NURSERY EXPANSION: FROM LITTLE SEEDS TO BIG DREAMS
We are thrilled to announce that our OVLC Nursery is undergoing a major expansion to better serve the Ojai Valley and the Ventura River Watershed. As climate change intensifies and native habitats continue to be fragmented or lost, the need for regionally adapted native plants has never been more urgent.
Native plants grown from locally sourced genetics are critical for ecological restoration. Many commercial nurseries offer native species that, although look similar, have been genetically cultivated or sourced from distant and unknown regions. When our goal is to restore ecosystems and preserve healthy populations, planting these unknown genetics can disrupt local gene pools and can result in plant populations that lack the localized adaptations necessary for survival in our watershed.
Collecting diverse populations of wild seed and propagules from OVLC preserves across the valley allows us to engage in ethical and responsible sourcing, encouraging long-term ecosystem health and more resilient restoration projects. Through this process we are preserving genetic traits that have evolved over thousands of years to be adapted to the specific soils, climate, and biological interactions of our local ecosystems. The plants sown and grown in our nursery directly support the wildlife that rely on local plant species for survival, stability, and longevity.
Our nursery located at the Ojai Meadows Preserve is far greater than a production site. The nursery is a community-driven center where plant sales, volunteer projects, and high school interns are rapidly growing local knowledge and capacity. Through the nursery expansion project, we are investing in more space and new infrastructure to support our growing role in regional restoration, seed conservation, and community resilience efforts.
It’s an exciting time as the long-anticipated nursery improvement construction has begun and will continue into December and possibly January. This will include a significant expansion of the nursery’s size; a new, centralized irrigation system; solar array shade structure; storage solutions; and sanitation improvements to ensure healthy and phytophthora free stock. Alongside the nursery expansion, we will also be creating a native plant demonstration garden, filled to the brim with the local diversity of our plant species. Bulbs, grasses, sagescrub, woodland species, and wildflowers will establish a garden mosaic. This will not only provide important propagules for nursery production but will be a space to learn and gather in a shared community space. So, stay tuned for updates, plant sales, planting days, and our grand reopening. We’re grateful to be working with talented, local contractors to bring this vision to life. Special thanks to 21
Nick DeYoung, Nick Wingate, Dan Colbeck, and Bill Millet for their expertise, dedication, and in-kind donations! We also wish to acknowledge the grant-funding that makes this expansion possible. Funding for this project provided by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection’s Business and Workforce Development Grants and Forest Health Program as part of the California Climate Investments Program. Thank you to the Rotary Club Ojai West, Rotary Club of Ojai, Ojai Valley Garden Club, and Athletic Brewing Company for contributing to the nursery expansion as well.
Together we are building a healthier and more resilient future, one locally grown plant at a time!
Madison Moore, Nursery Assistant