by Bill Tobin
3/5/2017

Twelve students age 7-12 participated with enthusiasm in the Seed Ball Class organized by the Holliston Garden Club to learn about and help preserve butterfiles. 

Garden Club members Annie Hale and Trista Ashok explained that Monarch butterflies are famous for their great migration across North America every year that takes several generations of butterflies to complete, but unfortunately the butterfly population has declined in recent years. This has been the result of severe winters, illegal logging of trees and the sharp drop in nectar plants and milkweed, which are eaten by caterpillars. The kids were told that they can help by planting milkweed for caterpillars, nectar plants for the butterflies and to promote organic gardens without pesticides. 

This morning they were offered the opportunity to make wildflower seed balls for Monarch butterflies.

The ingredients were all there, soil, milkweed seeds, dry clay and water. 

Mixing seeds and potting soil, adding dry clay and then water to make a well blended paste. The next step is molding the mixture into small balls and placing in egg cartons. Most milkweed seeds and many wildflower seeds need a few weeks of cold weather to sprout before putting them in a good sunny area to flourish.

Sohan Javali has completed making his seed balls and is now ready to allow them to dry for at least one day before tossing them to a sunny spot in his yard to grow.

Water buckets were available, a must, to wash hands after seed balls were made.

 A microscope was on hand to examine the intricacies of the seeds.

The members of the Garden Club who were on this committee are Carol Holly, Mellissa Beers, Trista Ashok, Annie Hale, Victoria Mei, Jill Malcolm, Deborah Kingston and Paula Trask, above, who welcomed the kids to this class. Books were chosen for the young people to read about butterflies, caterpillers, milkweed and other wildflowers.