The first application of prairie seeds took part Saturday, Oct. 19, at the ground north of First Street in Mount Vernon.

Sustainability committee member Darrow Center said that compost from the Bryant Park site was delivered by city crews Friday, Oct. 18, ahead of the seed planting day.

“They were very easy to work with on this project,” Center said.

Center and a small group of volunteers spent the morning moving compost down the hill and then planting the first seeds for prairie ground in Mount Vernon.

“It’s imperfect, it’s spontaneous, it’s prairie,” said Hannah, one of the volunteers working on the project.

The plants will seed into the ground this fall and fruit next year as prairie grounds. The sustainability committee reminds citizens it may take a few years for this to get the proper level of prairie developed in uptown Mount Vernon. This is just one patch of prairie habitat being explored in Mount Vernon.