Replanting From Seed

Riparian, or wetland, forest restoration often includes replanting of native species. But where does that supply of planting material come from? The NorthWoods Stewardship Center in the town of East Charleston in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont has a direct seeding project in the works. Direct seeding means to put the seeds of native trees and shrubs directly in the ground at the planting site instead of planting young seedlings. A crew collects and preps wild collected seeds and tests methods to improve the process.  

In the December episode of the Restoration Roundup podcast called Starting from Seed, hear from Jess Colby, Rob Fitch, and Rhona Thomson about collecting wild seeds for riparian restoration projects. Jess is the Riparian Projects and Forestry Outreach Coordinator with NorthWoods, and Rob and Rhona worked on the seed collecting crew this past spring, summer, and fall. Learn how seed collecting works and why it's important; learn about the tools they use for seed cleaning, how to collect seeds from a canoe, and more!

Listen to this podcast and many others on Lake Champlain Sea Grant's Watershed Forestry Partnership Restoration Roundup Podcast webpage or find the episode on most podcast streaming platforms.

This podcast was produced by Alison Adams, former Watershed Forestry Coordinator with UVM Extension and Lake Champlain Sea Grant, and Cate Kreider, a UVM undergraduate student majoring in environmental sciences and minoring in reporting and documentary story-telling. Adams has taken a new position as director of the Forest Ecosystem Monitoring Cooperative, and this is her last Restoration Roundup podcast. Kreider will continue as podcast host for the next several episodes.

The Restoration Roundup podcast, released on the last Wednesday of each month, is supported by NEIWPCC and the Lake Champlain Basin Program.