
“Much of the environmental news that we are surrounded with is on a very global scale and also very negative,” said Herrera. “I don’t think that people realize the good people are doing to help protect the environment. And I think people also don’t realize that they don’t have to have this world-ground breaking impact on the environment to do something good.”
You can bet Herrera hopes to claim one of the over two dozen community garden plots when they open, likely in 2025.
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