Natural Area
“The soil under the grass is dreaming of a young forest, and under the pavement the soil is dreaming of grass.”
–Wendell Berry
The upper 6 acres above the market area are designated as a nature conservancy.
Back in 2001, Tilth undertook an agroforestry project to restore native forest on the campus to “...address the problem of ongoing degradation of native forest lands, as landowners log, bulldoze and burn forest tracts in the often-mistaken belief that they are improving the agricultural potential of the land.”
The project included native plant propagation, clearing of competitive non-native grasses and blackberry, planting a native understory in a stand of existing Douglas firs, and establishing a Garry oak meadow.
Native Plant Stewards operated native plant salvage beds, which included a hoop house and fenced areas with weed barrier cloth and plant bedding frames.
Other conservation projects include a highway vegetation management model, and bluebird nesting boxes established by Coupeville fifth-graders.
Tilth has benefited from a variety of grants from NRCS-WHIP, SARE and Whidbey Island Garden Tour as well as private donors. Members of the Native Plant Stewards have played a large role implementing and guiding much of the initial work.
