Volunteer Opportunities

Objective: Support customers’ online and in-person sales activities
Qualifications: Ability to lift/carry plants in 1 or 2 gallon pots, and push wheelbarrows filled with plants.  An interest in native plants and/or gardening
Responsibilities: Fridays: Select the best plants to fill the online orders. Saturdays: Open & close the shop during in-person shopping hours; greet customers and help them select plants for their gardens; oversee online order pickups; take payments.
Time Commitment:  About 2-3 hours on Friday mornings (around 10:00 am – 12;30) and/or 4 hours on Saturday (10 am to 2 pm). Regular weekly commitment is desirable; monthly commitment is okay
Training/Support: We will teach you how to work with our ordering, inventory, and payment systems
Contact:  Jean or Laura 

Objective: Maintain databases that support management and sales of hundreds of plants
Qualifications and Responsibilities: This team needs volunteers in several categories, including

1. Detail-oriented people for basic data entry to transcribe written records from paper log sheets into spreadsheet tables
2. Periodic helpers to check groups of plants and read their labels when Customer & Sales Support Team and NHN managers need to ground-check databases of plant inventory
3. Volunteers with regular commitment and training to assist Customer & Sales Support Team on updates to the nursery website
4. Volunteers with background in implementing data management projects to work with NHN managers and/or contractors on implementing upgrades and integration of existing databases.

Time Commitment:  For category 1 (Data Entry) a regular commitment is desirable at least 2 hours monthly, best on Friday mornings and Saturdays 10-2 when the Customer Support team is at the nursery; category 2 tasks are more occasional, generally on Tuesdays, Fridays or Saturdays. Volunteering for categories 3 and 4 will generally be by arrangement with the Customer & Sales Support team.
Training/Support: Training and support will be task-specific depending on the experience/abilities of volunteers
Contact:  Jean or Laura

Objective: Perform maintenance, repairs and other tasks to keep the nursery grounds operating well
Qualifications: Ability to work outdoors on physical tasks with a variety of tools that are provided by the nursery
Responsibilities: Assist the Lead and other nursery managers with a variety of tasks including minor repairs to infrastructure and equipment, weed control in areas adjacent to the nursery, pruning and working with tree contractors as needed, sorting and recycling or disposal of waste materials and debris.
Time commitment: Several hours per month is desirable on average but will vary seasonally and by task; specific days and times can be by arrangement
Training/Support: Training and support will be task-specific depending on the experience/abilities of volunteers
Contact:  David

Objective: Sterilize plastic colored price tags to make them reusable
Location: Native Here Nursery and/or at home
Qualifications: Able to visit the nursery at least once a month to pick up and deliver tags
Responsibilities: Once a month or so, check the collections of used price tags at the nursery and clean them: first wash them in water to remove all visible dirt, then dunk them in alcohol to kill pathogens, and then lay them out to dry. Sort them by color, store in clean bags or containers, and return to the nursery.
Time commitment: 3-4 hours per month, maybe less. This is an easy job that can be done solo and with flexible hours, at home or at the nursery
Contact:  Beth

Objective: Bring out the best in our locally-native plant collection!
Qualifications: Interest in and affection for native plants, a bit of patience, and a sense of beauty. Ability to reach plants on tables in the nursery.
Responsibilities: Check in with lead volunteer about priorities for grooming, then tackle a species or a table of plants. Remove dead leaves, prune to shape as directed. Alert the plant health team if plants have pests or other conditions. Once trained, Plant Groomers can work independently, and can combine this task with other Nursery tasks such as watering, moving plants, helping with inventory, etc. if desired.
Time commitment: A couple of hours once a week is desirable, but it’s flexible. Work during regular volunteer hours (Tuesday 12-3, Friday 10 -1, Saturday 10-2) until fully confident of training and procedures
Training/Support: We will train you as to which plants are summer- or winter-dormant, how to remove leaves while maintaining plant health, and practices to avoid spreading plant disease. We will provide necessary tools and cleaning supplies.
Contact: Beth

Objective: Make sure our locally-native plant collection is healthy
Qualifications: Some experience identifying plant pests and diseases desirable, such as master gardener training, horticulture class on plant health
Responsibilities: Work with Plant Health Team Lead to scout for plant diseases and pests; apply organic/low toxicity remedies; participate in tests for phytophthora pathogen.
Time commitment: A couple of hours once a week is desirable. Work during regular volunteer hours (Tuesday 12-3, Friday 10 – 1, Saturday 10-2) with Plant Health Team, including scheduled pathogen tests
Training/Support: We will train you on commonly encountered pests and diseases and their remedies, best practices to avoid spreading plant disease, and pear baiting protocol. We will provide tools, remedies, and cleaning supplies
Contact: Kimberly

