Black Rock Forest

Black Rock Forest’s mission is to advance scientific understanding of the natural world through research, education, and conservation programs. In the summer of 2024, we were able to build two outdoor raised bed gardens on our campus. This garden helped us to develop curriculum and connect with students from the Newburgh Enlarged City School District (NECSD), Town of Newburgh Recreation, and the Newburgh Free Library about the importance of pollinators, native plants, and soil quality.

 

Students interacted with the garden in many ways, from 53 students creating nature signs with interpretive labels educating the public about pollinators, to 41 students testing the soil quality with test kits, to 13 students helping set up and water our Native Pollinator Garden.

 

Funding supported the building of four raised beds in a full sun garden and a shade garden, which now house 18 species of over 100 native pollinator plants. This support also included fencing and gates that can accommodate wheelchairs for different mobility accessibility, garden tools from shovels and buckets to topsoil and heavy duty work gloves, and even a macro camera lens to capture tiny pollinator details for surveying.

 

This project was made possible with grants from the Orange County Think Differently Fund and GroMoreGood Grassroots Grant (by The Scotts Miracle-Gro Foundation and KidsGardening). Support was also provided by Wild Woods Restoration Project.