MINISINK FORD — The Town of Highland installed a Monarch Waystation Pollinator and Educational Garden, a new roadside habitat located on Route 97 in the hamlet of Minisink Ford, last weekend. The garden is located near the half-mile extension of towpath along the Delaware River just south of Roebling’s Delaware Aqueduct.

The project was proposed by the Town of Highland and the Greater Barryville Chamber of Commerce and was made possible in part by a Municipal Partnership Grant from Sullivan 180. Additional support was provided by Mama Garden & Co., the Dirt Diva, the Delaware Valley Farm & Garden Agway, and the Town of Highland Highway Department.

Designed as an interactive and educational habitat, the garden will support monarch butterflies and other native pollinators through carefully selected host and nectar plant species suited to Zone 6 growing conditions. Interpretive signage throughout the site will encourage visitors to observe and learn about pollinator conservation and native ecosystems.

The garden was developed to meet the standards for both the Cornell Cooperative Extension Pollinator Friendly Garden certification and the Monarch Watch Waystation designation, with the goal of being added to Monarch Watch’s official registry of certified habitats.

Installation was led by Mama Garden Co., a female-owned landscape business, with additional plant material, design support, and team members with local partnerships in the Dirt Diva, Delaware Valley Agway (Agway the Delaware Valley Farm and Garden Center) reinforcing the Town’s commitment to community-based environmental stewardship.

This project will transform a scenic roadside location into a living demonstration of habitat restoration, education, and ecological care -a lasting resource for residents, students, and visitors to Sullivan County.

Installation took place August 12-14, with a public ribbon-cutting ceremony on Saturday, August 15 at the garden site on Route 97 in Barryville. People were able to attend to stop by the site throughout the installation period to meet representatives from the Town of Highland, the Greater Barryville Chamber of Commerce, Sullivan 180, and project volunteers and ask questions about the plants, the project, or gardening in general.