“Planting for climate resilience can provide an anchor in the waves of uncertainty, a steady foundation under our feet as environmental changes continue to mount.”
- Tyler Refsland in Planting for Climate Resilience in Northeast Landscapes a Wild Seed Project Guide
Find our nursery
1242 State Route 129 South Bristol, ME 04568
The nursery is open by appointment through Oct. 31st
About us
Figwort Farm is a native plant nursery specializing in seed-grown native plants, grown with organic practices without the use of a greenhouse. Our plants are cold-adapted, resilient, will encourage biodiversity in your landscape and help feed your local ecosystem. We are located on five acres in the midcoast town of South Bristol, Maine - the ancestral lands of the Nanrantsouak tribe, a member of the Wabanaki (Dawnland) Confederacy.
Owned and operated by Courtney Ross and Matthew Hight, who share a strong passion for nature, environmental conservation & a love of agricultural endeavors. Figwort Farm got its start in Gray, ME in 2024, selling plants at the Gray Village Farmers Market. After the first growing season a need for more growing space was clear and the decision to move to South Bristol was made! Figwort Farm is a micro-business still in the growth and development stages and we welcome any and all feedback. Please, feel free to contact us with any concerns, questions or ideas!
Figwort Farm encourages and supports Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Everyone is welcome at our farm!
KEY DEFINITIONS
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At Figwort Farm we define native as:
Indigenous terrestrial and aquatic plants species that have evolved and occur naturally in a particular region, ecosystem, and habitat.
In North America they are generally recognized as those species that occurred prior to European settlement.
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We commonly say a plant is native to Maine, which means that that species evolved and occurs naturally in Maine. If we refer to a plant as near native that means the plant in not native to Maine but is native to a region in close proximity to Maine. For example; somewhere in the northeast
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When we define the climate crisis as
Habitat loss, mass species extinction, biodiversity loss both perpetuating and perpetuated by climate change
Species population decline and species extinction are high enough to threaten important ecological functions that support human life on Earth
a stable climate
predictable regional precipitation patterns
productive farmland and fisheries
Please note, the plant knowledge shared on our website is not ours alone. Most of what we share about each plant species is information gathered and collected from other, extremely knowledgeable people who have spent years studying native plants and who have taken the time to record that knowledge in books and on websites for the rest of us to use as reference.
Indigenous people have had relationships with plant that stretch over millennia. Through story tellers, seed keepers and others, indigenous cultures have held fast to their connections with the land and plants around them, even in the face of genocide, violent displacement and the struggle to achieve recognition of their inherent sovereignty.
It is through their example that we try to share information about our personal relationships with the plants we grow and sell. When available, we try to share indigenous knowledge written and published by indigenous people, with author and source information provided.
