The nursery began operation in the 1930s to provide seedlings for forests in need of restoration. The nursery originally consisted of about 40 acres, but today consists of about 754 acres. It sells up to about 70 species of seedlings per year and fulfills about 10,000 orders per year. The nursery also frequently purchases seeds if they are in good condition and are considered beneficial to the nursery. It mainly serves to replant forests and provide seedlings to citizens.

Entry by Melanie Cohen  
3/12/14

Though there is a lot of technology and planning put into the nursery, a lot of the hard work must be done by hand. When we toured the sorting room, where saplings are sorted and bundled for storage or shipment, we saw about 20 people sitting on a conveyor belt doing the same sorting task for hours. According to our dynamic tour guide/director George Clark, many of these people had been working here for 30 years or more. I was amazed here on of his stories about a 93 year old woman who had only not been working at the Nursery for one year, her “retirement”, since the early 60’s. The people were warm and friendly and very willing to show us all the work that went into harvesting, sorting, and storing seedlings.

Entry by Neil Stein
3/12/14