Workshop participants clean up the native plant nursery, learning about how to clean, sort and care for the plants and materials.
Under a warm spring sun on April 15, 2025, a dozen enthusiastic educators gathered at the Oroville School District greenhouse for Learning with Native Plants: Continuing to Grow — the latest installment in a workshop series hosted by the NCESD. This hands-on event followed up on last October’s popular session and focused on helping educators take the next step: establishing their own native plant nurseries.
At the heart of the workshop was Julie Vanderwal of Sparrow Song Consulting — the mind behind the Guidebook to Starting a School Native Plant Nursery. Drawing from the guide and her own wealth of experience, Julie led discussions on everything from site selection and greenhouse options to integrating students in the design process. Practical topics like irrigation, plant care, and weed management were paired with deeper conversations around curriculum connections, student-led inquiry, and NGSS-aligned field trip opportunities.
Workshop participants select and plant Ponderosa pine seedlings to be grown in the nursery.
Inside the greenhouse, the learning came to life. Oroville CTE teacher Ali Covey gave participants a behind-the-scenes tour of the school’s aquaponics system — a thriving example of sustainability and student involvement. The fish grown in the tanks will soon make their way to a schoolwide fish taco feed, while high school students manage the plants and sell lettuce to both the school cafeteria and local grocery stores. It’s a full-circle system where students learn real-world skills, and funds earned go right back into the greenhouse program.
The workshop didn’t stop at ideas — it got hands-on. Participants explored Oroville’s native plant nursery, rolled up their sleeves, and got to work. In small groups, they collected moss for wetland restoration, scrubbed and sanitized growing pallets, mixed potting media, and planted native ponderosa pines. By the end of the day, the nursery had a fresh spring makeover, prepped and primed for another growing season under student care.
Participants mix potting media to not only gain experience but to set up experiments on what might work best.
One standout focus of the workshop was sustainable potting media — and how this essential growing component can be a springboard for science investigations. Educators experimented with three eco-conscious potting media “recipes” featuring PittMoss (a recycled paper product), rice hulls from California, and locally sourced worm castings courtesy of the Oroville greenhouse’s own bins. The workshop emphasized the need to move away from peat moss, which is rapidly depleting and contributes to climate change. Participants were challenged to consider not only what’s best for their plants — but also what’s best for the planet.
From moss to mulch, lettuce to learning, this workshop was more than a professional development day. It was a celebration of how native plants, sustainability, and student-driven science can grow together — one greenhouse, one classroom, and one seed at a time.
