Today we’d like to introduce you to Gale Martin.
Hi Gale, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
A big part of my childhood was spent working on our family farm. The average day could be spent moving the dairy herd to another pasture, feeding hogs, baling hay, pitching manure, or working in the family’s truck garden where we grew vegetables and fruits to sell. When I wasn’t doing farm chores, I spent time roaming through the woods studying it all: the animals, plants, and minnows in the creek and reveled in how it all worked together. My Golden Book field guides were always in my backpack or pocket. While roaming the wild spots on the farm, I would identify everything I could and try to imagine what life had been like before man’s intervention.
After raising three boys and going back to college, I accepted the position of the executive director of the Marion County Historical Society in Marion, Ohio. I had always had an interest in history, and the society owned a prairie remnant in Marion County. They also managed a remnant owned by CSX Railroad. Because of the ties with natural areas, my position enabled me to spend time studying prairie remnants of the Sandusky Plains in north-central Ohio. It was on these remnants that I discovered rarely seen plants and collected seeds to bring back to our small farm to grow and then donate to local park districts.
After seeing my many bad experiences with keeping my seedlings safe until they were large enough to transplant, my husband, Dan Grau, decided to build me a timber frame shed. Completed in 2008, this shed had a skylight and could be used as a greenhouse and potting building. It has now become a retail space in the nursery sales area, where it can be seen by all who visit the farm.
The nursery quickly outgrew the potting shed and the subsequent hobby greenhouse. Today the nursery boasts three hoop houses, a pole barn used for storage and potting/transplanting seedlings, and several outdoor plant storage areas.
From the beginning, I knew I needed to offset the costs incurred by my practice of plant philanthropy. I was giving plants away to park districts and just about anyone who wanted them. I tried farmers’ markets and found I spent all my time trying to explain why native plants are so important. Shoppers just didn’t understand. It was so discouraging that I almost gave up. When brainstorming with my husband, Dan suggested creating an information sheet that could be handed out with the purchased plant. His idea of an educational piece that shoppers could take and read at leisure became the salvation for my dream.
Today, if you visit Natives in Harmony or find us at a plant sale, you’ll also find the information sheet for each plant that details its habitat, use for pollinators, ethnobotanical history, and more. Many customers keep the sheets, creating their own garden guides.
At Natives in Harmony, we have the capability of raising over 450 species of native flowers, grasses, sedges, vines, shrubs, and trees. Our goal is not only to restore the plants across Ohio but to also restore the knowledge lost on these plants. Every time we acquire seed for a new species, we may have no idea how to germinate and grow the plant. It takes research and sometimes experimentation to determine the needs of each plant. Once I have a new species well established at the nursery, it can then be propagated for sale. One could say we are running a seed bank; my goal is to provide stewardship that goes beyond the present into the future of native plants in Ohio.
The hard work is finally paying off. Now that folks like Doug Tallamy have done so much research on the importance of native plants, the public is beginning to understand the importance of natives. Scientists like Doug have given us scientific facts that give credibility to what non-scientists like me already believed.
One of the things I am most proud of is that this small nursery can work with local, state, and national park districts to enhance their natural areas and create pollinator habitats within the parks. We also work with the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Services. Members of the program plant natives on their property to improve the wildlife habitat and support pollinators.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Since there was very little info on how to propagate natives available when I started growing natives. Much of my time has been spent in research and experimentation on how best to propagate and grow each species.
Early on, I had no money to purchase supplies and often would dumpster-dive at cemeteries prior to Memorial Day in order to get pots to plant into. I also recycled pots that anyone cared to donate.
From the beginning, I knew I needed to offset the costs incurred by my practice of plant philanthropy. I was giving plants away to park districts and just about anyone who wanted them. I tried farmers’ markets and found I spent all my time trying to explain why native plants are so important. Shoppers just didn’t understand. It was so discouraging that I almost gave up. When brainstorming with my husband, he suggested creating an information sheet that could be handed out with the purchased plant. His idea of an educational piece that shoppers could take and read at leisure became the salvation for my dream.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
From the beginning, I wanted to help save local genetics. Some species I found on prairie remnants within the Sandusky Plains were not common in the state. It seemed important to me that we preserve our Ohio genetics rather than grow species whose origins were from areas much further away. We work with botanists and citizen scientists across the state to preserve the genetic diversity of Ohio. Our emphasis on local genetics and diversity sets us apart from mainstream nurseries.
Since I have always had an interest in the ethnobotanical uses of plants by native people and early settlers it has been important that we preserve those species along with pollinator plants in order to encourage the study and use of useful and edible plants.
One of the things I am most proud of is that this small nursery donates thousands of dollars worth of plants each year to educational plantings and also works with local, state, and national park districts to enhance their natural areas and create pollinator habitats within the parks. We also work with the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Services. Members of the program plant natives on their property to improve the wildlife habitat and support pollinators.
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
To me, one part of having a successful nursery is being able to pay the bills while adhering to the principles and goals I originally set for the nursery.
Also, being successful is having the capability to influence change in how gardeners support the natural world and re-envision their landscape. Success is showing homeowners that they can create maximum ecological benefit for a minimum of work.
Pricing:
- Plug pots. $4
- Quart pots. $7
- Gallons and larger.$11
Contact Info:
- Website: www.nativesinharmony.com
- Instagram: nativesinharmony
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NativesInHarmony
