Here’s a twist on the little free libraries: seeds instead of books

Here’s an easy way to enjoy native plants in your yard and share them with others: people and pollinators.

Eilleen Koran, a Life Scout with Troop 454 in Channahon and Minooka, recently planted a 900-square foot pollinator garden at Arroyo Trails park in Channahon for her Eagle project.

She also installed a native seed swap box in that garden and stocked it with native plant and wildflower seeds.

Participants can grow the seeds in their own yards to create beauty and provide for pollinators, Eileen said. Then, when the plants go to seed, they bring the leftover seed to the swap box so others can participate, too.

“My hope is that, by making the Swap box known, more people will be able to get involved in preserving our environment through native gardening,” Eileen wrote in an email.

The University of Illinois Extension offers some free resources for people interested in planting to attract pollinators on its “Pollinator Pockets” page. Visit extension.illinois.edu/cfiv/pollinator-pockets.

Arroyo Trails, A Discovery Woodlands, is a 78-acre nature park development of the Channahon Park District, which was planned in cooperation with the People for Channahon Parks Foundation, according to the foundation’s website at peopleforchannahonparks.org.

Troop 454 is a new girl troop that offers the same types of programming boy troops have typically offered for girls ages 11 to 17.

This new troop is chartered by the Channahon United Methodist Church through the Boy Scouts of America’s Family Scouting Program, according to Troop 54′s website.

For more information, visit channahon454.mytroop.us.