Fascinating work opportunities at Borderlands Restoration Network await those who are interested in supporting Mother Earth. Here are just a few of the new faces they have welcomed this summer:
Gianna Martin and Arriana Ochoa, local Patagonians are working at the nursery this summer keeping the locally grown native plants watered and thriving. Ari heads to her first year at the UofA this Fall and Gigi will be going to the UofA for an exchange year from the University of Hawaii.
BRN is selling those carefully tended native plants by appointment, just in time for the rainy season in Southern Arizona. If you schedule a nursery visit on Thursday morning, you’ll be helped by plant sale volunteer, Deb Goff. She is a familiar face around town having just retired from teaching middle school English for the second time! Deb has a beautiful garden that she draws her plant knowledge from, plus experience in retail nursery garden sales working at The Farm at South Mountain in Phoenix.
There are also new faces in the Borderlands Restoration Network’s Watershed Restoration Program. Since the beginning of the summer, Eduardo and Greg have been diligently removing invasive Johnson grass (Sorghum halapense) from the Borderlands Wildlife Preserve. In the coming months, they’ll also be learning more about erosion control techniques, revegetating the landscape with native plants via seed balls and outplants, installing passive and active rainwater harvesting systems within the community, and collecting seed. When not restoring this gorgeous area, Eduardo can be found exploring cave systems while Greg enjoys spending his time in the great outdoors cliff-jumping.
