FORT PIERCE \u2014 What began as a simple roadside plant stand has grown into a thriving community initiative that is helping make St. Lucie County a little greener \u2014 one free plant at a time.<\/p>\n
Groundwork Farmstead\u2019s Giving Garden celebrates its first anniversary on Sunday, July 19, marking a year of sharing plants with residents and nearing an exciting milestone of 1,000 plants distributed throughout the community.<\/p>\n
The Giving Garden was created with a straightforward mission: make plants accessible to everyone while encouraging neighbors to grow landscapes that benefit both people and wildlife.<\/p>\n
Community members are invited to take a plant and, when they are able, leave one for someone else to enjoy. The stand features a variety of native flowers, butterfly host plants, edible crops and medicinal species that help create healthier habitats for pollinators such as butterflies, bees and birds.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been amazing to watch our community embrace the idea,\u201d said Whitney O\u2019Neill, the founder of Groundwork Farmstead. \u201cEvery plant represents hope \u2014 hope for butterflies, bees, birds, healthier ecosystems, and people discovering the joy of gardening.\u201d<\/p>\n
Groundwork Farmstead is a local nonprofit organization dedicated to environmental education, conservation and compassionate care for the sanctuary animals that call the farm home.<\/p>\n
In addition to maintaining the Giving Garden, the nonprofit hosts educational workshops, volunteer opportunities and community outreach events throughout the year, encouraging residents of all ages to connect with nature and become better environmental stewards.<\/p>\n
To celebrate the Giving Garden\u2019s first birthday, O\u2019Neill will place 10 free plants in the stand each day through July 19 in hopes of surpassing the 1,000-plant milestone. The anniversary serves as a celebration of the project\u2019s first year and an invitation for more residents to participate in creating pollinator-friendly landscapes across St. Lucie County.<\/p>\n
Community members can follow Groundwork Farmstead on Facebook and Instagram for daily Giving Garden updates, educational gardening tips, and information about upcoming events and volunteer opportunities.<\/p>\n
Groundwork Farmstead is at 3121 Old Edwards Rd., Fort Pierce.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FORT PIERCE \u2014 What began as a simple roadside plant stand has grown into a thriving community initiative…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":343740,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[171,173,172,563],"class_list":["post-343739","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-port-st-lucie","tag-port-st-lucie","tag-port-st-lucie-headlines","tag-port-st-lucie-news","tag-st_lucie"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/343739","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=343739"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/343739\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/343740"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=343739"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=343739"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=343739"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}