Soil Born & Sac Valley CNPS Nursery?
From: Shawn Harrison  Executive Director
Soil Born Farm Urban Agriculture Project
916 486-9686

  Soil Born Farms
from Chris Lewis

Soil Born Farms. is a non-profit organization which is the current lease holder on a 40 acre farm at Goethe Park (at the end of Chase Drive in Rancho Cordova).  Their vision is to have an organic farm which shares produce with low income folks, sells at farmers markets, plus teaches organic farming practices and environmental education, restoring banks on a ditch that extends the length of the farm, and now want to include growing native plants in their greenhouse operation!,  They have already partnered with the Sac Natural Food Coop and others and want to explore partnering with us!  Certified organic vegetables, flowers, and fruit production. Kids tours, educational gardening workshops for adults, volunteer opportunities, local chef sponsored dinners, and Fall Equinox Festival."  Shawn wants his people to get together with a contingent from our CNPS chapter to help draft a presentation for the American River Parkway & Rancho Cordova.

I told Shawn of our interest in having a Chapter Nursery with the primary intent of growing Sacramento Natives for County use as well as for backyard gardeners who want local natives in their gardens.

This is the piece of land that had been designated as a Native Plant Nursery in the Parkway Plan.  I see this as a tremendous opportunity for both of our organizations to do wonderful outreach & education!

Last week Mary Maret & I met with two teachers at Florin High School who are doing Environmental Education thru a program in Winters (yes 1 hour away!). (This program is co-led by Audubon.  Audubon would be another natural partner for this project!)  Next week I'll be meeting with Mira Loma students who are renowned to have The Environmental Education. program focusing on creeks in the Sacramento area.  Earlier this month Betsy & I met with Guy Galante, a teacher who developed a curriculum for his 6th graders where they learn about and from the American River Parkway.  He would like to expand it for other teachers.

All of this screams for an Environmental Education Center for Learning.  How about a hands-on learning center on the Parkway that encourages stewardship in all areas of Sacramento?

CNPS-Sacramento Native Plant Nursery

from Frank Wallace, Sac Valley CNPS Habitat Enhancement Chair

Chris Lewis and I have initiated a study to determine the feasibility of establishing a native plant nursery in Sacramento. This idea to establish a nursery, while not new, could possibly be mentioned in the American River Parkway Update Plan and has been discussed with both County Parks staff and with the American River Parkway Foundation Board and staff. Thus, Chris and I realized that we needed to learn more about how such nurseries are run in other CNPS Chapters, what support would be needed, the role of volunteers and possible paid staff, the types of plants that are typically grown, etc..

To start this process, Chris, I, and Mitchell Alford recently visited native plant nurseries in Napa and in the East Bay at Tilden Park. We met with leaders of these projects, toured the sites, and asked lots of questions. The nursery in Napa is quite small and dedicated only to support their local native plant sales. The nursery at Tilden Park is very extensive and it is open to the public for sales almost every Friday and Saturday throughout the year, both for individuals and for home builders. A part-time paid person supports this. The CNPS Chapter also has a separate facility dedicated to growing native ornamental plants for the home plant sales.

We intend to document our observations of these site visits to share with the Board. In order to proceed with this project, it is clear that we will need to explore grant opportunities since there will be initial developmental costs and many discussions needed to develop agreements as to just what the purpose of such a nursery would be, where it might be located, and so on. 

For example, a priority for County Parks staff would be to gather native plant seeds, acorns, cuttings, etc. from the various county parks that could then be used for native plant restoration efforts on a continuing basis. Obviously, because of its focus, the American River Parkway Foundation would also be interested in supporting this type of nursery. We will be discussing these priorities and our own over the next several weeks and months to determine what types of grant programs might support such an ambitious undertaking. 

If would like to help with grant writing or would like to be involved in starting our nursery, please contact Chris at 916 482-5282.