(Image: Capitol Hill EcoDistrict)

(Image: Capitol Hill EcoDistrict)

By Shira Zur, UW News Lab/Special to CHS

Community leaders got together this week for the second annual Earth month celebration Plant Sale & Seed Exchange and highlighted ways for Capitol Hill residents to get involved with gardening, growing native plants, and involving underrepresented voices in growing food in urban areas.

Co-hosted by the Capitol Hill EcoDistrict and Seattle Audubon, the event earlier this week emphasized the need for gardening in Capitol Hill and the importance of shopping native plants. The sale continued its partnership with Black Star Farmers, the Black Farmers Collective, and the University of Washington’s Society for Ecological Restoration Nursery.

“This is the soft-launch of our effort to get people into the planting strips along the corridor and to really identify places where people can garden,” Erin Fried, the EcoDistrict Deputy Director, said.

But the sale was only a small part of the opportunities around Central Seattle for people to help make the area green and growing.

While Capitol Hill is home to around 40,000 people, there are only a few handfuls of community gardens, according to Fried. These community gardens are highly sought-after — the wait times to join can range from half a month to two years.

To address the issue, Ecodistrict, in collaboration with Seattle Audubon and Seattle Bird Conservation Partnership, introduced the Nature of your Neighborhood website. The online guide provides Capitol Hill residents information on where they can plant a garden, apply for a gardening permit, and contribute to the biodiversity of the neighborhood.

The website and its movement also seeks to further inform Capitol Hill residents about native plants.

Stephanie Webb, the Community Outreach Coordinator of Black Star Farmers, sold all native plants at the plant sale and knows their importance.

“The more that we can get connected with the plants that are supposed to be here [and] not the plants that had been brought by the colonizers … that’s how we can start to give the land back to itself and tap back into our own roots,” Webb said.

Formed in 2020 in light of the Black Lives Matter protests, the Black Star Farmers collective plans a variety of eco-equity focused events, providing farming opportunities for every person, no matter their gardening skill or knowledge.

“Everybody deserves to be tapping back into their connection with the land,” Webb said. “Just come and be with us in our space.”

Since its formation, the Black Star Farmers has shifted to offering more community stewardship and educational events. Marcus Henderson, the Community Garden Steward of the collective, shared how events like the plant sale allow the Black Star Farmers to foster different kinds of connections.

“We’re seeing the same people come to this space and take on different levels of capacity,” Henderson said. “We’re rebuilding relationships and building relationships that are more long-lasting and less spontaneous.”

(Image: Capitol Hill EcoDistrict)

SER Nursery, led by University of Washington students, participated in the plant sale last year as well. This year, they came with around 200 plants and were only left with a couple by the end of the sale, said member Lily Beck.

The chapter informs students about the importance of native plants, said SER Nursery member Jackson Wright. When you plant native plants, they attract native wildlife, such as bees and birds, helping maintain a native ecosystem and keep out invasive species, according to Wright.

“More plants is always better than no plants,” Wright said. “But if you have the choice of native and non-native, [plant] native plants.”

Along with the information on the EcoDistrict’s website, other ways that residents can get involved in gardening include the Capitol Hill Seed Library, a partnership with the Capitol Hill Tool Library. Open four days a week, the seed library houses vegetable, flower, and native plant seeds for people to take home, grow, and return more seeds post-harvest.

“One of the things that we’re emphasizing this year is really trying to grow the number of native plants that are available there too,” Fried said. “The Capitol Hill tool library is a really incredible source for the neighborhood.”

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