Roots of Renewal

Project Description 

Roots of Renewal was founded through Bloomberg Philanthropies' Youth Climate Action Fund to target education, awareness, and resources of green practices, leading to the creation of a sustainable green garden in the Hastings Farmers Market plaza. While at one of our meetings for the board of Hastings K.I.D.S. (an organization through Hastings High School in which kids create volunteer opportunities; the acronym stands for Kids Involved in Doing Service), the discussion of the Bloomberg Grant was brought to the table. When we heard about all the extraordinary activities and accomplishments that other students executed last year, we turned to each other knowing that this was an opportunity we wanted to pursue. Both being interested in sustainability practices and greenery in general, we wanted to create something that would have a lasting impact on the community, while also contributing to the future of our town. We started off with educational pamphlets and seedlings to target food waste and sustainable gardening. However, we underestimated the price of the seedlings, and even though we successfully completed our primary proposal, we had more funds to allocate. Fortunately, of all the things to go wrong with our plan, having too much money was the best possible one. We were approached by the heads of the Farmers Market, who asked us if we would be able to help them to add more greenery to the parking lot where the event is held. We were able to create a plaza garden of beautiful plants that are sustainable for the benefit of our fellow citizens. Additionally, since the Farmers' Market is such a core piece of Hastings, we’re hoping that the creation of a garden will serve as something for the town to be proud of and have a lasting impact on future Farmers' Markets to come. Now, anyone who parks to catch a train, skateboard on the cement, or shop on those early Saturdays can enjoy the garden and the beauty it has to offer. With confidence, we can say that our goal is successfully completed, and we appreciate all the help that was given to us along the way!

Outputs

• One Farmers Market Stand

  • 100+ sprouted seeds in compostable pots (Broccoli di Cicco, Carrot Calliope blend, and Snowball Cauliflower)

  • 100+ Pamphlets filled with seedling instructions, recipes and facts

• Free Giveaway at Friday Night Pride:

  • 1 ZZ Plant 6 inch Green (1 Patt Large Black washed, Fits 6 inch pot)

  • 1 Ribbon Spider Solid Green Plant 4 inch (1 Patt Small Gold washed, fits 4 inch plant)

  • Chinese Money Plant (pot included)

  • Air plant (rainbow pot included)

• For the Plaza Garden (at the Farmers' Market)

  • 8 Medium Evergreen Place holder 3 / 4 gallon (3 gold lace, 3 sea green, 2 old gold)

  • 3 Pink Muhly Muhlenbergia Capillaris (3 gallon)

  • 3 Panicum Shenandoah-Native (3 gallon)

  • 3 Achillea Strawberry Seduction Yarrow (1 gallon)

  • 3 Butterfly weed-Asclepias Tuberosa (2 gallon)

  • 3 Geranium ‘Rozanne’ (1 gallon)

  • 3 Russian Sage Perovskia-Blue jean baby (1 C)

  • 3 Agastache Blue Fortune (3 C)

  • 3 Phlox Subulata ‘Ruby Runaway’ Creeping phlox (1 C)

  • 3 Salvia ‘Snow Hill’ (1 C)

  • 3 Stachys ‘Countess Helen von Stein’ Lambs Ear (1 C)

  • 3 Phlox Subulata Spring Lilac

  • 3 Solidago Rugosa ‘Fireworks’ (1 gallon)

  • 3 Allium Millennium (2 gallon)

 Outcomes

• As a result of the raffle for Native plants at the Friday Night Pride, we awarded 4 different winners sustainable plants for their homes that aid in greenery and air purification. 

• With the different seedling blends and pamphlets in hand, we were able to successfully give out resources for food and sustainable practices at the Hastings Farmers Market and outside of Rivertown Plants and Gifts

• Lastly, our refurbishing of the East-West Boulevard & Symmetrical Section of North-South Boulevard area at the train station allows for a beautiful, green, sustainable garden for the community of Hastings-on-Hudson that will continue to grow and flourish in the changing season. 

Process

1. Coordinated with the organizers of Friday Night Pride to get a booth during the event

2. Designed a logo for our organization (Roots of Renewal) and printed out labels and business cards with our information

3. Purchased raffle prizes (4 pots and 4 plants)

4. Held the booth open for four hours and got names and phone numbers of raffle contestants

5. Randomly drew four winners and called them to pick up their prizes

6. Contacted Farmers Market organizers and set up a date for a stand at the Farmers Market (September 20th)

7. Purchased and planted the seeds and ordered the compostable pots

8. After two weeks, replanted seedlings into pots

9. Spent four hours at the Farmers' Market handing out seedlings and care instructions as well as information (pamphlet attached)

10. Coordinated with farmers market organizers, owner of Rivertown Plants and Gifts, and Mayor Armacost on how to use additional funds

11. Made a plan for Farmers' Market parking lot Garden

12. Ordered drought-tolerant native plants for the area

13. Planted the garden

14. Installed a water tank at the location with another YCAF grant project while continuing to water the garden every 2-3 days

Lessons Learned

• One major hiccup that we experienced along the way was overestimating our needed funds for our seeds. We learned that there were plenty of seeds in each bag—maybe too many for us—and our overshot budget had barely been hit with a dent. Even though we were able to pivot to adding a garden installation to our project, in future, we will research more information on what's needed for each material in advance, so as to not make this mistake. 

• We also learned that it’s important to ask for help when we need it. After realizing we had excess funds, we should have gone to the mayor earlier and taken up the offers of helping us figure out what to do about the potential desire for a parking lot garden.

• A major experience takeaway with this grant was how to fit our goals to the resources and time that we have. We were able to get guidance from the mayor and installation experts on how much of the area to take on and decide between all five of our possible garden project plans which one would be the most reasonable, while still having the desired impact. 

Students Involved

• 2 Project leaders

• 4 Project participants, excluding leaders

• 0 Project participants aged 15-24, excluding leaders