On a bitter cold December day in Pataskala, Watkins Memorial High School’s Eco Warriors lined up at the edge of a field behind the school, seed spreaders at the ready.
One by one, the students waded through the thick mud. It clumped on the spreader wheels as students laughed or lamented their struggle against the elements.
"These are so muddy," one student said. "This cart is so evil.”
Soybeans used to grow in the more than three-acre field. After the students' efforts, it will be a native prairie that will help monarch butterflies and other pollinators.
The project is part of Licking County Pollinator Pathway’s Meadows for Monarchs project. After about a year of preparation, private property owners, four schools, a church and Licking County seeded 32 plots, ranging in size from 50 square feet up to several acres.
"Monarch populations are in decline. They've declined over 80% just in my lifetime alone. And so, there's a lot of interest and effort being put forth into restoring their habitat so that they can survive and thrive," said Susan King with Pollinator Pathway.
December may not seem like the best time for gardening. Certainly, it's not the warmest. Students had been set to plant their field in October, but the project was delayed because the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service couldn't provide the seed.
"We had a little curveball when of course the government shut down occurred and our friends at U.S. Fish and Wildlife were furloughed for so long," King said.
She said Dawes Arboretum in Newark stepped in to help mix and measure seeds. The arboretum donated about 60 pounds that were hand-collected from Licking County prairies to add to about 100 pounds eventually provided by U.S. Fish and Wildlife.
While the delay left students to work in colder weather, King said December is a perfectly fine time to plant these seeds. The mix includes black-eyed Susan, blue aster, coneflower, goldenrod and the butterflies’ favorite, milkweed.
"These are native plants that have evolved in Ohio," King said.
She said the plants' seeds usually hit the ground in the fall and sit there all winter. The tiny seeds need contact with the soil, exposure to sunlight and cold moist stratification.
"All that freeze thaw cycle is actually what helps it germinate," King explained.
Despite some people forgetting gloves and hats or wearing impractical shoes, the Watkins High students took the challenging weather in stride. The Eco Warriors Conservation Club was joined by students from Steve Ratzel’s environmental science issues class, who tried to guide the seed-spreaders in straight lines.
"Sometimes it's hard to go in a straight line if you don't have anything to look at on the horizon. Does that make sense?" Ratzel said, directing students into the field.
Later, with the environmental science class lined up, Ratzel added, "you are all outstanding in your field."
The students chuckled or groaned.
A handful of student wrestlers helped the others haul in straw that was donated by Pataskala farmers.
Paula Ball with Southwest Licking Local Schools advises the Watkins’ Eco Warriors. She said farmers consulted on the prairie project suggested a “light dusting of straw” to keep the seeds in place, because the area sometimes floods.
"Let it just kinda like flow like this," Ball said, gently dropping straw. "Or you can even just do this, shake it. Like that's how light we want it," she said.
Ball said she appreciates how students from different groups came together, even in the difficult conditions, to get the job done.
"I just think the experience, they're gonna remember this," Ball said.
Lilly Lynn Burkhardt, 15, a sophomore in the Eco Warriors Club, has done her share of gardening. She said she'd never gardened on the scale of the prairie.
“It is not what I expected. So, we have a different machine at home. So, this one's a little bit harder. Also, the ground's rough and muddy, which makes it harder as well," Burkhardt said.
Mandeq Mallin, 15, is also an Eco Warrior. She admitted that the weather didn't make the day's activities easy.
"But I think even though we're here in the cold, I guess if you're a part of this group, then you should be willing to do stuff that's hard to help the environment," Mallin said.
Lola Graham, 15, put it another way: "Your actions will help the world."
Ball said the students really do care about the environment. The pollinator meadow is just one part of the Eco Warriors’ larger project to create a 13-acre outdoor eco lab. Ball said they plan to restore wetlands, keep bees and even do a controlled burn to help native plants.
"I think that brings a lot of hope to us that the future generation will be okay," Ball said. "They'll do what they need to do."
