Fall harvest is in full swing at the seed nursery at Blue Creek Metropark in Whitehouse. Each year, the nursery produces 1 to 1.5 tons of native plant seeds, most of which is used to restore properties in the Oak Openings Corridor. This year, the staff gathered seed from 300 species.

Staff members  are currently working with The Nature Conservancy and Maumee State Forest on the first major exchange of seed under a new working group made up of organizations in the Green Ribbon Initiative.

The seed nursery, which began 12 years ago with hand-collected seed, now uses a combine to pluck large amounts of  seed from propagation fields in one of the largest publicly-owned seed nurseries in the Eastern United States.

Blue Creek is a partially open Metropark where the seed nursery and Nature's Nursery wildlife rehabilitation center are located. The Lucas Soil and Water Conservation District also manages agricultural fields there for educational purposes. A large quarry on Providence Road and a trail leading to a smaller quarry pond on Schadel Road near Waterville-Neapolis Road are currently open for the public to enjoy.

Special Guest
Photo: Doug Tallamy (below, center), author of books including Bring Nature Home, has been credited with a movement to develop habitats in back yards across America. Recently, the professor and chair of the department of entomology and wildlife ecology at the University of Delaware in Newark spoke at the Toledo Zoo. Later, on a tour of the region, Tallamy paid a visit to the native seed nursery at Blue Creek.