Berries are ripe, flowers are blooming, and my vegetable garden is in full swing. I feel so blessed to live in Eugene, Oregon, especially in the summer when the sun is shining and everything is bursting with life! Everywhere I look something is growing or ready to harvest. The Native Plant Nursery, managed by the Friends of Buford Park & Mt. Pisgah, is no exception.
The nursery is located southeast of Eugene, nestled between the confluence of the Coast and Middle Forks of the Willamette River. They grow around 100 different native plant species on a two-acre plot, with volunteers contributing thousands of hours every year. One of the ways Mountain Rose Herbs supports the nursery is by adopting plots to maintain biodiversity and restore habitat in the area. This year, we sponsored some of our favorite northwest native plants including nettle, yarrow, trillium, and self heal.
The nursery staff needs a lot of help this time of year harvesting seed. In July, we visited the nursery to lend a hand. Ten Mountain Rose Herbs employees helped harvest about 2.5 pounds of Yellow monkey flower (at approximately four million seeds per pound, that’s about 10 million seeds)! We also collected about 3.6 pounds of Prairie Junegrass and removed 4.6 cubic feet of weeds from a large bed of Oregon iris. This is the third year employees have volunteered at the nursery for a Mountain Rose River Project and we will definitely be back!
The Mountain Rose River Project is a grassroots, employee-led program which completes around 10 restoration projects each year as part of our Paid Time for Community Involvement Program. Funded entirely by Mountain Rose Herbs, we partner with numerous nonprofits and governmental agencies. The teams of spunky volunteers tackle projects to restore riparian ecosystems, maintain stream health, and protect wildlife habitat.
I asked Mieko Aoki, the Trails and Volunteer Coordinator at the Native Plant Nursery about what our volunteer work there means to the nonprofit. Here's what Mikeo had to say:
"At this time of year as the warm sun beats down, we have so many seeds coming ripe daily—even hourly—it can be hard to keep on top of the harvest, not to mention the weeding. Every weed pulled prevents hundreds of weed seeds from germinating in our native seed plots. Having your help in the Oregon Iris bed will make a huge difference in the amount of weeds that don’t come up next year. I so appreciate all the support Mountain Rose Herbs gives us through plot adoptions, employee work days, tea donations for events and more. Thank you again for all you do for our community."
Topics: Sustainability
Alyssa leads Mountain Rose Herbs’ talented HR team as HR Director. She has more than 20 years of experience in both leadership and support roles in sustainability and people operations. Fostering positive company culture through authentic connections and employee engagement programs gives Alyssa a sense of pride in the workplace. Growing up in an income-sharing, egalitarian community in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, she’s a farm girl at heart. She received her bachelor's degree in Environmental Sociology and is always looking to expand her HR knowledge and skillset. In her off time, she enjoys gardening, reading, cooking spicy foods, and hiking with her husband, kiddos, and brindle pup named Kiwi.
.jpg?width=1080&name=2023%20(1).jpg "Mountain Rose Herbs 2023 Impact Report")
Berries are ripe, flowers are blooming, and my vegetable garden is in full swing. I feel so blessed to live in Eugene, Oregon, especially in the summer when the sun is shining and everything is bursting with life! Everywhere I look something is growing or ready to harvest. The Native Plant Nursery, managed by the Friends of Buford Park & Mt. Pisgah, is no exception.
The nursery is located southeast of Eugene, nestled between the confluence of the Coast and Middle Forks of the Willamette River. They grow around 100 different native plant species on a two-acre plot, with volunteers contributing thousands of hours every year. One of the ways Mountain Rose Herbs supports the nursery is by adopting plots to maintain biodiversity and restore habitat in the area. This year, we sponsored some of our favorite northwest native plants including nettle, yarrow, trillium, and self heal.
The nursery staff needs a lot of help this time of year harvesting seed. In July, we visited the nursery to lend a hand. Ten Mountain Rose Herbs employees helped harvest about 2.5 pounds of Yellow monkey flower (at approximately four million seeds per pound, that’s about 10 million seeds)! We also collected about 3.6 pounds of Prairie Junegrass and removed 4.6 cubic feet of weeds from a large bed of Oregon iris. This is the third year employees have volunteered at the nursery for a Mountain Rose River Project and we will definitely be back!
The Mountain Rose River Project is a grassroots, employee-led program which completes around 10 restoration projects each year as part of our Paid Time for Community Involvement Program. Funded entirely by Mountain Rose Herbs, we partner with numerous nonprofits and governmental agencies. The teams of spunky volunteers tackle projects to restore riparian ecosystems, maintain stream health, and protect wildlife habitat.
I asked Mieko Aoki, the Trails and Volunteer Coordinator at the Native Plant Nursery about what our volunteer work there means to the nonprofit. Here's what Mikeo had to say:
"At this time of year as the warm sun beats down, we have so many seeds coming ripe daily—even hourly—it can be hard to keep on top of the harvest, not to mention the weeding. Every weed pulled prevents hundreds of weed seeds from germinating in our native seed plots. Having your help in the Oregon Iris bed will make a huge difference in the amount of weeds that don’t come up next year. I so appreciate all the support Mountain Rose Herbs gives us through plot adoptions, employee work days, tea donations for events and more. Thank you again for all you do for our community."
Topics: Sustainability
Alyssa leads Mountain Rose Herbs’ talented HR team as HR Director. She has more than 20 years of experience in both leadership and support roles in sustainability and people operations. Fostering positive company culture through authentic connections and employee engagement programs gives Alyssa a sense of pride in the workplace. Growing up in an income-sharing, egalitarian community in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, she’s a farm girl at heart. She received her bachelor's degree in Environmental Sociology and is always looking to expand her HR knowledge and skillset. In her off time, she enjoys gardening, reading, cooking spicy foods, and hiking with her husband, kiddos, and brindle pup named Kiwi.
