Since this past February, EcoAddendum has been on a search for a home, a plot of land to house a full-fledged native plant nursery along the lines of Nasami Farms or Project Native, both in Massachusetts.

Finally we found it, east of Athens, on GA Hwy 77.

A meandering creek splashes across 120 acres of rolling hills and winds though beech groves.  There’s a clutch of egg shaped boulders on a knoll at the back corner of the property, and the bottomland is full of wildflowers.  Plenty of land and water to grow native wildflowers, shrubs and trees that the big nurseries aren’t growing.   Lots of space to share with Environmental Science grad students that might want to set up studies of native pollinators or plant species.

Some of our long-term goals are to install a demonstration meadow, a large propagation greenhouse, as well as shade houses and propagation plots.  We are also planning a building that will do double duty as retail for native plants, shrubs, and trees as well as house educational programming space for local youth and students.  The woods offer plenty of opportunities for interpretive hikes and other nature experiences.

We are looking forward to the coming months of planning and building this new resource for the Atlanta and Athens metro areas.