Legacy of land restoration “So much of the success of restoration depends on what species you plant and that depends on what is being made available through native seed farms,” says Michaels, who earned a Ph.D. in ecology from the University of California, Davis. While the farm prioritizes partnerships with land managers for large-scale restoration projects, it also sells seeds for 150 plant species on a retail website for people who want to plant native species in their home gardens. And it provides farmers with plants that make good habitat for bees and other pollinators. Hedgerow Farms, which takes its name from the rows of trees and shrubs that run along the edges of its fields, is itself an example of land restoration. Those rows, inspired by hedgerows Anderson observed decades ago in Kenya, create a corridor that stretches from the nearby Berryessa hills to the farm, transforming irrigation ditches into verdant creek beds where foxes, deer and rabbits scamper. The hedgerows also harbor beneficial predators that provide pest control for the farm. “They’re basically highways of habitat for birds and mammals and insects,” Michaels says. Today, when collections experts Sánchez and García hit the road to gather seeds from across the state, they witness the farm’s legacy in the landscape. “It gives me a lot of pride,” Sánchez says, “that I can drive by some sites where we’ve planted and see how the flowers are doing.”
Photo/Beth Savidge
The wildlife area is home to deer, bobcats and golden eagles, and draws hunters and other nature-goers. “There was an exceedingly bad weed problem in the wildlife area,” Martinelli says, referring to swaths of land taken over by the invasive yellow star thistle. “It was a challenge for wildlife to get through.” Fish and Wildlife is in the process of replacing 100 acres of thistle with native plants such as purple needlegrass and wild rye. “It was important for us to grow natives that were genetically similar to what should be in the wildlife area,” she says. “And that’s what Hedgerow offers. They collect the seeds themselves in the different lands and watersheds.”
Caleb Hampton champton@californiabountiful.com
Milkweed and monarchs Milkweed, one of the native plants grown at Hedgerow Farms, is the sole host plant for the endangered monarch butterfly. The flowering perennial has a thick, woolly stem and produces a milky latex that is poisonous to most animals. For monarchs, it is the only plant where they lay eggs, and its leaves provide the only food for monarch caterpillars. “We grow milkweed at our farm for restoration projects to try to prevent the monarch butterfly from going extinct,” says Julia Michaels, restoration ecologist at Hedgerow Farms. Recently, milkweed grown at Hedgerow Farms has provided seeds for ecological restoration of the Klamath River watershed, currently the site of the world’s largest dam removal. The river system near the California-Oregon border runs along one of the monarch butterfly’s North American migratory routes. “It’s a critical species wanted for many restoration projects,” Michaels says of the native plant.
Photo/Beth Savidge
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