At our table near BigReuse, the activity was learning to notice Roosevelt Island's trees. We provided original coloring sheets for anyone who wanted to learn more about the trees around us: Linden, Gingko, Cherry, Cottonwood, Elm, Red Maple, and Oak. Many thanks to Laura Dutilloy, artist for Fall for Arts last year, and for this project.
For planting, RIOC provided both annuals and perennials. Many volunteers arrived at 9:00 a.m. sharp. Volunteers helped to transport plants, design, and plant six empty tree pits on Main Street with bright annuals. These volunteers were kind and resilient when we lacked some trowels and misplaced the gloves for a bit. Roosevelt Island community spirit and patience prevailed. The Girl Scouts and the MSTD&A team were champions! Gardeners and gardening friends also showed up with experience leadership, and enthusiasm!
The second wave of volunteers planted a few areas on Good Shepherd Plaza trying carefully to match the beautiful landscaped design. RIOC provided perennials for these beds.
Then Anthony Longo and 'GRIN' (Green Roosevelt Island Neighbors) arrived right when we needed them, and the rest of the volunteers were able to feed the plantings with compost donated from our RI food scraps collected each Saturday by BigReuse hosted by NYC Compost.
Thank you so much to all the volunteers who graciously helped dig and plant and compost. Thank you RIOC for inviting us to help make Roosevelt Island green and welcoming.