FAREWELL, GREER FAUST — FORMER OVLC NURSERY INTERN

In March of 2022, I had the opportunity to join OVLC’s Nursery intern program. Over the past year and a half I was mentored on a wide array of topics surrounding native botany and horticulture. I learned how to propagate from seedlings and cuttings, how to identify native plants, and how to really learn and listen from the natural world around me. This was an amazing opportunity to spark new passions, gain valuable experience, and participate in community outreach in an incredibly beneficial way. 

Through OVLC, I was able to make valued connections and friendships, which enriched my life in more ways than I can count. Not only did I learn skills in horticulture and botany, but I also learned a lot about myself. The plants taught me that we too are constantly growing, evolving, and adapting to an ever changing atmosphere. Through connecting elements of my own life to what I was learning in the nursery, I learned how to heal, strengthen, and evolve. Just like plants, we need light, and in many ways that beautiful little nursery was my light. Most of my favorite memories at the nursery are simple: spraying each other with the hose on hot days, running around in the rain setting up for sales, or just pouring out about our lives while we cradled and transplanted new plant babies into the earth. They may be simple, but they were beautiful and will be cherished for the rest of my life. Sophie McLean, my boss and dear friend, made all that possible. She created an atmosphere that was nonjudgmental and full of love, she offered unwavering support and understanding, and for that I am eternally grateful. The wonderful thing about OVLC’s nursery is that any person that steps into that little world is so full of passion and spark, which then is fully transferred to our plants, who thrive in that environment just as much as we do. 

This fall I plan to attend UCSC majoring in ecology and evolution. This wouldn’t be possible without the resources and experience I gained at OVLC. I found new passions and unlocked some that had been dormant for far too long. It taught me to see the multifaceted greatness and beauty of our Earth, and to protect and stand for it in any way that I can. Now when I go on hikes, I am able to correctly identify native plants and explain how they interact with Ojai’s local ecology. This is a truly wonderful gift. In the past I’ve had the privilege to work and volunteer with PAX, GVP, Ojai Trees, and The C.R.E.W., and while all of those programs were wonderfully beneficial, nothing compares to what I learned from OVLC’s Nursery Intern program. That nursery is a gift to the community and all that get to be a part of it. It allows students to really get hands-on experience and valued mentorship in a way I’ve never experienced before. 

Though my time at the Nursery is waning and that in itself is bittersweet, I am overjoyed to know that I’m passing it on to interns with just as much of a spark for botany and an eagerness to learn from those around them. That, along with the amazing leadership in the Nursey’s program, is why I know that the nursery is bound for nothing but greatness. I am so excited to see how it “grows.” There is so much potential in that little plant heaven, and I’m more than thankful I got to play a part in it. I am so grateful to OVLC and the opportunities it’s presented to me. I can confidently say I am not the person I was when I first entered the program, and I am thrilled to be able to continue to pursue my passions sparked at OVLC at a collegiate level. 

Thank you for everything, 
Greer Faust