The Weekly Arrangement 5.1.15: Million Trees NYC

The Weekly Arrangement 5.1.15
Million Trees NYC

This weekly arrangement comes from the woods! This, my dear friends, is garlic mustard. During a service project with Million Trees NYC in Manhattan, my group was assigned to weed up the garlic mustard because it can inhibit the growth of the little trees we would be planting. BUT garlic mustard isn't fully a villain, turns out you can cook with it too! I really wanted to take some home and try making pesto with it, but I didn't. Oh well, maybe I'll grow it in a garden one day. Read more about garlic mustard here! 

Side note, Million Trees NYC was definitely one of the best organizations I've volunteered with thus far. I was helping to plan a service project for a group of twenty school friends. My friend Cassidy said that every time she emailed Janelle from Million Trees for information, she would respond within five minutes answering all of Cassidy's questions. Even if she did not respond within five minutes, she would respond within the next day and apologize for lack of timeliness. Not only were they very prompt, but they were extremely kind and organized. So organized. Even that is an understatement. 

We showed up for the Stewardship Day project at 9am sharp. We were broken up into groups with a Million Trees NYC leader for each group. They kept us busy the whole time, and it was so much fun! At the end, it was nice to take a step back and see the product of your day's work--planted trees, weeded ground, and a very hungry stomach! Afterward they provided lunch, a souvenir water bottle, and a reusable tote. Million Trees is a great organization. They certainly have their act together! It was an honor to be a part of their goal of planting one million trees in NYC. They will plant their millionth tree this fall! Help them out and go volunteer here! 

Fun fact: It actually smells like garlic.

I just liked this picture. 

This was one of the many trees that was planted. Million Trees NYC is a great organization and you can volunteer in all five boroughs! It was a whole lot of fun--so if you're interested, you should definitely sign up. (Picture featuring: the one, the only, Kirstyn.)