HARDWICK – In October, first-graders from Hardwick Elementary School met with high school students from Hazen’s Dare to Be Me class at Atkins Field. There, Reeve Basom and Bethany Dunbar from the Center for an Agricultural Economy welcomed them for a morning of riparian seed conservation activities with community partner guest experts from the Northwoods Stewardship Center and the Intervale Center.
The speckled alder trees that line Cooper Brook were perfectly mature for a seed harvest. Students learned how to differentiate cones from next year’s flowers as they carefully used pruning tools to harvest no more than 20% of the seeds from each chosen tree. Next, students used a series of special screens to clean the alder seeds as well as other varieties brought by the instructors. Conservation nurseries will grow these seeds for planting in riparian zones to support ecosystem health and flood mitigation.
