Sarracenia Northwest

On the 14^th of July I went to Sarracenia Northwest. It's a small carnivorous plant nursery in Eagle Creek, Oregon. I live in the Portland Metro Area, on the other side of the west hills, so it was about a hour drive. Upon arriving I was very very impressed. They have a very small area that they work with and they utilize it in an absolutely amazing way. Not only did I feel like this would be a great example of small area agriculture, but I also figured it'd be a nice opportunity to talk about one of my influences.

Sarracenia

Upon arriving I was very surprised to see that most of their growing is done in about an acre of land. It's in a pretty remote location (in the sense that Eagle Creek is a very very small community), but like all of Oregon, it is gorgeous (for the sake of full disclosure, there might be some bias in that last statement). In the images below, as well as the ones on their webpage and facebook account, you can see that their cold hardy plants are all in plastic kiddie pools, all covered in tarps to minimize UV damage. When I saw this I was floored by how simple and elegant the design is. There are a few fold out solar panels linked to water pumps to provide some water circulation, but that's about it. I was so impressed with this. So much so that I want to eventually emulate it for the purposes of creating a small collection of carnivorous plants. Their namesake plants, Sarracenias, their Venus flytraps, and temperate sundews all reside in these pools. Another side benefit of these pools is that they create habitat for frogs, and though I didn't see any myself while I was there, several people (including my wife who was with me) caught site of tadpoles.

Butterwort (Pinguicula)

For their subtropicals and tropicals they have several greenhouses. One of the larger ones houses their Nepenthes (also known as monkey cups). They are, by far, my favorite. They have large pitchers that come off of the central vein of each of their leaves. My first carnivorous plant was a Nepenthes (though I have no idea what the genus was) that my mom bought for me when I was little. I didn't know how to take care of it though, and it didn't survive long.

Nepenthes

One of the earliest things that started me into the world of plants, which really got me interested in carnivorous plants, was a book that I had in second grade. It was full of big beautiful pictures of Venus flytraps, Sarracenias, sundews, bladderworts, and butterworts. It blew my mind in a way. I had no idea that anything besides Venus flytraps “ate” bugs. In a way it might've really been the genesis of my love for plants. I was so excited to find Sarracenia a few months ago and so glad that they have an open house for people to come enjoy what they've accomplished.

Sundew (Drosera)

When everything is said and done, I am so amazed and impressed by what Sarracenia has done with their tiny plot of land. It's beautiful and I really recommend that you go to one of their open houses. The next open house weekend is this September; the 8^th and the 9^th.

A very special thanks to Jeff and Jacob of Sarracenia for all the great stuff they do.

Go check them out:

http://www.cobraplant.com/

At the time of writing this, they're also doing a summer sale, all of their plants are 15% off.

And here is the URL to sign up for their September open house:

http://www.cobraplant.com/openhouse

All photos are copyright of Jeanette Sedell, used by permission.
These, as well as other beautiful photos are (or will be soon) available on her deviant art photography page: http://yozora-no-tenshi.deviantart.com/ 
(edit 8/9/2012)

Jeanette Sedell's new photography account: http://jeanettesedell.deviantart.com/

Next week: Adventures with wasabi

A Dedication

     For my first post I have sat here and tried to think of what I wanted to talk about. I've been ho-humming about what I might want to discuss with the world. I even started on a different topic, one that I will revisit soon because it needs to be talked about. But for my very first post, it will be a dedication.

     My uncle, Lon Rombough passed away this last Winter. In a lot of ways he was an inspiration to me. In a lot of ways he still is. His death hit me much harder than I knew it would, and I keep thinking about how I just want to talk to him about all the work I've been doing lately. I want to impress him and ask him questions.

     But why does he matter so much to me? Let me start with this: I was going to go into botany many years ago. It was what I would tell people I was studying when I got to college. But life has a way of changing on you when you least expect it. Without going to deep into why, I stopped studying botany after 2 years of being in college; but I never really stopped loving it. Raising and studying plants is fascinating to me. There is so much of what I learned, of what I love that I still carry with me.

      Lon is a representation of what I could be, of where my life could've gone. He had many flaws, but he was a good person. A good husband and a good father. I want to be that to my children, I want to be the educator. He would never hesitate to teach, and though, like many who are experts at their craft, was not humble about what he knew, was still a great educator.

      I draw much inspiration from him, and I will carry it with me through life. He did, in the end, what I hope to do in my life, he left an impression on the world.

Lon's website and business (now run by Susan and Jeff Rombough, my aunt and cousin):

http://www.bunchgrapes.com/

Lon's obituary:
http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/statesmanjournal/obituary.aspx?n=lon-rombough&pid=155932032


Next time:  Sarracenia Northwest