October 2025 Watershed News | | |
20th Annual Native Plant Sale and Open House
Saturday, October 25, 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. | FOSC Nursery in Joaquin Miller Park
Over the past two decades, we’ve grown more than 70,000 native plants to help restore the Sausal Creek Watershed — from the Oakland hills to the estuary. 🌊
This is the ONE TIME A YEAR that we sell our plants to the public, sharing the incredible benefits of gardening with natives and raising funds to support our programming. Our volunteers have been working all year to bring you our largest plant sale ever, with over 3,000 locally sourced native plants to choose from! We are really proud of our selection, including hundreds of beautiful lupines and tasty thimbleberries, and dozens of crowd favorites including toyons, ceanothus, and currants. We hope you’ll join us and spread the word! More info in this newsletter about the sale and activities.
Photo by Kate Berlin
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Friends of Sausal Creek is a volunteer-based, community organization. We appreciate your support of our education, monitoring, and restoration programs in the
Sausal Creek Watershed.
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Additional Upcoming Events
Volunteer Appreciation Picnic
Saturday, November 15, 2 - 4 p.m. | FOSC Nursery in Joaquin Miller Park
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You’re invited! Volunteers are the heart of Friends of Sausal Creek. Meet others from across the watershed and celebrate the remarkable impact we’ve achieved this year at our fall volunteer appreciation picnic.
Light bites and beverages will be provided–gluten free and vegan options included. You are welcome to bring a dish to share, but this is totally optional.
We're so grateful for all that you do!
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Creek to Bay Day Recap
Sausal Creek Stats
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A heartfelt thank you to everyone who joined us for Creek to Bay Day in the Sausal Creek Watershed. Your teamwork is helping to build a healthier, greener future for all!
Some stellar stats:
- 112 volunteers across 9 locations, contributing an impressive 313 hours of service
- 94 cubic yards of invasive weeds, downed limbs, and debris removed
A special thank you to Friends of Dimond Park for partnering with us on projects at Dimond Park, and to Dimond businesses—La Farine and Peet’s Coffee & Tea— for their generous food and coffee donations.
| | 20th Annual Native Plant Sale and Open House | | We're selling over 100 species of local, native plants that mitigate climate change, control erosion, and filter pollutants. These beauties also increase biological diversity and provide pollinator habitat. | | |
We’ve created two new guides for this year’s plant sale and are bringing back three of our classics to help you grow thriving native gardens:
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New! Discover which commonly sold plants to avoid—and which California natives to choose instead to create a more resilient, wildlife-supporting garden: Most and Least Wanted Plants List
Our FOSC team and guest experts will also be on hand at the event to offer personalized plant guidance and answer your gardening questions. Stop by the CNPS East Bay Chapter table and chat with Robin Mitchell, Janet Flint from Bringing Back the Natives, or Michael Thilgen and Linda Juratovac from Four Dimensions Landscape Cooperative.
| | Stay for the Entertainment | | Meet fellow nature enthusiasts who share your passion for preserving our natural heritage, as well as local artists and community organizations who have a variety of fun demonstrations and info to share: | | Enjoy live music from Bay-Area folk singer-songwriter and musician, Jashvina Devadoss of Creekside and jam group Tuesday Tunes from 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. Check out Creekside’s Bandcamp and swing by Saturday for the live set while you shop. | Then don’t miss our Silent Auction, featuring items and experiences from Clay Clubhouse, Park Yoga Studio, Raymond Vineyards, and more, along with specialty plants from our nursery and a one-on-one ecological garden consultation. Every bid supports FOSC and our local community, and you might just take home something special! | | To top it all off, treat yourself to dairy-free ice cream courtesy of Mr. Dewie’s! Stop by mid-day for a scoop while supplies last. | | |
Arts in the Watershed
Sausal Creek Artist Collaborative
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Meet Ariel Cooper and Emma Fenton Miller, the artists behind the Sausal Creek Artist Collaborative—two multidisciplinary artists and educators whose work weaves ecology into their creative practice. Their latest project, the Sausal Creek Ivy League (SCIL), transforms the invasive English ivy that is so prevalent in our watershed into beautiful, handwoven baskets—demonstrating how human needs and creativity are tied to ecology.
We’re excited to welcome them to our Native Plant Sale and Open House, where they’ll share their baskets and inspirations, along with a live demonstration of making cordage from wild nettle fiber. Ariel and Emma will also host a basket weaving workshop on November 1st—while the event is full, there are still a couple spots available on the waitlist.
They shared with us about their inspirations, themes they explore through their work, and a vision for art that can heal the environment as well as represent it.
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Native Plants for Your Garden
Heteromeles arbutifolia - Toyon
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If you're looking for an evergreen shrub with a vibrant winter color, look no further than Toyon. This easy-to-grow plant is also known as Christmas Berry, owing to the clusters of bright red berries that adorn its branches in winter. Toyon is widespread along the California coast and in the Sierra foothills—you've surely seen its showy display dotting coastal sage scrub and chaparral landscapes.
In the right spot, Toyon can grow quite large, both tall and wide, so look for a spot in your garden, either in full sun or part shade, where you can let it take off and really showcase its beauty. Have a smaller garden? Not to worry: Toyon is amenable to occasional pruning, which also makes it an excellent hedge shrub. And once established, Toyon needs very little (if any) supplemental water to keep looking its best.
Toyon is a fabulous wildlife plant. Bunches of tiny white flowers attract butterflies and bees in the summer. Birders in particular will love having Toyon in their garden, as the berries are a favorite of cedar waxwings and hermit thrushes! And though not likely to happen in any East Bay gardens, bears also enjoy feasting on the berries.
We'll have lots of Toyon available at our plant sale later this month!
—Kristy Brady, FOSC Board of Directors Vice President
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We need volunteers in the watershed now more than ever!
Join us for one of our many workdays.
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Friends of Sausal Creek is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. Our mission is to restore, maintain, and protect the Sausal Creek Watershed.
We educate future generations, involve the community in local environmental stewardship, and collaborate with agencies and other nonprofits to have a positive impact on the local ecosystem.
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Photo credits:
Kate Berlin, Eliana Thompson, Helen Krayenhoff, Jashvina Devadoss, Raymond Vineyards, Clay Clubhouse, Nicki Alexander
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