Objective: Move newly potted up plants to their temporary homes in the nursery’s growing areas, and maintain suitable conditions of sun or shade for them as they grow. When our seedlings and small plants grow big enough, the potters pot them up into larger pots, which initiates another move to the optimal growing/storage area until they’re ready to move to the sales floor. 
Qualifications: This nursery job is a physical one – you’ll be on your feet and improving your arm and core strength.  The plant wrangler needs to be able to lift at least 10 lbs, walk on uneven nursery terrain, push a cart full of plants through the nursery, and (sometimes) bend forward to place the pots on tables. Knowledge of plant culture and native plants is helpful but this is also an opportunity to learn.
Responsibilities: The plant wrangler works “downstream” from the potters.  The potters leave the newly potted plants and their potting logs in the potting-up area.  The wrangler places the plants in a cart and moves them to tables in the appropriate storage area. Further wrangling tasks involve moving plants to suitable brighter or shadier conditions depending on their age and seasonal needs, and eventually to the sales area. All moves involve checking the plant labels to ensure their information is correctly recorded on an appropriate paper log sheet, and writing down the table numbers involved so inventory managers will know what plants are where. Additional tasks may include providing protective coverings for certain plants or groups of plants, or umbrellas to shade them.
Time commitment: A regular commitment is preferred but we can accommodate a flexible schedule such as when a soil wrangler is waiting for soil to heat up.  Between our busy potters and monitoring the plants as they grow we can use several wranglers for 3 hours or more a week, but we’d be very happy to have whatever time you can spare.  After training, even if you only have an hour once a month, we could use your help.  The main volunteer workdays are Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday, but other days are possible once you’ve been trained.
Training/support: We will train you on the nursery’s procedures for moving and storing plants and recording what you’ve done.  You can also ask other volunteers to help you – the work goes faster with a partner. After training, some volunteers may be able to work independently.
Contact:  Arleen

Objective:  Create our nursery stock by planting seeds and cuttings. As seedlings grow, repot them in larger containers. Maintain accurate and legible plant labels and inventory records.
Qualifications: Ability to work outdoors, on your feet. Ability to adhere to detailed nursery potting procedures.
Time commitment:  A few hours per month
Training/support: We will teach you what you need to know.
Contact: Beth

Objective:  Collect seeds and cuttings from various authorized locations around Alameda and Contra Costa counties, as needed to create new nursery stock. Maintain accurate and legible seed labels.
Qualifications: Ability to hike to locations in regional parks and preserves. Ability to identify plants in the wild using Jepsen or other plant guides. Knowledge of and commitment to ethical seed collecting practices.
Time commitment: Varies. Many seed collectors adopt a location and make regular visits as seeds mature seasonally through the year.
Training/support: This position requires extensive training. You can start by collecting seeds within the nursery, then accompany experienced volunteers on field trips. 
Contact:  Beth

Objectives: Native Here Nursery is all about sharing information with native plant gardeners. All of our visitors, especially walk-in customers, are on a journey of knowledge. Throughout the nursery, we display one-page informational cards for every species we grow, with beautiful photos of the plant and a profile of cultural information. As plants are moved through the nursery and stock is replenished, the cards become weathered and signage needs to be updated. Our customers love the plant cards, which help them learn about plants and pollinators and select suitable materials for their gardens.
Qualifications: Use your computer or tablet to print our materials. Good-quality color printer is desirable but not necessary (plant cards can be commercially printed). We will provide a laminator and supplies (high quality printer paper, lamination jackets, etc.)
Responsibilities: Once or twice per month, check around the nursery and in the nursery notes to see what signs need replacing, then print and laminate plant profiles and location cards and distribute them in the nursery as needed. Maintain the nursery’s supply of replacement signs.
Time commitment: 3-4 hours per month, flexible. Two hours per week at the nursery and roughly equal time preparing replacement cards at home. This is an easy job that can be done solo and with flexible hours, but best to be at the nursery during hours when the production manager is available.
Contact:  Beth

Objective: Every plant in Native Here Nursery begins with a clean pot and clean soil. Without clean pots and soil, no seeds can be sown and no plants can be repotted. Soil wranglers are the first step in the process.
Because we are an outdoor nursery, we face a significant risk of plants becoming infected with plant pathogens, most notably Phytophthora ramorum, the organism that causes Sudden Oak Death. To prevent infection, our pots and soil are run through a sterilizer and heated to 140 degrees Fahrenheit, then left to set for an additional 30 minutes, and then removed.
It can easily be combined with other tasks at the nursery such as watering, potting, plant grooming, etc.
Qualifications: Soil wrangling is an outdoor job requiring a modest amount of strength to shovel the soil and move stacks of empty plant pots
Responsibilities: Place pots or soil in the sterilizer, run the sterilization cycle, and then store them
Time commitment: 3-4 hours per week. A single sterilization run is generally around three hours but can vary by around half an hour. We prefer that soil wranglers make a weekly commitment. Once you are trained, the hours are flexible.
Training/Support: We will teach you our procedures for the soil sterilizer
Contact: Kate

Objective:  During the dry season, our plants need hand watering twice a week to keep them thriving.  Adopt a section as your own, and enjoy being in a beautiful, peaceful place among the plants and birds. 
Qualifications: Ability to work outdoors and reach plants on tables with a watering hose.
Time commitment:  A section takes about an hour to water. Regular weekly waterers are especially appreciated. If you can’t make a shift that you previously signed up for, let the Watering Google Group know so someone else will pick up that section. Once you are trained, hours can be flexible.
Training/support: Brief, easy training in nursery watering procedures.
Contact: Beth

Objective: Native Here is filled with an abundance of nutrients, water, and energy. Most of that energy is manifested by the plants we grow, but some rubs off on the weeds. The extra water naturally encourages weeds, but we need to keep them at bay to avoid spreading weed seeds along with our plants. Weeding is one of many meditative tasks at the nursery, with flexible hours and many different opportunities.
Qualifications: Ability to pull weeds from plants on tables and on the ground at the nursery. Ability to use a trowel, hand weeder, or shovel at times.
Responsibilities: All work is at the nursery. The production manager will advise you about areas and species most in need of attention and how to tell the weeds from the natives.
Time commitment: 3-4 hours per month, flexible. Best to start out during regular nursery hours, Tuesdays 12-3, Fridays 10 – 1, Saturdays 10-2, but once trained you can work at other hours.
Training/support: We will teach you all you need to know, such as how to identify the weeds
Contact: Beth