The Story Walking Radio Hour with Wendy Fachon: Reseeding Native Habitat

Reseeding Native Habitat with guest Sue Theriault, Vice President of the Rhode Island Wild Plant Society (RIWPS) Wild plant collectives across the Northeast are propagating native plants to restore native ecosystems with healthy genetic diversity. Insects, birds, and other local wildlife co-evolved with native plants and rely on them for survival. Many specialized insects need specific native plants to complete their life cycles. For example, Monarch butterfly larvae will only eat the leaves of milkweeds. Ecotypic seeds are especially important because they come from plants genetically adapted to the local soil, climate, and environmental conditions of an ecoregion. Conservation groups like the Rhode Island Wild Plant Society (RIWPS) use ecotypic seeds to repair damaged natural landscapes. Sue Theriault, Vice President of the RIWPS, shares her expertise in wild plants, ecosystem restoration, and ecotypic seeds. She joined RIWPS in 2018 as a retired middle school science teacher and leads its seed generation program called ReSeeding Rhode Island. She credits the organization and its sages for her new found knowledge and passion for native plants. Over the years Theriault has led the East Bay Seed Starters group and run the plant sales. She keeps busy with outreach, administrative duties, and seed farming, and she offers seed acquisition information and educational resources for teachers, farmers, home gardeners, and wildlife conservationists. INFORMATION RESOURCES Learn more about Rhode Island Wild Plant Society https://riwps.org/ [email protected] Get Native Seeds and Educational Resources for Northeast Ecoregions Northeast Seed Collective – https://www.northeastseedcollective.com/ ecotype project seeds in common – https://www.ecotypeproject.org/seeds-in-common Grow RI Native Seeds (GRINS) – https://sites.google.com/view/growrinativeseeds Find some Milkweed Learning Activities – Planting Seeds for a Brighter World https://wendynadhernyfachon.substack.com/p/planting-seeds-for-a-brighter-world Find your Regional Native Plant Society https://nanps.org/native-plant-societies/ Follow Reseeding RI on instagram – https://www.instagram.com/reseedingri Check out these Related Episodes Backyard Gardening for Birds with guest Laura Erickson, Award-Winning Author, 100 Plants to Feed the Birds https://dreamvisions7radio.com/backyard-gardening-for-birds/ Lawns into Meadows with Owen Wormser, Landscape Designer, Abound Design – https://dreamvisions7radio.com/rebuilding-biodiversity/ Symbiotic Schoolyard with Janneke Peterson, Founder of Symbiotic Schoolyard https://dreamvisions7radio.com/learning-ecosystem-restoration/ Find The Angel Heart books by Wendy Nadherny Fachon The Angel Heart storybook https://www.amazon.com/Angel-Heart-Wendy-Nadherny-Fachon/dp/1967270279/ The Angel Heart: Teacher’s Lesson Plan: 33 Literacy Lessons to Help Grow the Whole Child – https://www.amazon.com/Angel-Heart-Teachers-Literacy-Lessons/dp/1971180556/ The Angel Heart: Student Activity Workbook https://www.amazon.com/Angel-Heart-Activity-Workbook-Activities/dp/1971180564/ Learn more about the Story Walking Radio Hour at https://storywalking.com Reach Out to Wendy with Comments and Queries email [email protected] or text 401 529-6830. Subscribe to Wendy’s substack to receive notifications of new podcast and product releases –https://substack.com/@wendynadhernyfachon  Read about DIPG: Eternal Hope Versus Terminal Corruption by Dean Fachon begin to uncover the truth about cancer – https://dipgbook.com/ Subscribe to Wendy’s blog Writing with Wendy at www.wendyfachon.blog. The Empowerment Factory https://www.theempowermentfactory.org/