Closest address: The Lawrence Hall of Science, 1 Centennial Dr, Berkeley, CA 94720. See map for exact plot location.
Enter the main entrance to Lawrence Hall of Science. Walk past the planetarium and back outside to the “Dinosaur lookout.” The plot is located near the picnic tables and open during main visiting hours.
This project will help reconnect members of the Ohlone community, and especially the Chochenyo band native to the East Bay, to the specific land and essential land-based relationships and practices from which they have been cut off. We propose to restore former grazing land, currently dominated by fireprone annual grasses, into a Test Plot that establishes native food and medicinal plants on this spectacular west facing hillside overlooking the San Francisco bay.
Learn more about the ‘ottoy initiative
Ohlone Hillside Test Plot
A hillside restoration overlooking the SF Bay
LOG
INATURALIST PROJECT
TEAM
—Jen Toy, Test Plot
—Jedda Foreman, Lawrence Hall of Science
—Story Wiggins, Sarah Samynathan, Terremoto
—Louis Trevino, Vincent Medina, Dierdre Greene, mak-’amham
YEAR
—Initial planting Winter 2024-2025 supported by a grant from the Xerces Society
—2nd planting Winter 2026 (donations from the Watershed Nursery)
PLANT LIST
EXISTING SEEDBANK
Achillea millefolium / Yarrow
Baccharis pilularis / Coyote Brush
Chlorogalum pomeridianum / Soap Plant
Eriogonum nudum / Naked Buckwheat
Eschscholzia californica / CA Poppy
Marah fabacea / Wild cucumber
Pteridium aquilinum / Bracken Fern
Sidalcea malviflora / Checker Bloom
Quercus agrifolia / Coast Live Oak
FORBS
Asclepias fascicularis / Narrowleaf Milkweed
Diplacus aurantiacus / Sticky Monkeyflower
Gilia capitata / Blue Field Gilia
Gilia tricolor / Bird’s eye Gilia
Penstemon Heterophyllus / Foothill Penstemon
Solidago velutina ssp. californica / California Goldenrod
Symphyotrichum chilense / Pacific Aster
Asclepias californica / California Milkweed
Grindelia camporum / Gumplant
Phacelia californica / California Phacelia
Phacelia imbricata / Imbricate Phacelia
Verbena lasiostachys / Western Vervain
GRASSES
Stipa pulchra / Purple Needlegrass
SHRUBS
Artemesia californica / California Sagebrush
Arctostaphylos densiflora / Manzanita
Ceanothus 'Concha' / California Lilac
Ceanothus 'Julia Phelps' / California Lilac
Epilobium canum / California Fuschia
Eriogonum fasciculatum / California Buckwheat
Lupinus albifrons / Silver Bush Lupine
Ribes malvaceum / Chaparral Currant
Salvia mellifera / Black Sage
We are currently fundraising for this project. Please visit Donate and help us reach our goal of raising $5,000 by the end of this year. No gift too small (or large). Your funds will go towards hosting volunteer workdays, planting out the garden and testing indigenous landcare methods like use of digging sticks and biochar. The beautiful animation drawn by volunteers Phoebe White and Ariel Dungca.
Words from Vincent Medina of Cafe Ohlone
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