A field next to Keizer Christian Church will soon bloom with native flowers and plants, thanks to a local Scouting troop.
The elementary school-age members of Keizer Cub Scout Pack 7105 in May spread seeds for clover and a range of flowers. The hope is to attract pollinators like bees, hummingbirds and butterflies to the field.
Kim Free, parent of a kindergartener in the group, said the project’s aim is to increase pollinator levels in the field and teach the children about native plants as they complete requirements for a Champions for Nature badge.
While educational, the activity also allowed the kids to have fun together, Free said.
Cub Scouts is a part of Scouting America for elementary school-age children. Once Scouts enter middle school they are eligible to join Scouts BSA, formerly known as Boy Scouts.
Free said she thought of the project while looking at activities her son has completed online. She noticed he had already completed some requirements for the Champions of Nature badge through other group activities.
She felt a project to plant native flowers could provide an opportunity for her son and other Scouts to earn the badge and meet rank requirements.
Free’s husband is the pastor at Keizer Christian Church, located at 6945 Wheatland Road, and she knew that half of the adjacent field is empty aside from grass and some flowers.
She felt the project could benefit the community by planting flowers there that would attract and benefit pollinators.
Free bought wildflower seed kits from the new Wilco store in Schoolhouse Square, selecting packs with perennial and annual flowers to attract specific pollinators such as bees, hummingbirds and butterflies. The seeds planted include black-eyed Susans, clover, California poppies and lanceleaf coreopsis.
Before planting, the Scouts created “seed bombs” by pressing seeds into clay, which were formed into balls and thrown into the field. The balls will disperse seeds after becoming wet from rain.
Kids also filled cups with seeds and spread them by hand in their assigned sections of the field.
Outside of seeding, the children learned about native plants, the benefits of flowers that attract pollinating birds and insects, and those that improve soil quality. They learned about the harm nonnative plants such as Scotch broom can cause by displacing native plants.
Free said recycling also was a topic, one she chose because the kids may take out the trash in their homes. They talked about which items can be thrown in a home recycling bin and which items cannot.
Free said each grade level has different requirements for the Champions of Nature activity. Older kids needed to have and share knowledge about native plants and recycling. The youngest kids only needed to complete two projects, such as the seed bombs and seed spreading.
Free said the field will need to be reseeded every three to five years, due to the life span of the flowers. She originally anticipated flowers would bloom in the fall, but recent rainstorms may bring some on earlier.
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