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Hedgerows Unlimited: We will visit your farm and work with you to locate, design and install any of the following conservation plantings:

 

Sam is a Technical Service Provider (TSP) with NRCS and is currently working on the design and installation of hedgerows, grassed waterways, filter strips and riparian restoration on farms. He has been planting conservation plantings on farms since 1996 and is the author of Hedgerows and Farmscaping for California Agriculture-A Resource Guide for Farmers.   

Hedgerows, windbreaks, field borders, riparian plantings and grassed waterways are increasingly being planted on farms and can have multiple functions:

  • Serve as habitat for beneficial insects, pollinators and other wildlife

  • Provide erosion protection and weed control

  • Stabilize waterways

  • Serve to moderate wind

  • Protect from frost

  • Reduce non-point source water pollution and groundwater pollution

  • Increase surface water infiltration

  • Buffer from pesticide drift, noise, odors, and dust

  • Act as living fences and boundary lines

  • Increase biodiversity

  • Provide an aesthetic resource

Helping to locate areas and choose plants that incorporate biodiversity on organic, regenerative and sustainable farms:

  • Hedgerows
  • Good Bug Mix
  • Grassed Waterways
  • Riparian Plantings
  • Field Borders
  • Windbreaks

Working directly with farmers or through NRCS as Technical Service Provider.

Sam Earnshaw studied Forestry at U.C. Berkeley, graduating in 1974. In the mid-1980’s Sam and his wife Jo Ann Baumgartner started their own farm, Neptune Farms, and marketed organic vegetables and cut flowers to retail stores, farmers markets and wholesalers in the local area.

In 1992, Sam began working as Lighthouse Farm coordinator for the Community Alliance with Family Farmers (CAFF), sponsoring monthly meetings and field tours for farmers, sharing techniques in biologically based farming techniques. Sam’s work with local growers in Watsonville, Santa Cruz, Salinas and Hollister through this program led to CAFF’s involvement in land use and water issues on the Central Coast.

Hedgerows and grassed waterways are increasingly being planted on farms and can have multiple functions: they can serve as habitat for beneficial insects, pollinators and other wildlife; provide erosion protection and weed control; stabilize waterways; serve as windbreaks; reduce non-point source water pollution and groundwater pollution; increase surface water infiltration; buffer from pesticide drift, noise, odors, and dust; act as living fences and boundary lines; increase biodiversity; and provide an aesthetic resource.