Free Community Event Invites St. Petersburg to Learn — and Take Home — the Plants That Sustained Florida’s First People

Sacred Lands Preservation and Education hosts “Native Plants and Native People” on August 1, with support from a Florida Humanities and The Mosaic Company grant

ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (July 2026) — On a 1,000-year-old archaeological site once home to the Tocobaga people, Sacred Lands Preservation and Education will open its newly planted Indigenous Peoples’ Garden to the public on Saturday, August 1, for Native Plants and Native People — a free, hands-on morning exploring how Florida’s First People used native plants for food, shelter, and medicine, and how those same plants can serve home gardeners today. The event closes with a free native plant giveaway, so visitors leave with more than a lesson — they leave with something growing.

Florida Humanities, the statewide, nonprofit affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), has awarded Sacred Lands Preservation and Education an Environmental Humanities Project Grant to help fund the program. Florida’s First People used plants for food, shelter, and medicine. The native plants they used can be just as helpful for us today — Native Plants and Native People was built to show how, pairing archaeology with practical, take-it-home gardening skills.

Native Plants and Native People | Hosted by Sacred Lands Preservation

WHEN: Saturday, August 1, 2026, 9:00 AM – 1:00 PM

WHERE: 1700 Park Street North, St. Petersburg, FL 33710

Register Here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/native-plants-and-native-people-tickets-1991917913099

Program Schedule

9AM — Welcome, and tour of the newly planted Indigenous Peoples’ Garden. Sacred Lands Preservation and Education stewards a 1,000-year-old archaeological site that was once home to the Tocobaga people.

10AM – 11PM — Guest speakers and presentations on: how archaeologists know what plants were used by Indigenous people; urban container gardening to grow our own food, presented by Elise Pickett of Urban Harvest; and soil enrichment past and present, presented by Albert Risemberg of Little Tree Homestead.

12PM – 1PM — Free plant giveaway. Apply the principles taught by our guest presenters and grow your own native plant at home!

“This site has been teaching people how to live with this land for a thousand years — we’re just continuing that conversation. We want people to leave not just having learned something, but having planted something that will grow. There were people who lived here in St. Petersburg thousands of years before us, and not too much remains that you can actually see and touch from their culture. But there are a few historical sites, like this one, that can give you a window into the past. This event is a one-of-a-kind experience to do just that.” — David Anderson, President, Sacred Lands Preservation

Florida Humanities and The Mosaic Company’s Environmental Humanities Program Grants award up to $10,000 to support humanities-based learning experiences that explore how humans interact with the environment and how the environment influences our communities. In programming funded through this grant, Floridians are encouraged to reflect on the changing world around us but also to celebrate Florida’s diverse physical landscapes.

This event is free and open to the public. Advance registration is required for the free plant giveaway; plants are in limited supply and registration does not guarantee availability. Register here.

Funding for this program was provided through a grant from the Florida Humanities with funds from The Mosaic Company. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of Florida Humanities or The Mosaic Company. About Sacred Lands Preservation and Education Sacred Lands Preservation and Education is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to preserve the past and enrich the future. Sacred Lands stewards a 1,000+ year old Tocobaga archaeological site and surrounding natural environment in St. Petersburg, Florida, and hosts public programming including speaker series, art and music performances, and permaculture workshops. Learn more at sacredlandspreservation.org.