“In my experience, when you plant a highly diversified garden, it sort of comes into a balance.” —Tucker Taylor, Kendall-Jackson
might be helping the vineyard’s grapes, Taylor spoke about the health of the soil and explained that good biodiversity helps with soil health. That in turn helps the grapes. “We consider ourselves soil farmers, since that’s the foundation of everything we do,” he says. The Jackson Family Wines have a commitment to being stewards of the land with ecologically good practices on all of their wineries. In 2021 they began a 10-year climate action plan for a sustainable future. Their “Rooted For Good: Roadmap to 2030” plan includes building soil health, conserving water, reducing energy use, preserving wetland and wildlife habitats—and working to increase biodiversity in those habitats. Those practices help them to create prestigious wines that reflect the terroir of each vineyard site. They have won multiple awards honoring their vision and leadership in winemaking and climate resilience. Tucker says that guests are often inspired by the way the winery operates. “We have people visiting from around the world, and a lot of them already practice some of these
things at home in their yards,” he says. “But some people visit and they see something that they really get excited about and are able to take home with them and put it in a practice at home.” Clarke also pointed to the many North Bay schools that are taking part in supporting biodiversity by creating pollinator gardens on their school grounds. These gardens create an opportunity for students to enjoy more nature as they learn about the importance of native plants, insects and birds in their outdoor “classrooms.” Sonoma Valley High School junior Kendall Clemons is working with Clarke, other community members and the Sonoma Ecology Center (SEC) to create a pollinator habitat garden at the high school. SEC is also working with the Sonoma Botanical Garden in Glen Ellen to design and establish a California native plant demonstration garden around their welcome center. The ecology center oversees the Sonoma Valley Wildlife Corridor. Wildlife corridors allow mammals to move across their historic paths unimpeded and with native plants and
trees along the way to support the entire ecosystem. Pollinator corridors are similar in that they support declining populations of native insects and birds as they move along their historic flight paths and find the native plants that they need along the way. “The pollinator superhighway would be basically for birds and insects,” Clarke says. “As native insects begin to thrive then, in turn, native birds will begin to thrive.” Unlike the unimpeded wildlife corridors, a pollinator corridor can be supported by interspersed areas with native plants. This means that locals can support their native insects and birds by including native wildflowers in their gardens, by creating hedgerows with native plants or even creating a separate native pollinator garden. Clarke is a master gardener and has created habitat for native butterflies as well as other native insects and birds around her home. She encourages others to create native habitat as well as helping with information about how to go about it on her SCBA Facebook page. Clarke pointed out that the great
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2022-2023 YEARS 2
52 NorthBaybiz
March 2024
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