On March 30, 2024, volunteers from AYLUS Roslyn Branch gathered at the Long Island Native Plant Initiative (hereinafter LINPI) from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM. LINPI is a nonprofit organization that grows genetically local native plant materials by seed. Our tasks were to finish labeling all the different varieties of plants, extract seeds from the plants and help clean up all the branches that fell on the floor. The main focus was to help as much as we could!
Our first task of the day was to finish extracting seeds from the plants. Extracting seeds from plants is one of the most important tasks we did today, because it ensures that the garden thrives when it is time to plant all the seeds. This task was difficult, but we persevered and finished it in no time!
Subsequently we helped clean up all the branches. We used brooms and a leaf blower to help clean up. This task ensured that the next time someone wants to extract seeds from a plant, they won’t have to clean up a massive mess of branches on the floor! Even though there was dirt and debris when we cleaned it, we all enjoyed using brooms and the leaf blower to clean up and we finished the task in a blur!
Our final goal of the day was to label the plants with the correct names. This is a major task because if the plants are not labeled correctly then the customers will have a difficult time locating the plant they want to purchase. We had to make sure that the labels were put into the correct plants and we had to make sure that they were put into the bottom so they wouldn’t fall out if it is windy in the future.
Special shout out to the LINPI instructor, Pam, who taught us massive knowledge about Long Island native plants. She was patiently offered us how to collect seeds, clean up after seed transferring, and label. Conserving biodiversity has long focused on habitat and species. But it is important to protect genetic biodiversity. It is possible to obtain seeds for plant species that grow on Long Island. Coming to the Long Island Native Plant Initiative helped us learn a variety of knowledge on how gardening works. Long Island is our home. It is everyone’s job to protect its ecosystem. We hope to come back to LINPI and help soon!
Members that participated: Brian Xiong(4 hours), Simon Long(4 hours), Lily Zhang(4 hours), Michael Zhang(4 hours)
Reporter: Michael Zhang
