XRDC Planting CampaigN

The Covid-19 pandemic has severely limited what actions we can do to work toward a livable future. In this time of quarantine and isolation, XRDC will be focusing on building the world we want to see by encouraging all of our members to step up their gardening activities! Our planting campaign aims to spread plants that provide food for humans and non-humans alike, as well as plants that can help us draw excess carbon out of the atmosphere. Even deeper than that, we want people to re-evaluate their relationship with the land and with nature. Plants are wonderful, and they can provide us with so much. They just need our love and attention!

We kicked off our planting campaign on Earth Day 2020, but that was only the beginning. We’re going to keep growing seeds in our homes that can eventually be planted outside, and we’re going to keep sending teams to underused spaces to add more plants. No matter where you are or what level of gardening experience you have, there are lots of ways you can help make DC greener and healthier!

Here are the ways you can plug into the XRDC Planting Campaign:

Join A planting Team

Every few weeks, XRDC will be sending out teams of 2-3 people, who will be planting trees and other native plants in underused spaces around the district. These small teams will be taking extensive precautions to avoid spreading the coronavirus, including gloves, mask, keeping their distance when possible, and having disinfectant on hand.

If you’re interested in joining one in the future, head over to https://xrdc.org/plantingform and fill out the form, and we’ll be in touch! Planting teams are formed based on neighborhoods, so you can keep taking care of the plants once they’re in the ground. Our planting teams communicate using the free encrypted messaging app called Signal - please download that so we can contact you securely.

start some seedlings

If you can’t make it onto a tree planting team, you can still contribute by starting some seedlings on April 22. If you want to participate, we recommend that you start preparing by acquiring potting soil (ask your neighbors, can also be purchased at a hardware store), collecting pots, saving cardboard egg cartons that can be used

We’re encouraging people to start tree seedlings on April 22 that we can plant in the fall of this year. You can get a head start by going outside and collecting some maple seeds! Those are the ones that look like little helicopters. They’re falling down all over the place, and they all want to be planted and grow into a big beautiful maple tree!

XRDC has also stockpiled some tree seeds that can be planted in the fall. If you’re interested in having us send or deliver you some tree seeds, please send us an email at extinctionrebelliondc@protonmail.com with the subject line “Tree Seed Request”. We have sycamore and elm seeds, both of which can be planted immediately.

There are lots of other seedlings you can start as well! For one thing, if you have organic seeds in your spice drawer, such as coriander, dill, and fennel, there’s a good chance these can be sprouted into beautiful plants. Avocados pits and lemon seeds can both be sprouted into house plants, although it gets too cold in DC to plant them outside (for now at least…). Organic, dried beans or lentils can be grown easily. Squash seeds will also grow into a majestic cover crop. And you can always buy seeds at a hardware store. It doesn’t matter to us, as long as you’re growing something!

If you’re new at gardening and want some guidance, we’ll be hosting an educational call with an experienced gardener on Wednesday, April 15 at 530pm. They will cover the basics of starting seeds and be available to answer any questions. You can register for that call here:

https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tZArduCvqTIoFIAhjjq1KmvuIfnPp1PcPw

Once you’ve planted your seedlings, you just need to wait… And send us pictures! You can send them to us at extinctionrebelliondc@protonmail.com, or via social media. If you post to your own social media, please tag us and use the hashtag #xrearthdayplanting.

Collect some Cuttings

Many plants that grow around the streets of DC can easily be propagated via cutting. Cutting describes the process of removing a part of a viable plant, encouraging it to start new roots or stalks, and then replanting it somewhere else. It’s a form of asexual reproduction. Most plants in DC are more than happy to share some roots and stems. In fact, many plants will benefit from a cutting and grow back even stronger!

On April 22, we’re encouraging people to go out onto the streets and take cuttings of beneficial plants, so that we can spread them even farther across DC! We encourage you to scout out your neighborhood and try to locate some of these plants, so that you’re ready to do some cutting on Earth Day. If the plant is in someone’s yard, it’s probably a good idea to ask permission before taking a cutting. But most people shouldn’t have an issue with it.

There are lots of good candidates for cuttings. We’ve compiled a short list of plants to look for here, but there are many many more options!

  • Rosemary - great for cooking, easy to propagate. Crush up a leaf and smell it for help identifying!

  • Marigold - bees love this plant. Plus, it’s gorgeous!

  • Thyme - another great herb for cooking. Also has nice, fragrant leaves

  • Mint - a voracious grower, surprisingly versatile in cooking

  • Coneflower - beautiful native flower, loved by pollinators, and the leaves have medicinal uses

  • Lavender - beautiful, fragrant flowers. Looks somewhat similar to rosemary

Once you’ve started your cuttings you just need to wait… And send us pictures! You can send them to us at extinctionrebelliondc@protonmail.com, or via social media. If you post to your own social media, please tag us and use the hashtag #xrearthdayplanting. We’ll set up another planting day in a few weeks for everybody to move their cuttings outside in unison!

Consider other ways to get involved

There are lots of existing urban gardens around DC, and they all could use extra help with labor! Head over to the DC Urban Gardeners Network for more information about how to volunteer. Working at a local garden is a great way to build up community resilience and help to ameliorate some of the unjust food deserts in DC.

A key part of any long-term gardening effort is composting! We encourage people to look into composting dropoff options, available at most farmer’s markets, as well as through pickup services such as Compost Cab. But composting isn’t that hard - you basically just need to throw your food scraps into a pile and turn it every once in a while. For a great guide on starting up a compost system, check out this website.