Seeking Abundance Workshop

On June 29th, Urban Ecology Interns Kailyne Sarmiento and Malcolm Jaramillo took what they have learned over the past 10 months and showcased it in their capstone program “Seeking Abundance”. Program participants made for a joyful program full of storytelling, laughter, celebration, and connection. From familiar faces to new visitors, the Nursery was full of an intergenerational crowd coming from all over San Francisco and the Bay Area. Together we made plant ID signs for the nursery’s demo garden, crafted medicinal salves, propagated strawberries, and sculpted seed balls.

Reflections from Kailyne and Malcolm

Kailyne: “Seeking Abundance” felt like a culmination event of my Urban Ecology internship at Sutro Stewards where I had the chance to showcase my knowledge & inspiration that has come from stewarding Mount Sutro. I enjoyed guiding people through making herbal salve with medicinal annuals & native herbs from the demo garden at the nursery. It was so exciting to see participants research some native plants & pollinators to create vibrant identification signs. San Francisco is so uniquely beautiful in that we have diverse habitats & wildlife, which makes it even more evident to protect them. Learning the plants that surround me in the city is one way that I learn so much about protecting native biodiversity & was the impetus of my workshop focuses. 

Malcolm: Over the course of my internship I have learned how to care for and multiply plants in a hands-on and intimate way. I’ve learned the importance of our native ecosystems and how they can be woven into the fabric of our city. Through conservation work I have also realized how drastically our native landscape has changed. Taking my new-found plant care knowledge I wanted to connect our work to the theme of resistance. To choose to be an active participant in the restoration of our native ecosystems is to resist the ongoing degradation of our native environment. It is to choose to create instead of destroy, and to spread the abundance that our native ecosystem produces for us unconditionally. It was an immense privilege to take part in this internship and even more so to showcase what I’ve learned with everyone.