Native Plant Nursery Update from Lora Lyn Junio

The past few months have been exciting for us here at Elderberry Wisdom Farm. During the summer, we were blessed to have eight interns to help us with the finishing touches on the recessed beds north of the farm. We leveled them out and filled them with an organic soil blend. We are also very lucky to have our contractor, Sean, help us with fitting in some irrigation come warmer weather.

Now, as the brisk wind gets colder, and the days get shorter, it is the perfect time to sow native seeds into these beds. Our team at EWF put in time and effort to create a perfect seed list to plant in these native pollinator plant beds. With winter right around the corner, it is the perfect time for some of these seeds to be put into the ground to be stratified and ready to germinate in the spring.

The team consulted with our friends at Heritage Seedlings, and we were able to pick seeds of plants that were Native to the Willamette Valley, climate adaptive and drought tolerant. Using these guidelines, we wanted to ensure the viability of the seeds we put in the beds!

EWF intern raking sand, soil, and seeds into garden bed

Some of the plants we chose included: Oregon Sunshine (Eriophyllum lanatum var. leucophyllum), Yarrow (Achillea millefolium), Showy Milkweed (Asclepias speciosa), White-flowered Western Ginger (Asarum audatum f. album), Iris tenax, and two species of Lupine (Lupinus albicaulus & Lupinus latifolius).

The first week of November, we were able to host a volunteer event with students from Chemeketa Community College, courtesy of Soil Science instructor, Courtney Collins! She had reached out to the farm, eager to learn what we do, and lent her students Tyler, Delaney, Bri, and Becky out for a four-hour workday on the farm where we planted the seeds.

We mixed sand and organic topsoil in bulk, and in separate buckets mixed each seed in. We planned two plants per bed to maximize the space we have. We brought the buckets up to the beds and carefully raked the seed, sand, and soil mixture atop the blended soil, then covered it with another thin layer of soil to ensure the seeds stayed put.

EWF Interns putting down seed and soil mix and raking into garden beds

We still needed defense against the curious wildlife drawn to the beds—and more importantly—the seeds. This is where our mesh wire comes in. We cut mesh wire specific to the bed dimensions with ¼ inch holes. After sowing the seed, we stapled these wire covers over the top of the bed letting us rest easy, knowing our seeds will be safe from predation.

EWF interns stapling wire mesh to garden beds to protect seeds

The EWF team is ecstatic for this new endeavor. We hope to keep you updated on the beds, and the growing journey of the seeds. For now, they are being kept moist and mostly left to stratify until the weather warms up in the spring. Come back in the spring for germination updates on the beds!